Hi there! This is my very first post here. Here is the background. We have adopted or should I say Fluffy has adopted us as she was abandoned in our neighbourhood. I asked all the neighbours if she is theres, put up posters in shop windows, put here pic on the local radio station website under their "Pet Search" section, even phoned the vets to see if anyone has lost a little tortie cat all to no avail so she has been with us for the past 4 weeks although the neighbours have said that they have seen her wandering around crying alot longer than that. How can someone just abandon a cat .

Anyway, Fluffy is a lovely, affectionate, cute kitty around 2 or 3 we think. Don't know if she's been spayed as the vet took a look and couldn't see a scar and said that the only real way of telling is to open her up but I don't really want to do that and she's not showing any signs of being on heat.

On Monday this week we have got 2 new 9 week old kittens. Fluffy is most put out and is hissing and growling at them when I am trying to introduce them or she just runs upstairs and hides.

We are keeping the kittens in the conservatory at night and during nap times just for their own safety and also because the litter tray is in there and its alot easier to clean up "little accidents".

My next door neighbour who has 5 cats says we are doing it all wrong and should get the cats to mix all the time and not separate them as Fluffy will find it increasingly difficult to accept them. Is she right?? Am I doing it all wrong?? This is all new to me as our beloved cats Amber who was 16 and Buster who was 15 died last summer so its been years since we had any new babies to deal with.

Sorry for this long post but I just wanted to give a bit of background and history.

Thank you!

a) have you had the vet scan FLuffy for a microchip? (I ask as our gorgeous fluffy tortie girl went missing a while back and we'd love to have her back but unless someone catches her and scans her we won't know if she is found - she was incredibly shy and she would take some catching - but just to be sure please make sure she is scanned)

b) there is a sticky somewhere at the top about introducing cats. There are many ways to do it - I got a new kitten last week and just 'went for it' and everyone is friends now. I've know others take this method and it fail, I've known other keep them separate to get used to each other slowly and it fail, and it work. I don't really think there is a perfect way, it all depends on the personalities of the cats.

What does help is using a feliway plug in - I set mine up about 4 days before the kitten came and it's still going.

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please look at my website - www.finesthourcats.webs.com - for gorgeous GCCF registered RagaMuffins and Selkirk Rex

Thanks for the quick reply spid. The vet checked for a microchip and couldn't find one. Thanks too for the sticky advice. I'll take a look!

Integrating Kittens with Cats

im following the steps version from above - each stage is a little milestone!

I'm getting really worried about Fluffy. She's really stressed and now won't come in the house at all. She's out on our front drive looking really peeved! If I go up to stroke her she walks off. She came in for something to eat about 5pm but once she saw the kittens she growled and went flying through the cat flap.

I've put a Pet Remedy plug in to help soothe her but so far it's not making much of a difference. I'd hate for her to run away as she adopted us around 4 weeks ago.

I suppose it early days but still. I feel awful

Thanks for the link to steps on how to intergrate kittens to cats and we kind of have being doing a "lite" version so we'll have to see how we get on.

mine went straight out because of the smell - shut in when she popped in for food - i kept her in over night

may be easier if she cant see - only smell for a few days, first sight of newbie after she was ok with scent made her funny again, but not for long.

A quick update! I spent a fortune this morning at Pets at Home on a Feliway diffuser and Spray. I've put the diffuser in the hallway and sprayed the cat flap and surrounding carpet. Fluffy is still very growly as she can still smell the scent of the little ones. This afternoon I sprayed a little hand towel with Feliway and layed it down next to her (after 15 mins as per the instructions) and she has been on my bed all afternoon (in fact all day!).

She must be getting hungry but I'm reluctant to start feeding her upstairs in my bedroom as that might start a habit that's hard to break.

Why are you feeding Fluffy upstairs?

Fluffy needs to be fed where she is used to being fed, and the kittens being fed in the conservatory as their safe space.

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I'm not feeding her upstairs. I'm feeding her in the kitchen. What I meant was that she looked hungry as she was on my bed most of today and I thought perhaps she was afraid to come into the kitchen for food. She did eventually come down for something to eat about 8pm and went outside presumably to do a wee or poo.

She's now back on my bed!

if shes coming in and out she's getting used to the smell - give it a couple of days before trying next step