JoJo Might Be Getting a Siamese Sibling

[elizabethann]

Why are Siamese called meezers? Is that just a nickname?

I picked the kitten up. I picked out a girl. She is absolutely beautiful. She's like the super model of cats. I took a photo but haven't downloaded it yet. But I will.

She is scared to death. She spent most of the night under the bed, crying and shaking. I've named her Olivia (emphasis on the "O") O-livia.

I eventually got her to come closer to the edge of the bed frame, where I petted and played with her.

JoJo hates her and Fenway is not too sure. He keeps staring at her. She kind of looks like a ferret, so I'm hoping he doesn't think she's one. I'm kind of nervous.

I put her in bed with me last night and she fell asleep. Then JoJo tried to come into bed (she usually sleeps in my arms). But she couldn't, because Olivia was there. Well JoJo was pi$$ed. She hissed and howled and that got Olivia hissing & howling. Fenway, who was on the bed, said "what the heck? I'm out of here" and went into the living room.

The sad thing is, right now, she is behind the bookcase crying her eyes out. She won't come out. I feel so bad for her.

I had to leave for work, so I have a baby gate in the living room. Hopefully, JoJo will leave her alone. I have the baby gate held up by a chair. Last night, I had the baby gate just leaning and I heard crash! I thought Fenway knocked it over. But then I heard limping, and realized JoJo just knocked it over and she was on her way to see Olivia. Well, that didn't work out too good. They hissed & howled.

I feel bad for JoJo because I think she liked being an only cat.

Any suggestions on what I can do to try to get them to get along better?

[kb2yjx]

In the book, " The New Natural Cat," Anitra Frazier STRONGLY suggests that we should let the cats work things out on their own. Only intervene if there is REAL fighting. One thing that she recommends, that is REALLY hard to do, it have nothing to do with the new cat, until she is accepted by the cats already in the house. Of course, feed the kitty, and make sure she is OK. And of she hides, let her. Who knows how she was treated in her other home??? We have brought MANY new cats/kittens into our house, and eventually, they work things out....GOOD LUCK!!! I think Oliva is a great name for your new baby! Is she eating and using the litter box?

[Shelteez2]

When we added a kitten to our household we didn't let him interact with our other cat for 2 weeks. By the time they got to interact with one another he was pretty confident in his surroundings and was able to deal with the stress of meeting new pets. Also we only let him meet one family member at a time.
I'm sure all will work out fine. There is always an adjustment period. I'm sure others will have better advice.

[elizabethann]

Thanks for the advice folks. Olivia hasn't eaten, drank or used the potty since I brought her home last night. I'll check everything tonight when I get home from work.

Fenway is having some adjustments this week - first a new kitten and now my sister just got a puppy. I'll be bringing Fenway over to her house tonight to meet the new puppy (named Murray). He's going to say, "what is going on here? Who are these new critters?"

I like the advice of leaving the kitten alone.

Basically, I'll let her come out of her shell, when she is good and ready.

[kb2yjx]

I think I would forgo taking Fenway to meet the puppy. He is already stressed out with the new kitten. Go meet the puppy, and come home and tell Fenway about it!!!

[Vermontcat]

How old is the kitten? If she is really tiny, you might want to isolate her in a room by herself like the bathroom where the other pets can't get to her while you are at work. Make sure she has food, water and a litterbox in there so you can keep track of what she is doing in there. The kitten will be shy at first and want someplace safe to hide.
When I brought home my two Siamese cats last month they hid under furniture for the first day or two then explored more as they got used to their new home.
When you are home make sure you give Fenway and Jojo plenty of attention but also give the kitten some time with you in a separate room. As the kitten feels more secure in your home then try introducing them while you supervise them.
Try catnip or a toy that both cats will be interested in, they may end up playing with each other instead of the toy. Good luck, don't rush things, they may surprise you and get along rather quickly once they get used to each other.

[Taz_Zoee]

I recently brought a new kitten into my house with my 13 year old cat who has ALWAYS been an only cat (with the exception of a few months when I lived with a boyfriend). Like others said (and my vet agreed with this too) I put Paizly in her own room, mainly because she hadn't had her shots too. But then even after her shots I kept her in her room and Zoee met her within the first week. But Taz was able to come by the room and sniff under the door. Paizly did hide a little at first too. But we would just go into the room and lay on the floor. She eventually would come out to investigate us. We'd play with her and talk to her. We let her come to us when she was ready.
Eventually we let her out into the rest of the house under close supervision. Taz hated her! Hiss, growled and swatted at her constantly!! Then about a week later they were actually playing together. Even now, especially with Taz not feeling good, he still hisses and growls at her quite a bit. But I never interrupt, I only watch to make sure it doesn't get out of hand. The thing is, Paizly has no fear! She'll just keep coming back for more. LOL

I felt horrible that I had turned Taz's world upside down by bringing home a little monster (his words LOL). But they are all fine now. And Zoee gives Paizly baths all the time too. Basically you just need to give them all time. I honestly felt like there would never be harmony in my house again. But experienced PTers put my mind at ease and of course they were right!!

I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of Olivia. And I'm also looking forward to hearing about how well they are all doing in about a month.

[jazzcat]

Has Olivia been checked by a vet? I would keep her and JoJo apart until she's been checked out and then I would give them a few days to get adjusted to the smell of each other under the door before letting them see each other. One thing that might help would be to give each kitty a towel or blanket to sleep on and then once they've gotten their scent on it swap the blankets and let them "smell" each other. That helped with my guys.

If Fenway hasn't really been around a little kitten you may want to be very cautious with him. Kittens bounce around differently from cats and it might kick in his prey drive. Has he gone after a ferret before? This little kitten might definitely look the same to him. You might want to keep him on a leash when you introduce them so you have control of him just in case.

How old is the kitten? She sounds like she may have been taken from her mom too soon if she is crying that much.