What's the best way to introduce a new kitten to an older cat?

Got a 2 year old neutered male cat and just brought home an 8 week old female kitten. I've been doing the adjustment slowly, letting my older cat smell the new smells and only letting them see each other for short periods of time. But my older cat is so depressed and stressed out. He doesn't like her. What are some things I can do to make the transition?

It will take a while for them to like each other and there will be alot of hissing and spitting to start with. Firstly don't shout or tell the older cat off when he hisses or spits this will make him dilike the kitten even more. Try feeding them together as then the older cat will associate good things with the little kitten.

you have to introduce them slowly, it takes a little time, show equal attention to both. I had similar problem to yours a few months ago but they are best friends now

find the common interests of both cats or take them out to eat at the food bowl.

That's a tough question. If the older male starts to pull its hair out it is a sure sign of stress. We have had cats that pulled so much hair out from stress that it looked like the shaved their belly & legs. If he does dont get to worried it will grow back.

what i would do is put them in the same room for the rest of the day make shure a litter box is in there along with water and food come in at the end of the day if there is scrach marks on both of them pick them up at the same time and rock them to sleep and put them together to sleep and cover them with a blanket and take a pictures then get it develped and show the cats the pictures do this for a few weeks

it will take them time to adjust especially the older cat.. but he will...i take them and pet them both at the same time....so that the comfort zone is established...time will take care of it...and soon they will either tollerate each other or steer clear but the problems will be minimal. make one feeding bowl and waterin bowl...not two...when u play with one play with both..etc...hope this helps

well. I went throught the same thing. I did what you did and thats apparently the right way to go about it. I had a 8 year old cat and a brand new kitten. When they were fully introduced it did not really work out. he bugged her and chased her. If that happens get a third cat the same age as the kitten so she has a play mate and leaves the older one alone. But for now you are doing the right thing, sometimes it just does not work out.

I had a similar situation when I brought my Sanders home to meet our other cat, Angel. She didn't like him at all and was hissing at him and us for bringing him home. We brought them to the vet together a few days later and she was still hissing at him in the office. The vet told me the best thing to do is to feed them together and give them treats when they are together. This way they learn to associate good things with eachother. Like "Hey, when that kitten is around I get treats. Maybe she isn't so bad afterall." It sounds funny, but the vet said it should really work and it did for us. Also, give the older cat lots of attention because you don't want him to think hes been replaced. The kitten wont mind and will probably find something to get into while you play with the other cat. After about 1 to 2 weeks, my cats were best friends. I just sent Sanders in to be neutered and declawed a few days ago and Angel was so sad and depressed the entire time he was gone. She missed him so much that every time you said his name she'd run to the door and look for him. She even tried to get him out of the cat kennal before we took him. Just give it a bit of time. They'll learn to love eachother.

ohh thats bad they may hiss for awhile next time you get a kitten make sure your other cat is young to but you have to watch them for awhile untill they get used to eachother

no way, i tried it once. my older cat hated the kitten so much that she just pushed the kitten away

I have just done exactly the same thing.... I have a 1yr old neutered male and i have just brought an 9week old female. I held the kitten while my cat came over to look at her then i put the kitten down on the floor and let her wander round, he just sat and watched her for a few minutes then went and introduced himself in a cats way. They played together and i did have to shout him to play nicely a couple of times but they got on fine. I left them alone in the lounge/kitchen and they just got on together. If she wanted to sleep he left her to.So my advice is just leave them to get on with it, he won't like her at first but in a few days they will be fine.After 2 days they play together when they want to and do their own thing when they want. the one yr old looks after her, hope its goin well with yours, let me know!