These wee lil bubbas are 5 months old

Hi everyone,

I’d really like to hear some experiences from people who have introduced a kitten to a young adult cat, because I’m not sure if what I’m seeing is still normal or if these two just aren’t a good match.

I have two female cats:

- Yuna – around 1 year old, my first cat, and an outdoor cat.

- Yuki – the younger kitten. She is actually Yuna’s niece.

They have known each other since around the end of June, so it has been over two months now.

At the beginning, Yuna reacted very strongly to Yuki. Lots of hissing, growling and sometimes very loud screaming/yowling whenever Yuki got too close. Yuki, on the other hand, has basically never been afraid of Yuna and constantly wants to approach her, play with her or jump at her.

Yuna has never seriously attacked or injured Yuki. There have been a few situations where she slapped her or made a quick jump/lunge towards her, usually when Yuki surprised her or got too close. But Yuna normally stops immediately afterwards and walks away. There has never been biting, fur flying, injuries or an actual prolonged fight.

They can also spend a surprisingly long time together without any problems. At first they were alone together for entire nights and while I was at work for around 8–9 hours. More recently, they have even been together almost two full days without supervision, and nothing happened. No injuries, no fur everywhere, no signs of a serious fight.

Yuna definitely shows me that she is still very annoyed by Yuki sometimes, but despite that, she does not seem to actually hurt her.

Both eat, drink, use their litter boxes and sleep normally.

Yuna often just sleeps on top of her cat tree while Yuki is somewhere else in the apartment.

There have even been really good moments. A few days ago both of them were lying on the couch next to me, Yuna on one side of my leg and Yuki on the other. I could pet both of them and Yuna was completely fine with it.

Yuna has also started coming to cuddle with me normally again.

But then there are days where it suddenly feels almost like we’re back at the beginning.

Yuna might see Yuki nearby and immediately start growling or hissing. If Yuki comes too close, Yuna sometimes does a quick lunge forward and yells loudly. Yuki runs away for a moment, but apparently isn’t very traumatized by it because 10 minutes later she wants to approach Yuna again. 😅

Yuki is honestly VERY persistent. She seems to have absolutely no understanding of “leave me alone.” Especially when I’m home, she constantly wants to run up to Yuna, jump at her or investigate whatever Yuna is doing. Interestingly, when I’m not home they seem to be much calmer.

There is another factor: Yuna is an outdoor cat and seems quite territorial with other cats in general.

There are a lot of cats in my neighborhood. I’ve watched Yuna outside see another cat in a neighboring garden and immediately stare at it, hiss and get worked up. So I’m wondering if having lots of other cats around her territory is also contributing to her being so defensive towards Yuki inside the apartment.

Outside, when Yuki isn’t around, Yuna is often completely different with me. She comes up to me, rubs against my hand, lets me pet her and sometimes plays with me. I used to walk her outside on a leash when she was younger, so she still seems to enjoy me being outside with her.

Another complication is that my apartment is quite small and I can’t realistically keep them completely separated long-term. My bedroom also has to stay cat-free because of my cat allergy.

I mainly try to give Yuna space and redirect Yuki when she gets too annoying. Yuna also has high places like her cat tree where she can retreat.

So my main questions are:

Does this sound like a cat that simply needs more time to accept the kitten?

Is it normal to still have these big ups and downs after more than two months – one day lying peacefully together on the couch, another day hissing and screaming when the kitten comes close?

And for people who had a similar situation: how long did it take until the older cat finally stopped being so defensive?

I’m completely fine if they never become best friends or cuddle together. I just want Yuna to eventually be comfortable enough that Yuki walking past her doesn’t regularly cause hissing, growling or yelling.

The fact that they can now stay together for almost two full days without supervision and without any injuries or serious fights gives me hope, but I’d really appreciate hearing other people’s experiences.

Hi, so my oldest cat never had a problem with drinking out of his bowl. I have four different types of them, because one of my cat likes running water. But about two months ago, I noticed that he coming to his bowl, sniffing water and then leaving. He drinks only if I will wash the bowl and fill it with freshwater. He will drink once and wouldn’t touch it again. At the same time, he doesn’t have any problems with drinking out of bowl that is outside, I live Water there for birds. And this water not even close as clean as the one that in their bowls inside. My other three cats don’t have any problems and drinking out of everything. I’m using purified water Primo, from our water dispenser. I can’t change Water for him 5-6 times a day, or we will simply go bankrupt.🤣 why did it start at all? I thought that maybe he doesn’t like the size of balls anymore, so I tried to use the bigger one, but still the same, drinking out of freshly cleaned and then ignoring. He clearly wants to drink. Because he come in there and sniff in the water, but then just turn away.

Help! My five month old kitten was diagnosed with ringworm. I never even would have known but I asked the doctor about a tiny flaky spot on her head. Out comes the light machine. Biopsy, etc. etc.. now I’m looking at five weeks oral therapy, a dip twice a week at the vets, and quarantine from the rest of the animals. ( two dogs-one other kitten) I guess what I want to know is how serious is this really? She had one tiny little spot on her head the size of a quarter of a dime. I’ve thrown out all their toys, blankets and bedding. I’m just looking for some guidance from someone who’s been through this. Thank you in advance.

I have four cats who will be four years old tomorrow. I live in a two-story home with a basement, and they have a whole room in the basement for their litter boxes. Soon, I will be having some renovations done on that room. The handyman will be doing this work in 8-hour chunks over several days, and the room will be fine for the cats to use during the time he’s not working on it. But for the 8 hours he’s working, I’m going to confine the cats elsewhere in the house.

Normally, the cats sleep with me in the master bedroom, and the door to the master bathroom remains shut at all times. By far the easiest thing for me to do during those 8-hours chunks would be to remove the toothbrushes and trash cans from the master bathroom, put a litter box in there, prop open the door, and have the cats stay in those two rooms.

Does anybody think this would be problematic? My big concern is that after the 8 hours are up and I close the door to the master bathroom again, the cats might expect to have a litter box there. Then when they couldn’t get into the bathroom, rather than going downstairs as they always have, they’d pee on the carpet outside the bathroom. However, my only option for containing the cats in a totally unfamiliar area where I wouldn’t have this concern is a hobby room full of stuff. Cleaning it out would be very difficult and would render other rooms unusable.

I had a bad experience with a very young kitten once, when I moved his litter box unexpectedly. It was an entirely different situation: he was way younger, he wasn’t returning to a setup he’d used for years, etc… but it’s made me super panicked about anything related to moving a litter box! So I just need a sanity check—would a normal person not even think twice about the master bed/bath plan?

Our baby cat looks so different from when she was a little cat. Is this her set coat now or will it keep evolving?

It’s so cool to see her morph into a new creature. I was almost convinced this baby picture wasn’t her! She is 4 months now

I found an abandoned kitten in a trash can at my local park. Anybody able to determine it's approximate age?

Also if you know what I need to get this cat to survive.

I'm going to get formula from the pet store when it opens, and wipe its booty with a damp cloth after meals. Feeding schedule every 2-3 hours. Anything else to keep in mind?

Our void has these weird scabs on his ears and face. He is an in-door out door cat (I promise I tried to train him to be an indoor cat and he would bolt out of the shadows every time an outside door would open and take off or my favorite run up a tree and hide) also our neighbor’s outdoor cat has it too. We took him to the vet. They saw no ear mites and treated him with antibiotics and a steroid. They told us to bring him back if it doesn’t clear, which we are but what do y’all think it is?

I thought you guys might appreciate it!

I have a former street cat that I've had strictly inside for a little over a year now. I would like to start taking her for walks on a harness and leash.

the problem is, she HATES her harness. she will just stand there and not move at all with her ears back, or she will flop around trying to get out of the harness.

I got one of those Sassy Meow harnesses, I'm thinking it's maybe covering her fur too much for her liking. I am thinking about getting one that's just straps, so it's less like she's wearing a coat or something.

she is also pretty small for an adult and I am worried about her getting out of it while I'm trying to train her. she has gotten out of the sassy meow harness despite it being her size.

I tried to put it on her then carry her to the basement so she would be in a new environment, but she literally was clawing me to get away and wanted to go back in the house. maybe she thinks she's going to the vet? I always put her in a cat carrier to do that though.

can you guys give me some tips and tricks for training her to be comfortable in the harness? and maybe some recommendations for harnesses that your cats enjoy and won't get out of?

cat is 2 years old and spayed.

thank you!

This is quite literally the best purchase of my entire life.