Hello guys! I hope you are staying home with your beautiful pets like me during this pandemic. Our Instagram page is growing and recently a few pet owners have messaged me asking how I introduced Koen to Rya and how was my experience, so here I am finally writing about it and how it worked out.
We adopted Koen from RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) on 22nd December 2019. We watched a lot of videos on cat introduction and did our homework but when Koen finally came home everything became mayhem. First, let's read the list of preparation we did. –
Let Rya sleep on a small blanket for 2 days and took it with us to get Koen so that Koen gets familiar with the smell.
Bought an additional litter box, some new toys, a leash, a bowl, and a cat tree (Before Koen we only had a scratching post for Rya so we thought it’s a good time to upgrade to a cat tree).
Arranged to block the access to the upstairs room (we live in a loft so we don’t have a door separating the bedroom to keep the cats from each other).
When Koen arrived, we took him directly to upstairs so that Rya don’t see him. And then we reintroduced the blanket in which Koen was lying on back to Rya.
Rya smelt the blanket and went crazy. She started hissing due to the smell and that’s when we knew that it wasn't going to be easy.
Koen was an energetic kitten so he started running around upstairs. Right away Rya suspected that something was going on.
Rya sat on the stairs and kept hissing at every movement.
I slept with Rya the next three days downstairs on the couch while my partner spent time with Koen upstairs.
After three days, we decided to take Koen out in the balcony so that Rya can see him. Rya hissed at him a few times through glass doors but eventually stopped and kept a close eye on Koen for the rest of the day.
Koen was a loving and affectionate kitten who was running towards Rya purring but Rya tried hitting him so we had to intervene.
We were continuously kept distracting them when they were around each other with toys etc and were avoiding eye contact as much as we can.
While giving them food, make sure they can see each other but stay at a distance from each other.
This was Koen's first picture I look after coming home from shelter.
This whole experience took a toll on Rya’s behavior and she started hissing at us as well. Every time we would try to pat her she was getting mad. I was really upset as Rya is my baby and I could see how disturbed she was.
Rya tried to hit him a few times but then she started tolerating him around her. I started training Rya at the same by giving her kisses with treats so she was letting us touch and kiss her.
The time when Rya finally saw Koen. She wasnt amused at all lol
Also, another thing to keep in mind was to play a bit extra with your kitten as they have more energy. We used to play with Koen a lot so that he does not bother Rya too much otherwise he kept jumping at her for playing and Rya used to freak out and hiss at him which was a bad association.
So from our experience, while introducing two cats, go very slow and do not stress. No matter how things are initially, it will pass and cats will get together fine with some of your strategies.
After only two weeks of all these small steps, Rya and Koen were play fighting with each other which was sometimes ending with Rya hissing because Koen wasn’t stopping when Rya wanted to stop. This is where I was intervening and distracting Koen with toys etc.
Three months down the line they are not cuddling and sleeping together as I wanted them to but they were grooming each other and sitting next to each other which is great progress. I am now giving more extra attention to Rya to make her more comfortable by training her as she has some attitude issues and building a more positive relationship with Koen and me.
This pic was taken on 28th December, one week after Koen was adopted.
So this was our story, I have tried to highlight important points which you can consider while introducing your cats. Even after reading above if you have any questions regarding introducing your cats, drop it in the comments below and I will try to help you asap as I have a lot of stories and research stories with me which can help you.
This pic was taken exactly one month after adopting Koen and they were already grooming each other :)
That's it for today,
Believe in Kindness, empathy & well-being of each other.
Yours,
Saba :)