I have an issue with introducing a new kitten to my resident cat. The resident cat is 13 years old and has always been solitary and generally doesn't like other cats. In the past, she has tolerated 2 other cats and they were both males and younger cats (they were neighbors' cats). We recently got a new 4-month old kitten from the pound (male) and he is very friendly and can be quite playful at times. For most of the time, he is confined to a bedroom with his own toys, litter, and food bowls. My resident cat has the rest of the house with her own stuff, too. They're not sharing anything at the moment. They have met a few times in the main areas of the house under our supervision, for a short period of time (i.e. one hour or so).
On occasions where my resident cat meets him, she will hiss at him. The first time they met, they both touched noses and she hissed first, and then he hissed back at her. We separated them immediately. She continued to hiss at him whenever she sees him, but since then he seems to not show any signs of retreating. He would just go about what he is doing and ignores her (he wouldn't go near her, though). I think she's annoyed at this and that's why she continues hissing. Last night they were both out in the main areas for longer and she retreated and hissed at him continuously. She was visibly upset, and when we put him back in his room, she was still upset at us and she continued hissing and complaining to us for another hour or so.
What should I do so that the new kitten understands that she wants to establish dominance? And will my resident cat eventually get used to him?
Thank you.
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Introducing new cat to resident cat
Step 1
Give each cat a blanket with the others' scent.
Step 2
Spend time with resident cat by himself
Step 3
Your resident cat has already established dominance. She hissed 1st. The younger cat will need a little time to accept that. The scenario you are seeing played out is typical of two cats who will get along. You are doing all the right things to support that. It just takes time and repeating what you are doing until they are just bored with it and decide to do something else. It can take a couple of weeks. You are wise to limit the exposure until the older cat starts to look exasperated, and then separate them for awhile.
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