r/Pets • u/KeyCritical8375 • 3d ago

Cat advice

Adult cat about 7 years old. Completely food obsessed, and frankly kind of an ass. Always has been. Like break into the fridge to chew his way into a bag of cat food I had to hide level bad.

Found a baby kitten abandoned near a dumpster, took her in, cleaned her and nursed her to health. Cats were separated for almost a month with the whole medical treatment process.

Introductions weren’t great. Adult cat avoids her completely at first, now he tolerates her barely and it feels he is mad at us for taking second kitty in. Separating the cats just seems cruel to any of them at this point. Either one would get locked up and isolated.

Kitty is rambunctious and sweet, doesn’t really get social cues well still and tries to play with the adult cat who is very much not having it.

How do I get them to get along and be happy? I already give the adult cat high places and plenty of extra food. Bought the pheromones but they’re not doing too much. Been about a month

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u/Spiritual_Pen_3787 3d ago

A month is still early for cats, some take half a year to stop being dramatic about it. The food obsession combined with the attitude makes me wonder if he's stressed-eating, cats do that sometimes

Maybe try tiring the kitten out before they interact, like really wear her down with a wand toy so she's not bouncing off him. And give him treats when she's in the room being calm, build that association

That fridge breaking thing is next level though, you might need child locks

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u/KeyCritical8375 3d ago

Yeah he was always crazy about food. Got concerned at some points because he just camps his auto feeder sometimes. Was hoping the kitten would be a distraction and that does seem to be the case.

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u/Agreeable_Ask4330 2d ago

Keeping them separated at first while slowly introducing them to each other might help. While they interact make sure it’s short and sweet at first. Maybe feed them at the same time but separated by a baby gate or something so they associate each other with a positive experience.

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u/ShatteredKarma 2d ago

You really just have to give them more time and hope for the best. We had 6 cats and then recently brought in a kitten who had been abandoned. Our cats all hated her for the first two months. They would bat at her and hiss when she tried to play with them. Two more months later one of our 1yo cats Saloon, he was one of the cats that hated her the most, is now her best friend and they play together all the time. Another one of our cats who hates everyone has gotten to the point where she still doesn’t like the kitten in her space, but she tolerates her and doesn’t care too much about it anymore. I would say wait until at least the 3-4 month mark and see how it goes.