Calm your old cat
Pheromones are useful in creating a calm environment for any cat. A few weeks before your new kitten arrives is a great time to use them. Diffusers, sprays and wipes are available to help your cat relax without the use of medication. Try using pheromones for at least a few weeks before bringing your kitten home.
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If you suspect your adult cat will be stressed and anxious about a new kitten, consider supplements that are designed to calm your cat. They won't cure your pet, but they will help him stay calm and relaxed. They usually work best if administered several weeks before the expected stressful event and can be continued after the new kitten arrives. Ingredients typically include L-theanine, phellodendron, magnolia, whey or milk proteins, and other natural ingredients that are considered safe and effective for pets.
The kitten is unlikely to survive
A common reason for maternal rejection of newborns is considered to be the non-viability of the offspring. Due to some factors, the cat concludes that its children have little or no chance of survival. It happens that she is isolated from relatively healthy, simply weakened individuals. This happens if a lot of babies are born. The female instinctively realizes that she will not be able to feed all the children. This way she gets rid of the weakest kittens that need the most attention.
Prepare your home
New items for your kitten, such as bowls, beds, another litter box, and toys, should be placed in and around your home before the kitten comes home. Start putting these items in their new places about a week before your new arrival so that your adult cat can smell them and get used to all the new things. If possible, try to include items that already have kitty scent on them. Make sure you are prepared for the kitten's arrival. If you are stressed and unprepared, your older cat will be able to tell and feel the negative impact.
Designate a small room, such as a bathroom, where your new kitten can retreat and spend the first week or so. Your adult cat should be able to come to the door of this room to hear and smell, but not have any interaction with the kitten. Place kitten belongings (such as a litter box and food bowls) in this room along with a toy that belongs to your older cat.
Prepare your cat
Make sure your adult cat is healthy. Adding additional stress to an unhealthy cat will only make things worse, and you want your cat to be not only mentally prepared for the arrival of a new kitten, but also physically ready to handle it. Take your cat to the vet to make sure she is healthy and up to date on her vaccinations. Respiratory illnesses are common in kittens, and you want your older cat's immune system to be ready to handle whatever comes into the house. If your cat and kitten scratch or bite, you will also need to keep your rabies vaccine up to date to avoid any problems.
Although older cats sometimes take on a new kitten right away, it usually takes them a little time to adjust to the changes. Sometimes cats never fully accept a new kitten, but simply coexist, staying away from the other cat in the house. You want to be sure that no matter how your cat feels about the new kitten, things will remain peaceful and you'll have a better chance of forming a budding friendship right from the start.
Why don't some cats accept kittens?
There are a number of reasons why a female mother ignores her newborns. They may be behavioral, caused in part by hormonal imbalances. Sometimes a cat will not accept kittens due to a medical condition that makes her unwilling or unable to care for her children.
Behavioral problems
Some mother cats believe that the first kitten born is the only one. They focus on him and ignore others. Sometimes a female rejects a litter born by Caesarean section, as well as due to undeveloped maternal instinct.
Animals can abandon their young due to stress caused by obsessive attention from their owners, bright light, noise, poor living conditions, and malnutrition. A difficult birth can frighten a mother so much that she refuses to care for her offspring (avoids the source of pain).
Alien smell can cause kittens to be abandoned. Do not touch them with your hands without medical gloves. You can correct the situation by “marking” the cubs with their native smell (cat milk, urine). As a last resort, apply your pet’s favorite treat to the “refuser”.
Cats will not accept kittens that seem sick or unviable to them.
Sometimes the female instinctively abandons and stops feeding a weak cub (especially in a litter that is too large) - one with a birth defect, illness, or parasites. In the wild, this is a normal occurrence to conserve limited resources and prevent the spread of disease in the litter.
Diseases and hormonal disorders affecting maternal behavior
Any disturbance in the endocrine or nervous system - a decrease in the levels of prolactin, oxytocin, serotonin, dopamine - affects the instincts, prompting the female to ignore her children.
A cat will not accept kittens if she does not produce milk. This problem may occur due to a defect in the pituitary gland: low levels of the hormone prolactin lead to insufficient development of the mammary glands during pregnancy.
Another reason for lack of milk is malnutrition. A pregnant female should eat 2-2.5 times more calories per day than a normal female. If the amount of food and water is insufficient, weight loss and dehydration will reduce lactation.
Sometimes the breasts can become inflamed due to infection, a condition called mastitis. Swelling and pain occur in the affected glands. The milk becomes yellow, thick and occasionally bloody. The female's temperature rises, she becomes lethargic and loses her appetite.
Often, a cat refuses to feed due to painful hardening of the mammary glands due to eclampsia (low calcium levels), stagnation of milk, postpartum diseases of the uterus, peritonitis. When an animal is in pain or unwell, it has no desire to care for its offspring.
Acquaintance
Preparing for a new tenant:
- purchase individual household items - a bowl, tray, house (bedding for rest);
- Every pet should have a scratching post and toys;
- wipe the back, tail, places of the old-timer’s scent glands and place them in a carrier for a newbie;
- Having wiped the stranger with a towel, put him in the cat’s house and let him get used to the unusual smell;
- prepare a separate room or divide the room with a grid or partition;
- give animals plant-based soothing drops: “Fitex”, “Feliway”, “Kot Bayun”;
- trim the claws, dull them, sharpen them with a nail file;
- prepare disinfectants in case of a fight;
- Bring the kitten in a carrier and let him get acquainted without taking the animal out.
To stop possible aggression:
- thick leather gloves;
- spray bottle with cold water;
- thin blanket.
The rights of a cat living in an apartment should not be infringed due to the appearance of a second tenant. His bowl, tray, favorite chair, bed must remain intact.
The first acquaintance takes place in the presence of the owner. The beginner must climb out of the carrier himself. The old-timer takes a dominant position, walks around the stranger, and watches him closely.
Do not force cats to communicate. After sniffing, it is better to separate the animals into different rooms. The newcomer is given a personal toilet. When the cats become friends, one tray can be removed.
Water and bowls of food should be placed on opposite sides next to the net, at some distance; eating together is relaxing. Every day the animals change places to get used to the smell of their relatives.
They arrange short-term meetings without a network, under control. If pets sniff each other, jump up, or hit each other with their paws, there is no need to interfere. Don't confuse fighting with building a hierarchy. The older member of the pack can growl at the younger one, demonstrate superiority - this is a form of communication.
Signs of a cat's defensive posture:
- the head is drawn in, the ears are pressed tightly to the head;
- the tail is wrapped around the body, the tip is hidden;
- the wool stands on end;
- the animal hisses and releases its claws.
If a serious fight breaks out, the rivals weave themselves into a ball, and the conflict is stopped by spraying with water or covering the newcomer with a blanket. The older cat must emerge victorious from the fight.
After about a week, the animals get used to each other and begin to become friends. After 2-3 weeks, they leave their comrades unattended.
