The Adventures of Miso (part 2)
Kitty cold gone, time to bring the new kitty face to face with our resident cat!
I’ll cut right to the chase with this second post about the addition of an adorable adopted kitten we named Miso that we have added to our Bangkok home. (Part one about the adoption and how she picked us, if you missed it, is right here!) Things got off to a slower-than-expected start with Miso’s cold that kept her separated from our resident 10-year old cat, Mango given the contagiousness of the cold. But with the cold officially gone after medication did its work, we were finally able to start introducing our two cats and, well, if you’re familiar with integrating cats, you know it can be a delicate and slow process.
However, if you’re not a cat person or have never brought a new cat (kitten or adult) into a home where another cat already exists, the main thing you need to know is it takes time and a lot of patience for humans and felines. Cats are territorial by nature and since Mango has been with us for 10 years including the past year being the solo feline in our condo, we expected her to have some big feelings about a new little kitty coming into her space. Mango reacted like a lot of us would - she ran in the other direction, not interested in sticking around! Miso, on the other hand, was full of curiosity and, it turns out, a long, drawn-out cry expressing that she just wanted to get over to Mango and see what she was all about.
Hissing is par for the course but when we also heard some growls and behavior leaning into aggressiveness when they were in the same vicinity, we knew this was going to take more time than we thought. Thankfully, we had some experience from having brought Mango into our Los Angeles home ten years ago when our then-resident cat Maddie was also not so pleased once she showed up. But Maddie was also very alpha so her hisses at Mango told “the little one” (as we still call her) who was boss so boundaries were set pretty early. We kept them apart for awhile then slowly brought them together and while they were never BFFs, they co-existed and we all lived in harmony for a long time.
While Mango has yet to show major alpha behavior to “the tiny one” (as we’ve been calling Miso), progress is being made. Thanks to some research including some helpful YouTube videos by Jackson Galaxy, one thing we implemented in our daily life was feeding them at the same time and in the same space but with a good amount of distance (about 8 feet to start). Each time we fed them they came a little closer. The goal there is to show both cats that the other is not a threat and, also, since food is a great motivator, they’re eating and slowly realizing it’s not too intrusive to have the other cat in their space. As of today, they’re now only a few feet apart and any anxiety has diminished greatly.
Miso has also had a good amount of time exploring the entire condo with Mango often in another room or, another tip from Mr. Galaxy, when Mango is sitting high above the ground in one of her bedroom spots, we bring Miso in and play with her in Mango’s eye line. Besides food being a great tool, so are toys and Miso with all her kitten energy is happy to run in circles chasing a piece of ribbon and she doesn’t pay any mind to Mango staring at her from her higher perch. Again, Mango can see that there’s no threat here and if their eyes do happen to lock, we can divert attention so no stare downs or aggressive behavior develops. In fact, Mango would often get a treat while Miso was playing in the same room just to send the message that food is good and so is watching Miso play. Verbal reassurances that she’s a good girl also help.
Outside of the two cats getting used to each other, Boyd and I are making sure Mango is not neglected and getting as much love as possible (which isn’t hard since showering her with affection is natural for us). And while Mango has her safe spaces like that higher perch in the bedroom, Miso also has her own separate ‘basecamp’ in our office room so she has a place where her food, water, litter box are found as well as plenty of toys and places for her to sleep. For now, this is where she spends her time when we’re either asleep or not home since it’s too early to just leave the cats to their own devices without one of us there to keep an eye on things.
As the days pass, progress is slowly happening. Boyd and I have been a good team to work on all this together, especially once we worked on our own communication as to what both cats need and what our jobs are when we’re working together. Sometimes I wonder if we’re being too cautious but that feeling passes pretty quick. We’d do anything for our daughters and want them both to be safe and happy.
Have you ever had to integrate cats together in your home? Any tips that helped your household find a good rhythm to co-exist? Let me know in the comments!
Until next time…
That is great how you used Mr. Galaxy's advice and training methods. You two are doing a great job with your daughters. And that close up of Miso is just precious!
We integrated Ellie, my son’s cat, with Cleo and Luna, our two, when they moved in a year ago. What worked for us was alternating who got the run of the house at night while we slept, with Ellie getting more time so she could make some of the house her own without anycat giving her grief. Ironically the smallest of the bunch, Cleo, is the alpha cat and the hisser. It took about six weeks before they could be left alone together, and about 3 months before they are co-existing and even play together now. When my son does move out again, we’re pretty sure Ellie will be very happy to run the household, but also miss her playmates when he’s at work.