lucky luke Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 Hi thereI'm hoping someone can offer us some advice or support really. We have two cats - (brother and sister) who have had since birth and who are both neutered. They are now 14 months old. They are friendly and affectionate and get on very well with our labarador. Both cats are friendly with other cats in the local area and often "play" with them outside. One of these outside cats swanned into the house about four weeks ago and won over the dog, male cat and the kids!! No mean feat really, but the cat has now had a litter of two kittens in the kitchen. We are committed to making the new cat welcome and will spay her when the time is right, we will also treat her two kittens and get the necessary injections etc... I know all this has been a lot for our female cat to adjust to and at the moment she won't entertain being within three metres of the new cat - she will hiss and raise her hackles at her and hiss when she hears the kittens crying. What I would like to know is, will our female get used to the new cat? Will she harm the kittens (at present the two exisiting cats are sleeping in a different room to the new mum and kittens)? and Does anyone have any advice as to how to help with this transition period? Any advice would be greatly appreciated - I wouldn't mind but I've always been a "dog" person!!RegardsLL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 Carry on the way you are. Tolerance may be all you achieve between them but you should be fine, especially once the new cat is neutered. We had a similar situation a long time ago, and the hissing stopped post op'! It was a bit scary on occasions and fur would fly but we just kept them apart as much as possible until we were able to get the intruder spayed. All the cats survived and lived long and happy lives. I'd be amazed if the kittens were at risk until they get old enough to be a threat (and probably not even then) - they are usually much easier to integrate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tag Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 Make sure your domestic cats are getting their food. In my experience they will often give way to the kittens and the mother so maybe feed them separately for the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skye Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 I had the same situation a few years ago, trying to introduce two smallish kittens to my existing cat. My vet at the time advised keeping them apart as cats don't willingly accept other cats into their territory and she said it wouldn't be unusual for the older cat to try to kill them. So I kept them in a separate room - the older cat used to sit outside their door and hiss but eventually got used to their scent and when I eventually had them meet face to face (a month or more later) they tolerated each other though never became too friendly. It may be best to wait until they're a little bigger before they meet unless you can supervise very closely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 Put a blanket or something that your cat has used, in with the newcomer and kittens, and vice versa. That way they get to know each others scent without having to meet! Makes the eventual meeting a lot easier!! You might only acheive tolerance between the two cats, but the kittens should be OK. If you are re-homing the kittens, make sure the new owners take a piece of cloth that has been rubbed on the mother's face with them, it helps them settle much quicker if they can smell Mum![kiss] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucky luke Posted June 1, 2007 Author Share Posted June 1, 2007 Hi again,Thanks for all your earlier, excellent advice. Unfortunately the situation has now taken a turn for the worse The mother died yesterday after a very quick and sudden poisoning (as diagnosed by the vet - who believes it was either pesticide or rat poison). As yet we are not sure if it was accidental or deliberate, although three other wild cats who were fed by a neigbour have just "vanished". Either way there is nothing we can do except be vigilant. The kittens are four weeks old and orphaned. To compound matters I've been told to keep the other two cats indoors for ten days - the problem is they are hissing and stalking the kittens. They (the cats and kittens) are both in separate rooms and the labrador is happy with both the kittens. The vet has given us some powdered milk and both kittens are taking this well and are otherwise content.My questions are:Is there anything I can do to help integrate the kittens? Are they at more risk now their mother is dead?Has anyone else ever been told to keep cats indoors following a sudden death - is ten days sufficient? Many thanksLL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 Whilst not in any way a cat "expert", just a cat lover, I suspect that the older cats want the kittens to know who is "boss". We have had cats for many years including farm cats which willingly accepted a stray which arrived in the rain one day. I have not heard of existing, settled adult cats killing kittens, it may of course happen but.... perhaps its just setting up the "pecking order" so to speak.Having rushed a cat to the vet with weedkiller poisoning I know how traumatic it is, but 10 days seems a long time. I suppose it depends if the (deliberate?) poison is still around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucky luke Posted June 1, 2007 Author Share Posted June 1, 2007 Hi Powerdesal,Thanks for that - you may be right, they are usually very sweet tempered so are probably just stating who is in charge. I've spoken to our neighbour's gardener and he says he doesn't use weedkiller (which is what we initially thought had killed her) - I've no reason to disbelieve him and think it's someone else trying to reduce the cat population. I just hope the bait has now gone, or been washed away. I would try and find it but it would help if I knew what to look for - guess "needle and haystack" come to mind!!I agree the poisoning is horrendous to watch and even though we got her to the vet within half and hour she was still in so much pain - at least she died peacefully after the vet intervened. I really couldn't go through this again - especially with the other two. We were lucky that it was a Wednesday and the kids we having a lie in - otherwise they would have seen it.RegardsLucky Luke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 We were lucky, or at least our little rat bag was lucky. He had walked in a pile of soil that the local council workers had dumped their weedkiller waste contents on, of course being a nice clean cat he decided to lick his paws clean - bad move. Foaming at the mouth etc led to a very rapid trip to the vet who quickly treated for organo phosphate poisioning, plus a comprehensive bath and a tense night kept in at the vets. I imagine he is down to 8 lives now at most. I just hope he learnt from it but somehow I doubt it!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 Same rule applies, rub the kittens with a bit of cloth and leave it where your cats can smell it and the same with your cats and the kittens, when they do start mixing they won't be strangers, so less likely to get hurt. It would be very unlikely that your adult cats would do more than give the kittens a duffing over to make sure they knew who was boss!Powerdesal, I had a cat called Rat bag!! She was gorgeous, but lived up to her name!![:-))] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 Not really a rat bag.just an overgrown ankle biter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 Awwwwwwwww!!![:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.