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| Finn |
Several months ago, I decided to adopt a kitten for the very first time. Having only had adult cats in the past, I did quite a bit of research on introducing kittens to cats in advance as my current cat Abigail is nine years old and had recently lost her adult brother to stomach cancer. I knew no matter how old the new cat, a transitional, step-by-step introduction with my current feline would be the way to go. Thankfully I am very plugged into the Pet Blogosphere and have quite a few experienced cat focused contacts to call upon. With the help of the social petworking community, I began the journey of adopting and introducing another feline into my home. Below are the steps I took, in a not so rigid fashion, to provide the most harmonious transition for me, my cat Abigail and my new kitten Finnegan.
Research and Set-Up
Researching the experience and advise from others in the petworking community was so extremely helpful to prepare me for what was to come. By reading the articles others had written, I was able to plan in advance for the arrival of my new kitten and set the stage for the new feline landscape. Articles that I found especially helpful include:
Are Two Cats Better Than One? – Ingrid King
Introducing a New Cat into your Home – Vicki Stringfellow Cook
Both articles were helpful in that Ingrid expresses her own personal journey and her instincts that guided her through each introduction, while Vicki uses a step-by-step procedure that is helpful in planning and preparing.
Creating a separate cat playpen area for my kitten (as Vicki encourages) was key in the first few weeks of the feline introduction. This separate play area for kitten continues to be a wonderful way to give my adult cat a break from the energy of a spunky little kitten. Using my intuition and following my gut, as pointed out in Ingrid’s article, has been the perfect way to know how much alone time the new feline friends should have, when to separate them, and when to allow them to ‘work’ things out amongst themselves. By creating a separate space for the new kitten to enjoy and supervising the initial interactions with the cats, I have been able to leave them alone together with no negative consequences.
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| Abigail and Finn |
Another resource I found very helpful in my research and set-up stage was through the new television show “My Cat From Hell”. Jackson Galaxy stars as the professional Cat Behaviorlist who assists people and their problem cats. Frequently he is met with the introduction of two cats that is not going well. In a few episodes, I had seen Jackson teach play therapy to kitty cats that were not the best of friends. This notion leads me to one of the best tactics I use to create a peaceful co-existence since I brought my kitten home.
Scheduled Play Sessions
A wonderful way to create a friendly and harmonious existence between pets that I have found is through scheduled play sessions. Please note that this step comes after a slow transitional introduction between the felines. This step is not only good during the early stages of co existing together, it is a wonderful way to maintain and strengthen the bond between pets, as well as the bond you have with them too.
Scheduled and timed play sessions are so beneficial while helping felines become friendly; it is a weekly, even daily routine in my home. An article I recently wrote about play sessions outlines the benefits for both you and your kitties. Scheduling keeps cats on a routine so that they can begin to look forward to the sessions and time spent together. Timing the sessions keeps you on track with the amount of time you spend with the kitties during these sessions. Playing during the session provides the good karma the cats will start to associate with each other and provide as the normal environment overtime. Playing will also help your kitten exhaust some of his energy while re introducing your mature cat to new, fun toys.
Staying Connected in a Petworking Community
Probably the last and most important part of my transitional kitty cat journey has been the support of a strong, solid petworking community. This is the same community that helped me when my cats have been sick, when I am looking for advise on new toys or pet health related topics. This petworking community helped me dry my tears when Madison crossed over the rainbow bridge. It is the Pet Bloggers, the Facebook Furry Friends, the Twitter Pet Gang and the pet purrs and wags forums on the Internet. The best wisdom I can offer about any pet related topic always comes back to the community that will help you raise them. As I have leaned on so many over the years, I can now share some of my experiences, challenges and tips with the Blogosphere. Continuing to stay connected offers me a wonderful pool of support, advise, and help, tips, and much, much more. It takes a village.
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| Lisa & Abigail |
Lisa Illman is the Founder of Kritter Kommunity and runs the Blog, Kritters that Twitter. Her fur babies, Abigail and Madison, inspired her to design an outdoor pet product line called the Kritter Kondo. When Madison, her 15-year-old Tuxedo passed away from stomach cancer, Lisa adopted a kitten named Finnegan. You can follow them on Twitter (@KritterKondo, @LisaIllman).
