Sorry this is so long - I wanted to get as much info in as possible.
We’ve had our kitten, Odin, since he was 7 weeks old (too young, I know). He is now 11 weeks and has settled in perfectly, but I didn’t want him to get lonely once we go back to work so we decided to get another kitten, Sira, who is 10 weeks old. She arrived yesterday.
I read conflicting information online and probably did the introduction all wrong (which I’m really beating myself up about), but I just put Sira’s cat carrier down and slowly opened it up over the course of an hour or so. I saw how they reacted to each other whilst the carrier was closed and Odin was arching his back but did not seem too bothered and didn’t hiss or growl. Sira was completely oblivious and didn’t seem at all phased. Perhaps I should have separated them but as I said, there is so much conflicting information online and I naively thought two kittens would be fine.
However, that hasn’t happened. At first, they would stand looking at each other with backs arched. When Odin approached Sira, she would hiss and ‘lash out’ (although never actually touch Odin), then Odin would retreat and Sira would start exploring again until Odin went near her. Now this have progressed and Odin will not leave Sira alone. He constantly follows her around as she explores and wrestles her to the ground (not hissing or growling, just arching his back), and she hisses and growls at him until he goes away for a couple of seconds, then the cycle repeats. Sira has actually settled in really well and is confident walking around the house and jumping on things - it’s just that Odin constantly annoys her whilst she is doing this and she hisses and growls in return. If anything, Sira seems completely nonchalant to Odin and if he didn’t bother her, she probably wouldn’t even interact with him.
Last night, they were sleeping next to each other on the chair and Odin had his head resting against her. I thought we’d made a breakthrough, but then when they woke up, things continued as above, if not worse This morning, they were again sleeping on the same chair but then the wrestling began again. It’s not play fighting because Sira is hissing and growling and Odin is still arching his back. Sometimes, there is a standoff where they both stare each other out with backs arched.
I just want to know if this is normal. I know it’s only been 24 hours but I’m getting upset watching them ‘fight’ and Odin doesn’t want to cuddle with me anymore (whilst Sira is extremely cuddly).
I do try to give encouragement and have tried mutual play with a toy, but Odin seems jealous that Sira is playing with the toy and lunges at her (although doesn’t actually touch her). They both have separate litter trays and food bowls but I’ve found that Odin tries to use her little tray and bowl. They are both eating and using the little tray as normal.
Is this all normal or should I be worried?
[link] [comments]
from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/ipzgcd/introduced_a_new_kitten_and_i_dont_know_if_its/
No comments:
Post a Comment