Ragdoll Cat Forums

I'm looking for suggestions on introductions...
Our Story...
In December this dog crazy family (we have a wonderful Giant Schnauzer girl and an awsome Mini Schnauzer boy) arrived home on the coldest day in December to a stow-away in our garage, an emaciated, tiny grey tabby kitten we called Gracie. Her litter mates were found frozen to death in our neighbours yard and sadly it appeared to be a litter-dump. After weeks of careful introductions, Gracie and the dogs bonded intensely and while we never thought a cat would be possible in our home, just couldn't have been more delighted. Gracie quickly became the light of our lives but sadly she had a congenital heart defect and just couldn't be saved and died peacefully in my arms at the tender age of about 5 months.
We immediately started our research on breeds and discovered all the wonderful traits of the Ragdoll, we spent much time and visited breeders until we found one we were happy with. We were put on a wait-list at the end of March and anxiously waited.
In the interim, our 18 year old daughter happened to pass an "adopt-a-thon" being put on by a local shelter and came home with a little, fiesty, long-haired calico girl named Katie. What a fire cracker!! While I didn't chose to own this kitten, she very soon took over ownership of me and I wouldn't trade her for the world, but we still very much wanted the carefully chosen Ragdoll boy who was born mid-april.
Yesterday was the big day that our little Dexter arrived home. We took him straight to our own vet even thought he'd been vetted by the breeder and he was given a clean bill of health.
I have him quarantined in the bathroom of our master bedroom and have a pen for him for introductions.
I want to do it slowly but am wondering if anyone has suggestions for intoducing our new boy to our still very young (and spoiled rotten) 5 month old Katie.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!
Elizabeth

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This is our Dexter...

This is our Katie...

And this was our little Gracie angel...

Oh my goodness, hearing Gracie's story and seeing her pic just brought me to tears. I'm so glad that she opened your hearts to cats - you won't be sorry. And my goodness Katie is just so cute and Dexter will be such a great companion for her and her for him. Sounds like you're doing everything right with vetting him immediately and keeping him separate for a week to let any illness break that might from the stress of leaving his home and siblings. As for introductions, especially to dogs, sorry I can't help, but I'm sure many more on here will have some helpful hints for you. Thank you for sharing all these lovely cats with us, and please, we have a place for other pets where we welcome you to share your dogs too!!

As Gracie is still very young herself you shouldn't have too many problems introducing her new playmate. You have already done the right thing by putting Dexter in a room where he can feel safe so, as long as you do the introduction slowly, taking it one day at time, you should be ok. If you put Dexter in the pen in a room where Gracie can see him and smell him you will be able to judge their reaction to each other. You may have more of a problem introducing him to the dogs but remember, if he is scared Dexter will jump up high out of their way or make his way back to his safe room.

Just remember to be guided by the animals and their reaction to one another. A little hissing and growling (from Dexter or any of them) is to be expected but as long as they can't hurt one another you'll be fine.

The best safe room is a bedroom where the kitten can sleep with a family member. He will have never been without mom and littermates. The first issue is quarantine and the amount of time to see if anything breaks and can be from a nothing to weeks. (And make sure Katie has had FeLV/FIV tests - which is not an issue in cattery cats these days.) Start with introductions under doors and allowing exchange of visits with the other absent, exchange of bedding and the like. When face to face introductions start, consider allowing your perfume to be on both from you handling them and hold the newcomer to provide safety and comfort while the resident approaches. (The resident, even a young one, will be the one to be interested in ranking the newcomer.) You go from observation on how quickly you proceed. You can use interactive toys to get each to play with the wand and be close to each other. If things get tense, then cut the session short and start again later. Do not be upset with the resident if she hisses or swats. You might even praise her for being the head kitten and putting the newcomer in his place. This will help put YOU in the right frame of mind.

The introductions to the dogs can be the same with greater care taken for the safety of the newcomer.

Enjoy the process. It may seem tense, but it will work itself out and end well.

Thanks sooo much for the excellent advice, I do have a pen and the little one will be in it for the first face to face meetings. I have no issue in introducing the dogs and Dexter, it's just never having introduced kitten to kitten before and Katie really has quickly become the queen of the castle. I will follow the advice given and thanks again.
I'm so glad that Gracie found herself in our garage that day and allowed us entry into this wonderful world of cats!!!!

The introduction of my two went very slow even though they are only 3 months apart. It was weeks before I could trust that they could be with one another without supervision. My husband believed that we would have to give the new kitten back because they would never get along. And now they are the very best of friends. So no matter how the introduction goes, don't give up! Best of luck.

(06-26-2010 10:52 AM)MOBY01_16 Wrote: [ -> ]The introduction of my two went very slow even though they are only 3 months apart. It was weeks before I could trust that they could be with one another without supervision. My husband believed that we would have to give the new kitten back because they would never get along. And now they are the very best of friends. So no matter how the introduction goes, don't give up! Best of luck.

Thanks so much for the encouragement! It means alot, and knowing that perseverance pays off, helps!

Thanks so much for the amazing advice. Today is Roscoe's first day at home. he's had quite a day since leaving Atlanta, Georgia at 3:30 am to arrive in Los Angeles, CA this morning. He's adjusting well to his own bedroom with all his own kitten amenities. Ramsey, our 1 yr young Ragdoll hears him crying but doesn't seem to bothered by his presence. We hope they'll take to each other quickly. Here's a picture of Roscoe today. I love seeing everyone else's babies and hearing their stories. xo, S.

(06-26-2010 08:24 PM)dextersmom Wrote: [ -> ]

(06-26-2010 10:52 AM)MOBY01_16 Wrote: [ -> ]The introduction of my two went very slow even though they are only 3 months apart. It was weeks before I could trust that they could be with one another without supervision. My husband believed that we would have to give the new kitten back because they would never get along. And now they are the very best of friends. So no matter how the introduction goes, don't give up! Best of luck.

Thanks so much for the encouragement! It means alot, and knowing that perseverance pays off, helps!

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Here's a pic of Ramsey.

Ironically, I live in LA area and have a 1 year old (Newman) who looks a whole lot like your Ramsey and a new kitten coming home in a bit under 3 weeks (Cooper) who looks a lot like Roscoe! It's funny because Cooper isn't a mink but he's almost as dark as Roscoe anyway.

I hope the intro goes well. It sounds like they're off to a good early start. I'm really hoping Newman accepts Cooper without too much trouble. I know he'd really like a playmate...but not sure if that will help him accept him any faster. We shall see! Please keep us posted. Good luck and congratulations on your new baby!

Hi Halebop, the introduction of the two cats went so much better than expected. We started it last night as an experiment. Roscoe is still very young and went crazy with excitement when he saw Ramsey. He darted out the bedroom door towards him. At first Ramsey was annoyed then hesitant, but Roscoe was persistent in his efforts to get Ramsey to play. There was a little hissing, Ramsey growled for the first time in his life! He doesn't even hiss or growl with the vet or at bath time. Well... that was yesterday, today Roscoe is rubbing up against Ramsey and giving kitty kisses. They took an afternoon nap not more than a couple feet from each other. In the end, I think Ramsey gave in to the playfulness of the kitten and is enjoying their play time.

Keep me posted on your kitten's homecoming.

(07-19-2010 11:32 AM)halebop Wrote: [ -> ]Ironically, I live in LA area and have a 1 year old (Newman) who looks a whole lot like your Ramsey and a new kitten coming home in a bit under 3 weeks (Cooper) who looks a lot like Roscoe! It's funny because Cooper isn't a mink but he's almost as dark as Roscoe anyway.

I hope the intro goes well. It sounds like they're off to a good early start. I'm really hoping Newman accepts Cooper without too much trouble. I know he'd really like a playmate...but not sure if that will help him accept him any faster. We shall see! Please keep us posted. Good luck and congratulations on your new baby!