Adding a new pet to your home is always a momentous occasion. When you bring your kitten home, the introduction will be the first of many wonderful moments you two will share.
While the people in your home will be more than happy to welcome their newest family member with open arms, that’s not always the case with your other pets. You can never predict how they will react to seeing another cat or a different animal in the home they have known for many years.
There’s a non-zero chance things could turn out badly.
Make it easier for your pets new and old to get used to the changes at home by heeding the tips in this article.
Use a Cat Crate
We mainly use cat crates to take our pets to the vet, but they are useful in other ways too. For instance, you can rely on them to provide protection for your kitten when the time comes for the introduction between him/her to your other pets.
Pet MD does note that harnesses and leashes could work too, but I would go with the cat crate mainly because it offers better protection.
By the way, the cat crate isn’t just for the kitten. You can save yourself from plenty of scratches by using the crate for introductory purposes as well.
Supervise All Interactions
As pet parents, we always assume the best of our animal companions. The notion that they would intentionally hurt anyone outside of them trying to protect you can seem ridiculous.
Here’s the thing though: Pets can act differently around animals they don’t know. Something may trigger their primal instincts and they may go on the attack out of the blue.
If you are going to introduce your new kitten to your other pets, make sure you’re there to see it happen.
Take Things Slow During Introduction
Lastly, the Humane Society suggests going slow when it comes to the introductions.
There’s a chance that your pets may not act friendly towards your kitten right away and that’s fine. Just continue the introductions on a different day and see how they turn out then.
Given time, your pets will realize that the new kitten is not a threat and they will be able to get along better.
I’m not going to sugarcoat things. Introducing your new kitten to your older pets is not going to be easy. What you can do is make the introductions easier to manage by trying out the tips in this article.
Are you worried about leaving your new kitten home alone? Allow us at TAILored Cat Services to step in and keep him/her company. Call us at 425-923-7791 or scan our website to learn more about how we can help.
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