We have 2 kittens (they are being fixed later this week), a 6-7 month old Garfield style boy cuddle bug named Booth and a 7-8 month old more aloof tortie named Bones (yes we love the show!). When we initially brought home Booth, Bones hissed a little but took to him rather quickly and I wasn’t as concerned with possible fighting because they were fairly close in size/age. Now we rescued 2 much smaller kittens from someone who was trying to sell them, saying they were 6 weeks old. They are 3-4 weeks only. We rescued the cutest little squished face girl (we have have named her Squishy the Mogwai) who is rather rambunctious already and her brother, Mufasa, who was the runt of the litter and had an eye infection when we got him. We have been keeping them in a large crate and recently put in a box top for a litter box and they are already starting to use it (yea!) a little, but the are rather annoyed at being in the crate. In fact Mufasa got his name because he paces in the front of the crate like a caged lion at the zoo. Okay now that I’ve made introductions here is my problem. Bones hissed at first introduction and has since avoided/ignored the kittens. Since she spends a lot of time outside, this isn’t hard to do. Booth on the other hand hisses and growls and tries to stay as far away as possible. Again they spend quite a bit of the day exploring our 1 acre property, but he seems very against the new house mates. I’m at a loss as to how to introduce them not just looking through the crate, since the size difference is so severe especially with Mufasa. Also Booth and Bones are getting fixed in a few days which I imagine might have an effect on attitude for a few days while they recover, but the babies desperately want out of the crate and even if we could carry them around all the time we can’t because they want down and Booth wants up (Bones likes to be petted not held) … Any thoughts, tips, tricks of the trade, especially for those who have had tiny babies, would be appreciated.
Update: we have tried a few supervised introductions, Bones is overcoming her shyness and even playing with Squishy and Mufasa, but Booth is very unhappy. There have been a few sniffs, but mostly lots of hissing, growling and even some swipes at the babies. So now we have definite aggression from our older male towards both male and female babies… I’m sad, but hopeful that we can work towards a more peaceful kitty loving house. Help please!
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