The kittens have been here 5 days now. Still doing really well and seem to be settling in. They do dive out of their safe room now as soon as the door is open so we've started letting them explore the house with Kane shut in the back of the house, he can go in their safe room and the kitchen while they run around the living room and upstairs. In the safe room he had a sniff around and did make a funny cry once, then started rubbing his cheeks on stuff.
The kittens aren't out for long, and when they're in the safe room he has the run of the rest of the house. I tend to stay mostly in the kitchen with Kane while the kittens are in the living room with hubby so hopefully he doesn't feel I prefer them to him. We still have his cat flap open atm and he's not spending any more time outside so that is positive. Would hate for him to think he's not welcome any more.

The past couple nights Kane has started sleeping on my bed again, and this morning I woke with him on my pillow.
I showed him the kittens one by one this evening by taking them into the kitchen and holding them whilst stroking and talking to Kane. He didn't hiss at all which is good.

He is definately a stressed by their presence in the house, he seems miserable still and seems to be spending more time in the kitchen than normal. I think he's washing more than normal too.
Will continue making a fuss of him and really hope he gets happier with the situation.

I do feel bad for getting kittens as it was for my benefit, not his. Will be gutted if he doesn't get used to them being around.
I still think it's going to be a while before we can let all the cats loose together, hoping by the kittens spreading their scent around he'll accept that they're part of the family.

Will not be getting any more cats! It is a lot of work and quite stressful trying to keep everyone safe and happy. Love having the kittens but part of me wonders if I've done the right thing disrupting Kane.

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Also mum to Mr Kane, a 9yr old ginger boy

i felt like this for the first week although we didn't actually completely separate them due to the way the house is, but I'm sure kane will adjust my dex wasn't the same for about a week but we let them have a hiss at each other and growl cause apparently thats how the cats do it they get all that out. but dex is really sweet with them now i made myself knackered doing what you are doing giving love to the new arrivals but also spoiling the older ones

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http://nickoftime.proboards.com/index.cgi?

slow is best - wait until their scent is normal for him before going further.

It's a week today since we got the kittens home. We've had to start letting them out of the safe room more now because they aren't satisfied with staying in there any more. They cry until we let them out, then they tend to stay in the living room. We're still putting them in the safe room when they can't be supervised and overnight.

Since they arrived Mr Kane has hardly left the kitchen. Although I don't like doing it I often have to shut the kitchen door when the kittens are out because otherwise they run into the kitchen to explore and I get the feeling Kane wants to keep himself to himself for the minute. I know it might make him feel he's being shut out but he hasn't shown much interest in coming into the living room this past week. For the first few days the kittens were shut just in the safe room and the rest of the house was open, but still Kane confined himself to that room.

When the kittens are in the living room lounging around and not likely to run into the kitchen we leave the kitchen door open so Kane can come into the living room if he chooses but he never does. Apart from the first time he went in there, he's not entered the safe room either even though we leave it open for him a lot.

He is definately acting differently since the kittens arrival. He seems more withdrawn. He still accepts strokes most of the time but he seems in a mood. Often when I'm in the kitchen and he's sat in his bed on the breakfast bar I'll talk to him but he lies with his back to me and ignores me.

He has come face to face with the kittens a couple times. This evening Mork ran into the kitchen (he is really good at darting through doors as I'm trying to quickly squeeze through.) while Kane was eating. Kane looked at him and made a weird cry then walked away and sat elsewhere. Mork then followed him (he shows no fear and wants to be friends) and was sniffing the back of Kane. Kane batted him (didn't see any claws) and walked away again towards my husband with his tail in the air straight up and my husband stroked him. Mork not getting the hint followed again and Kane hissed. Kane then jumped on his bed on the breakfast bar and just sat and watched while both Mork and Mindy ran around the kitchen. Kane was looking very annoyed and stressed so I removed the kittens.

I get the feeling Kane is very upset and angry about their presence but he doesn't seem to want to fight them, he just wants to be left alone, by the rest of the family too.
I'm hoping this mood he's in won't be a permanent thing because he is extremely withdrawn and just spends most of the day in his bed sulking. Sometimes he goes outside for a little while and seems to be in a better mood when he comes back in. It seems to be when he sees the kittens he gets really annoyed, then when given space he calms down again.

Kane wanders around the house at night when we're in our bedroom and the kittens are in the safe room. He seems to have been spraying. Sometimes he'll come and lie on our bed, sometimes the floor outside the bedroom, or sometimes he doesn't show himself at all. Seems to depend on what his moods like.

It is quite frustrating to watch because it seems the kittens are keen to be friends.

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Also mum to Mr Kane, a 9yr old ginger boy

I know exactly what you are going through! My kittens want to be friends too. Leo likes to sniff Fluffy's rear end.

Its just a case of being patient I'm afraid *sigh*.

It's still early days for you. We've had it since Aug Bank Hol Monday

Good luck and thanks for the update. If I think of anything that's working for us I'll let you know!

Have you got Feliway plugged in?

Thanks, any advice would be much appreciated.
We have a feliway in the kitchen but I still think I saw Kane spray the radiator in there last night. He was waving his arse at it but I couldn't see anything later. We're getting brown spots of things but it's not exceptionally smelly, maybe cos he's neutered. He's definately had a go at the carpet at the top of the stairs. Tried to clean it as best as I can to stop him returning.
We have a feliway in the kittens room too. Might move that elsewhere soon now they're settled.
I can totally understand why he's in a mood with having his territory invaded after 7 years, but it's still annoying that he doesn't seem to be making any effort and I am trying really hard to make a fuss of him. It's quite upsetting to be given the cold shoulder.
It would be nice if he just roamed around more and sniffed.
I'm quite tempted to set up a camera outside the kittens room overnight to see what he does when we're asleep. Don't know if he's at the door sniffing and hissing, or if he ignores them.

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Also mum to Mr Kane, a 9yr old ginger boy

Mr Kane seems very much an indoor cat so I think you'll have more luck than us as he's around the kittens scent more than our Fluffy being outdoors more than indoors.

I'm crossing my fingers for you and hopefully things will sort themselves out. Your Mr Kane just sounds like he's sulking and doing a very good job at making you feel guilty!

He does much prefer in to out. He just goes out for about 5-10 mins at a time during the day and not very often. Not sure how long he's out at night.
Pre-kittens he'd follow us up to bed when we went and lay on the bed till we were asleep. Then he'd be nudging me awake for food in the morning. Don't know what he got up to inbetween.

Two mornings ago he was on the kitchen extension roof when I woke up! Had to let him in through the bedroom window. He's not done that for years.

When my 3yr old was first born he went a bit weird and was bringing in birds for a few weeks, but not had any of that this time. I think he's too angry with me to bring me presents atm!!

As I type he's just appeared at my feet in the living room meowing....this hasn't happened for a while! And he wants to sit on my lap!! He must know I'm typing about him! The kittens have been in the safe room for about an hour though so he must feel safe.

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Also mum to Mr Kane, a 9yr old ginger boy

Bless him

we are making progress. Mr kane still won't leave the kitchen when the kittens are out of their room but he's seeming less grumpy and more like his old self.

we've let the kittens in the kitchen a few times and they can sit watching each other without hissing. kane even sat and watched the kittens eating out of his bowl!
the trouble comes when the kittens star following him aroung and trying to play with his tsil. he'll hiss and swipe at that point which is understandable. we normally remove the kittens at that point.

Mr kane wanders around the rest of the house at night when the kittens are in their safe room. haven't noticed anymore spraying.

I think once the kittens learn that he doesn't want to play and stop following him all should be ok.

I think Mr kane will start leaving the kitchen during the day in time. the problem at the moment is we have to keep the kitchen door closed otherwise the kittens run in there and I don't want them running into kane unsupervised.

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Also mum to Mr Kane, a 9yr old ginger boy