Kitten meets the tomcat
We've named the kitten, or let him find his own name. We've decided on Mercury - Murky, for short.
stephdray and I also introduced Murky to our 10 year-old, 18 pound tomcat, Opie. It went about as well as can be expected.
They'd met before, when we first brought the kitten home. Opie swiped at the kitten once, and the kitten seemed not to care in the slightest. Opie was terrified of the kitten. But we'd quarantined the kitten shortly after that, after we realized that the kitten should see a vet before socializing the two pets.
So Monday we got Mercury to the vet. Clean bill of health. We let Murky relax Monday night. He has a cold, plus he was grumpy from the vet visit. Tonight, I stopped at PetCo and got a couple small litter pans. The vet had recommended having one on each floor till the cat got comfortable with the house.
We let Mercury out of the master bedroom and Opie soon came up the stairs to see what was up. He'd been waiting four days to get another look at the kitten and I think he was already sensing that he wasn't getting as many scritches as he could be. They sniffed each other and Mercury was a little more tentative than before but still fairly fearless. Then Opie pounced him - more to show dominance than to hurt him - and Murky flipped on his back and tried to act ferocious, but I think it shook him a bit. Steph was a nervous wreck, so I took her and bluekitsune out to dinner and let the cats just deal with things without us, as our vet had recommended.
When we got back, Opie seemed to want to play with Mercury, who was hissing and generally avoiding the older cat. I assume we missed quite an asskicking, but Mercury apparently knows his place now. Sadly, though, Opie still wants to play and Mercury is hissing and hiding and being upset. This causes Opie to get angry and smack him pretty hard, which makes Murky have a good reason to hide.
At one point, Murky charged Opie out of the blue - probably out of play - and he got "rewarded" with a forepaw hard enough to knock him sideways. Opie didn't like that, apparently.
They're living in relative peace now. There's an occasional hiss or whack. They are giving each other space but are both hanging around in the basement near me and Steph. I think they'll be best friends in short time.
There are some great action shots of the cats together on my web site.
stephdray and I also introduced Murky to our 10 year-old, 18 pound tomcat, Opie. It went about as well as can be expected.
They'd met before, when we first brought the kitten home. Opie swiped at the kitten once, and the kitten seemed not to care in the slightest. Opie was terrified of the kitten. But we'd quarantined the kitten shortly after that, after we realized that the kitten should see a vet before socializing the two pets.
So Monday we got Mercury to the vet. Clean bill of health. We let Murky relax Monday night. He has a cold, plus he was grumpy from the vet visit. Tonight, I stopped at PetCo and got a couple small litter pans. The vet had recommended having one on each floor till the cat got comfortable with the house.
We let Mercury out of the master bedroom and Opie soon came up the stairs to see what was up. He'd been waiting four days to get another look at the kitten and I think he was already sensing that he wasn't getting as many scritches as he could be. They sniffed each other and Mercury was a little more tentative than before but still fairly fearless. Then Opie pounced him - more to show dominance than to hurt him - and Murky flipped on his back and tried to act ferocious, but I think it shook him a bit. Steph was a nervous wreck, so I took her and bluekitsune out to dinner and let the cats just deal with things without us, as our vet had recommended.
When we got back, Opie seemed to want to play with Mercury, who was hissing and generally avoiding the older cat. I assume we missed quite an asskicking, but Mercury apparently knows his place now. Sadly, though, Opie still wants to play and Mercury is hissing and hiding and being upset. This causes Opie to get angry and smack him pretty hard, which makes Murky have a good reason to hide.
At one point, Murky charged Opie out of the blue - probably out of play - and he got "rewarded" with a forepaw hard enough to knock him sideways. Opie didn't like that, apparently.
They're living in relative peace now. There's an occasional hiss or whack. They are giving each other space but are both hanging around in the basement near me and Steph. I think they'll be best friends in short time.
There are some great action shots of the cats together on my web site.