It often happens that at that moment when a person decides to have a kitten, another animal (and sometimes more than one) is already in his house. This circumstance becomes the reason for serious reflection, but this is not a reason to abandon the idea of acquiring a new family member.
Before you bring a kitten to the house, make sure that the other animals are absolutely healthy and they have been given all the necessary vaccinations. Just in case, it is recommended to keep the pet in a separate room for several days. It is also useful in that if another cat lives in your house, such temporary isolation will allow the animals to gradually get used to each other.
The calmness of all family members depends on how the kitten’s relationship develops with your other pets.
Every day, let the kitten out of the room for several hours to allow it to get used to people. At this time, another cat enters the room and thus appears in the space of a new, unknown smell. Due to this, she will show less aggression with direct acquaintance.
There is another good way to speed up the process of mutual rapprochement of pets. Take a towel, rub it with a housewife (pay special attention to the most important areas - the area under the tail, sides and back of the head), then the novice, and then the first cat again. As a result, the animals will get the same smell and your cat will sooner recognize an intruder.
After that, you can try to introduce the pets. Do not be surprised if they begin to show some discontent. The fact is that cats have a very developed possessive instinct with respect to the so-called first-order house - the territory where the animal is used to eating and sleeping. If a stranger invades this space, the cat hisses, grumbles and behaves extremely wary, and you should not be afraid of such a reaction.
But if the hostess of the territory shows obvious aggression (rushes at the newcomer, tries to attack him from an ambush), it is urgent to take measures and again isolate one of the cats. But the animal should not be punished for protecting its legal territory from the encroachments of the "occupier": such behavior is completely natural, and it is unlikely that in this case the cat will understand what it was guilty of.
It happens that an adult cat (as a rule, this applies to castrated animals) helps a novice adapt, trains him, gives “instructions”.
Instead, make a harsh sound that scares the animal: for example, with a loud bang, drop a book or any other heavy object, but do not give the appearance that the danger is coming from you. Cover the hostess cat with the prepared box and immediately remove the newcomer from the room. However, one should not try to do the opposite: it is better to stay away from an aggressive cat.
In any case, one should not accelerate events artificially and impose friendship on pets: let everything proceed as the cats themselves wish. After a while, they will humble themselves and acknowledge each other.
There is another great way to get to know animals better. A joint meal facilitates this process, so cats should be fed in the same room. If you immediately put their bowls next to each other, a conflict is inevitable, which means that you need to act differently.
Place the dishes for cats in different corners of the room, and then gradually move the bowls, and in the end, after a few days the animals will eat nearby. It is very likely that a cat that has been living in your house for a long time will not be happy with such a turn of events: it will refuse food and will be hostile to looking at an unwanted neighbor. Having noticed the first signs of aggression, do not wait until it takes an open form, but simply remove the cat from the room. Do not forget that you should not scold and punish her in any case.
Even if at first your animals do not want to contact each other, you must continue to try to make friends with them. With some efforts on your part, they will certainly succeed.
to be continued...