Introducing Kitten to Kitten / Toilet training

[Livlee]

Hello! I have Freud our 4 month old F6 SBT Snow Male.
We decided we want another kitten. One of the main reasons is I feel like he deserves a companion for when we are not home to play with and just to have around. It makes me sad to think of him all alone in my home whenever I leave. Just waiting for us to come back.
I realized shortly after I got him that I should have got two of the litter. All his brothers and sisters were sold but fortunately the breeder had an available f4 half sister from the same dad. So I will be getting her April 15th.
Freud will be getting fixed mid March before I pick her up. This was suggested by the breeder so he doesn’t have to go through that with a new kitten in his space.
I am looking for advice on how to intergrate these two. If anyone had any feedback on their experiences.
I have a 600 square foot apartment so the quarantine room may not be an option or fair to the new kitten because my bathroom is too small and the only other option is the bed room which is Freud’s bed too now so I feel that would cause animosity if he was locked out. Freud is very smart and does not like to be locked out of any of the rooms in his home, he sits by the door meowing until you let him out or in whatever room he is locked out of so I feel this would be the case if we put a kitten in a room with out his access.
Any advice on this would be appreciated.
I am also looking to potty train both kittens and already have begun the process with Freud, any advice from anyone who has been successful doing this with more than one cat would be hugely appreciated. Thanks
-Kaylee

 

[WitchyWoman]

Doing an early introduction can go either way -- kittens bond immediately or one doesn't like the other but that can happen even with a standard 2 week quarantine. If you don't do at least a week quarantine, you risk the kitten bonding with Freud to the exclusion of you. And if the new kitten becomes ill or comes with parasites, then you'll end up treating both which could cause Freud to have negative associations with the new cat.

If you don't want to keep the new kitten in your bedroom -- which means you'll probably be sleepless if Freud is crying outside all night -- you might think about purchasing a cat cage for the new kitten until both are comfortable with each other. This one is advertised on-line at Walmart for $59.

 

[Livlee]

Thanks for the advice really appreciate it.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I think that with the kitten cage you run the same fear, if the new kitten is as vocal as Freud. The reality is that if you don't quarantine properly then the kitten as Witchy says may simply bond to Freud and not you. That's your choice. I feel that the cat cage means kitten crying also but has the added drawback of no physical quarantine. The kitten coming from the same breeder reduces the risk of disease that one has and the other hasn't but that's still a risk. I don't know that it will decrease the noise, that's all. It will just be the piteous cries of the new kitten versus the outraged cries of the established kitten.

I think I answered the potty training query in another thread already...

 

[Rafiki]

I would probably attempt the quarantine in the bathroom for a few days at least.