Advice for introducing a cat to my existing cats and dogs

gazzer

Myself and a few of my work colleagues found a kitten in the car park of our company yesterday. I would say she is about 8-10 weeks old. We brought it into work and fed it. One of my colleagues brought it home for the night but cant keep it beyond today.

I have 3 cats and 2 dogs who have been living in (somewhat) harmony for the last few years. I have a large house and a 1/2 acre of land so thought I would take the cat tonight and possibly for a longer until we can find her a home.

I am looking for some advice on how to introduce the cat to my existing animals.

I was going to keep her upstairs at night but it is this evening that I am worried about. All my cats and dogs will be in the house and I dont want to distress my existing animals or this new addition so all advice is welcome.

On top of that tomorrow morning the cat will have the house to herself. Our dogs go to Doggy Day Care twice a week and our cats always stay outside when we are in work. Would the kitten be stresed out on her own for the day.

Thanks.

Nody

Put kitten in a seperate room with water, food, a blanket and somewhere to hide. Feed your other cats & dogs outside the door for the next two, three days so they get used to the smell with something positive. You can let the kitten roam during the day but I'd not recommend it because kittens at that age has very very limited bladder control and you may find surprises at unexpected locations; instead I'd let kitten out for an hour or two every evening under your watch.

After a few days you can start to introduce the kitten to your cats (open space with hiding spots for kitten is deal) under supervison; most cats will be curious but not threatened by a kitten (but kitten may scare them by being over energetic) and similar route with your dogs but always under supervison. Once they are comfortable around each other you can look at having her roam parts of the house at day (but you'll need a kitty toilet in every room, two or more for larger rooms) to limit accidents though. I'd not give the kitten full accesss simply becase you don't know where it will end up falling asleep etc.

gazzer

Nody. Thanks for the advice. Some great suggestions. We are going to put the kitten into our spare room downstairs. We have a large box that we are going to put a blanket in. It is beside the utility room where we feed the cats and the kitchen where we feed the dogs.

Our cats usually go out for the night around 11 and come back in for an hour in the morning before we go to work and then they head out again. If they do stay in overnight they sleep in the utility room. We are lucky in that we have a bit of space so the cats and dogs can be seperated from the kitten comfortably enough.

Nody wrote: »

Put kitten in a seperate room with water, food, a blanket and somewhere to hide. Feed your other cats & dogs outside the door for the next two, three days so they get used to the smell with something positive. You can let the kitten roam during the day but I'd not recommend it because kittens at that age has very very limited bladder control and you may find surprises at unexpected locations; instead I'd let kitten out for an hour or two every evening under your watch.

After a few days you can start to introduce the kitten to your cats (open space with hiding spots for kitten is deal) under supervison; most cats will be curious but not threatened by a kitten (but kitten may scare them by being over energetic) and similar route with your dogs but always under supervison. Once they are comfortable around each other you can look at having her roam parts of the house at day (but you'll need a kitty toilet in every room, two or more for larger rooms) to limit accidents though. I'd not give the kitten full accesss simply becase you don't know where it will end up falling asleep etc.