So I picked up a little rescue kitten six days ago. She's about 5 months old and very lovey. I haven't had a cat since I was 7 and honestly don't know much about introducing them despite what I've gathered from Jackson Galaxy videos so help would be appreciated.
During this week we've been trying to keep her separated and she's been base camping in my room. Unfortunately, the second day she snuck her little booty out the door and met my roommate's two 3-year-old cats against our best wishes. They didn't fight, but the adult cats were definitely not happy to see her, lots of hissing was had. Not the intro we wanted her to have.
After that, we tried swapping spaces and feeding treats. Neither of the cats is particularly interested in food and this little lady wanted to explore, not eat. So that didn't go well. And the big male hissed every time he smelled her on my hands (this has thankfully stopped after day 3 and now he doesn't seem to mind).
We then tried introduction through the baby gate. Cats wouldn't eat, hissing from the adults, same as before.
For the past two days, my roommate has let the kitten out to roam, and... there's at least been no bloodshed? Kitten roams around and plays, adult cats watch and hiss if she gets too close, kitten backs off when hissed at. Adult cats approach her occasionally to sniff but if she moves too much they hiss. Now, on top of everything, the kitten has been scratching up the carpet to get out (I did clip her little nails so the damage isn't TOO bad). But now that she knows a there's whole apartment out there, she cannot contain her tiny energy in one space and probably also has some separation anxiety.
So...is hissing normal after such little time? Does it sound like my kitten would be in danger if l left her out alone with them unsupervised after a few more days of letting them interact? I had heard that feeding them next to each other is a good way to work things out but the adult cats are free-fed and arent super food motivated. I also heard that there are those little pheromone defusers that might help?
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/q9lxte/help_kitten_intro_with_roommates_adult_cats/
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