How to introduce a kitten to another cat so they get along

Before the kitten arrives

• Prepare their room: one your cat does not use, with food, water, bed, hiding places, litter box, toys, and a scratching post. Use new items or the kitten's own, not your cat's. See what a kitten needs when they come home.
• Do not change your cat's routine: their beds, food, litter box, and schedule should stay the same.
• Pheromones: iCatCare suggests synthetic pheromone diffusers in the areas each one uses.
• Health first: have the kitten see the vet and be up to date on vaccines, deworming, and flea control.

Step by step to introduce them

1. Own room (days to 1–2 weeks). The kitten stays in their room until they are comfortable: eating, using the litter box, playing, and rubbing against furniture.
2. Scent swap. Move a blanket from each one's bed to the other's. If either avoids it or hisses at it, go slower. You can also rub a soft cloth on the kitten's head and wipe it on furniture at your cat's height.
3. Space swap. Let the kitten explore the house while your cat is in another area, then the other way around.
4. See each other through a barrier. A glass door, baby gate, or screen, at first partly covered with a blanket. Short, calm sessions.
5. Supervised meetings. Open the barrier when they are calm, without forcing them to approach. One person per cat, ready to step in calmly.
6. Short unsupervised times. Only if the previous step goes well: a few minutes at first and more time gradually, with the kitten separated between sessions.

If tension or fights appear at any step, go back to the previous one.

Food and play during meetings? The sources disagree

• VCA suggests keeping each cat busy with food or toys near the barrier and gradually moving the bowls closer. iCatCare's kitten booklet also suggests distracting them with a toy, food, or attention.
• iCatCare's updated article (2025) advises against using food or play to distract or reward during introductions, because cats eat and play alone and doing so near another cat can stress them. It prefers calling them by name and taking them to another room.

If you are unsure, watch your cats: if eating near the barrier tenses them, move them farther apart. And ask your vet or a behavior specialist.

Signs you need to go slower

Hissing, growling, ears rotated with a tense body, staring, or one stopping eating or using the litter box. Separate them calmly and never punish: that only scares them more.

Remember the kitten has much more energy. Give them plenty of their own play so they do not bother your adult cat, and places where they can hide and the adult cannot reach.

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