... and Greta!

Well, now, this is a TREAT! This is Greta, my flat-mate's kitten.

http://www.jrc.es/~cawood/Greta4.jpg

http://www.jrc.es/~cawood/Greta2.jpg
(Well,and THAT was my boyfriend's hand!, my flat-mate would be very angry with me if I let you think she's so hairy ;))

I talked about this little sweet (yet wild!) thing in Playing Together , cause I was a bit worried about how Siro and Greta would get on with each other. Now we dare to set them "loose" always under our supervision. At first, they look at each other and start approaching carefully. Then, they just fight! None of them is ever wounded by the other, but when we think things are getting "rough", we separate them. Is this normal, a good sign or what? Should we try playing with them so they can "join" instead of fighting each other? Definitely, Siro isn't nervous anymore, I mean, he hasn't hissed since a week, so we can grab him to separate them... Well, could you please advise? I need your wise comments!!

Nita

P.S.: If you help me through this I promise I'll post pictures of Siro and Greta playing together. Would you resist this offer? ;)

First of all let me tell you how beautiful Sirocco (I saw his pics in your other post) and Greta are.

I'm not sure if I can help you but at least I can tell you about my experience, in recent years it has happened quite a few times that I had to introduce, sometimes even temporarily, cats in an existing group. I won't bore you with all examples, I'll just talk about my recent experience.

When my 19 year old male died in September a short time later we adopted a 2 month old kitten. My 2 females reacted very differently: Prema would not have anything to do with him, would hiss, growl and try to hit him. In the beginning he tried to approach her but in the end he got so scared he would either hide or freeze on the spot. In this case Maya would come to his rescue and send Prema running. Maya sort of took over the mother role even though we was (and still is) a true pest with her, he just won't leave her in peace.

After a month though the situation changed completely. Foxy is no longer scared of Prema and she accepted him. He steals her food, jumps on her just as he does with Maya. During the night he often sleeps next to Maya or, now that he has obtained her permission he sleeps with Prema on my bed (now that he has obtained her permission :D. Prema and Foxy now love to play together, quite rough at times, but if it's not one that it's the other who instigates it. During the day Prema and Foxy are often found in the same room and they enjoy each others company.

Maya on the other hand tends to ignore them both and prefers to be on her own.

I don't think there is a rule, I personally would advise you to give them some supervised time together, let them get to know each other at their own pace, just separate them if things get a bit too rough. Good luck and keep us posted.

Isn't Greta the most adorable furbaby!:)

I wouldn't worry too much Nita about Sirocco & Greta playing together. As long as you keep an eye on them, to separate them should things get too hectic!

A photo of them TOGETHER would be great!!:D
Thanks
Lynne

Awwww, what an adorable furbaby!!! Remains me of Kirsten's Luna when she was kitten. Anyhow, very cute.

I agree with the playing, just as long as you keep eye on them and interfere if they get too wild with each other.

Congratulations to Greta for picking such a sweet household! Every kitten deserves to have lots of humans to care about them!

Sounds like Greta and Sirocco are learning from each other - just make sure that Greta learns not to play too rough with humans, and Sirocco will help her learn about other cats.

Best wishes to your kitties and all your kitty guardians!

I have a 7 yr. old cat (Kedi), and got a kitten last April. It was touch & go for a couple days, then they started playing, sleeping and grooming each other. :rolleyes: :)

However, at one point soon after, they would play REALLY rough with each other. Sometimes big (14 lbs) kitty would seem too tough with the little one. He would often pin the kitten (Wylie) down and bite him, etc.
It worried me at first, and everyone on the cat pages assurred me it was normal: older kitties will play with kittens like that to teach them how to defend themselves, and to hunt.
It seemed okay also because they would curl up and go to sleep with each other afterwards. :D

Now, Wylie is bigger than Kedi, and wins most of the 'battles'...........but they are still very close.
I call them my little 'lover-boys' :cool: :rolleyes: :D :)

I had to give Mocha about 2 weeks to learn to love Bonzo. Mocha was about 1yr. when I brought Bonzo home, he was about 9wks.... so tiny.....I kept running next door to my neighbor (Now my Hubby:D ) crying thinking, "What have I DONE!" Mocha hissed at Bonzo and then hissed at me. As if to say, "HOW DARE YOU!" Then she swiped at me and went and hid for a few days under my bed. Finally I told her he was staying so get used to him! It took 2weeks or so but they finally worked it out and no one got hurt. (Thank God!) They are now the best of friends.

There is often an adjustment time for one cat to get used to another new (kitty). Snow Tiger took about 7 days to become familiarized with the crew. And I had two queens (Bright Eyes, and Mackerella) who took to washing him right away, Yet, I think it is much easier for a new kitty to be accepted among a multiple cat household (such as mine) , than only for one or two residents, at least this has been my experience with them.:)

..........wayne

Thaks to you all for your postings! They've been really nice and supporting! Up to now Siro and Greta's way of having fun has been trying to hit each other, but I think it's just playing cause it's plain that they take turns in chasing the other... till someone gets hurt and then we have to interfere.. Anyway now it's very rare to hear them hissing or growling so I'm quite hopeful that they'll get on well and they're going to learn a lot from each other!!! They both need it, Siro being a bit too shy and Greta so young - she's now 1 month old, but when we adopted her, she was only 2 weeks. She had been abandoned in a pet-shop (this shop doesn't sell animals, and it seems that it's become some kind of shelter somehow). I felt very sad and shocked when I saw the poor thing alone in a cage ( she cuddled up to a corner) so we coudn't help bringing her home... so I guess she needs to learn a lot from cats (the lot her mother couldn't teach her!) Well, I'll keep you updated and I'll try to take some good pictures of them playing together.
:)

Nita

Quote:

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Originally posted by LoudLou
I kept running next door to my neighbor (Now my Hubby:D )

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Louise,

What a great way to meet! :D Your cats brought you together!

Dianne

Yes they did. I used to complain to my friends all the time about the "Loud Rock 'n' Roller" guy next door... Little did I know I would marry him and that Mocha would become "Daddy's Little Princess who can do NO wrong ":D ...I think she did it on purpose!;)

Greta is gorgous!!! She looks exactly like my neighbor's Max...of course, Greta is much prettier than Max (boys like to be called cute....)

Here he is:
http://www.photogra.com/galleries/35...0131195059.jpg

http://www.photogra.com/galleries/35...0131195230.jpg

And here is Max with his doggy, Otis...
http://www.photogra.com/galleries/35...0131195402.jpg

They look so much alike! Wow! :D