Another late post but I have a legitimate excuse this time! On Saturday, my husband and I adopted another cat, a 2 month old orange tabby kitten to be exact. This story begins a few days before Saturday.
So we had been wanting another cat for awhile. We kind of regret not adopting Mochi with one of her litter mates but what’s done is done. We did some research on how to introduce a new cat to the household, the best combination of gender and so on. One article we read that two female cats typically don’t get along as easier as two males or one male and one female. So we were set on finding a male kitten.
On Friday afternoon after my husband got off work, we went around a few Petsmarts in the area. All the Petsmarts in our area get their cats and kittens from the local humane society. The adoption fees go back to the humane society as well. We first went to the Petsmart where we adopted Mochi. Unfortunately, there were no cats available for adopting so we went to a Petsmart closer to our home.
And as we’re going down the aisle towards the cat adoption area, an orange little tabby saw us and watched us as we got closer. It was a very playful kitten, running around his little cube and attacking all the toys. We learned from one of the employees that he was a male cat, was two months old and had just arrived 20 minutes before we saw him. Due to the pandemic, we were only allowed to see the animals by an appointment and because he just arrived, we couldn’t see him until the next day. We set up the appointment and went on our way.
We decided to drive to a few other Petsmarts to see our options. We were worried that between then and Saturday morning, he might get adopted before seeing him and wanted to see if anything else was available just in case. After visiting 4 other stores, we learned he was the only male kitten in a 15 mile radius. We called the Petsmart to make sure that we would be the first ones to see him and they assured us no other appointments can be made until after our time. It was fate.
Before we got home, we bought a few things from the last Petsmart we visited including food bowls, litter boxes and toys. In our bedroom, we set up all his needs so that he’s not in the same room as Mochi and felt safe.
Our appointment was at 9:30am but we arrived 15 mins earlier. They allowed us to see him and when we first held him, we were in love! We signed all the paperwork and got him his own name tag. We named him Mango.
When we got home, my husband went into the condo first, greeted Mochi and took her to our gaming room. Once she was there, I took Mango immediately to our bedroom and let him roam. He was comfortable right away and played with all his new toys. Mochi was definitely curious and kept sniffing the door.
One trick we learned was to rub the kitten with a towel and put it near Mochi’s food. The goal was to associate the scent with something positive like food and treats. After almost a day, we decided to let Mochi and Mango see each other through a small crack in the door. Mango didn’t seem to mind but Mochi hissed and her tail floofed up a little. We closed the door and decided to try again tomorrow. We kept letting Mochi smell Mango off of the towel and off our hands. She actually hissed at me after sniffing my hand and that made a little sad. That night, my husband slept in the living room with Mochi while I slept in the bedroom with Mango.
Sunday we made some progress. We had Mochi go in the bedroom to smell all of Mango’s scent and we let Mango explore the living room. My husband said Mochi hissed when she went into the room but she sniffed all over. That afternoon, we decided to try to let them see each other through the crack in the door again. Mochi continued to hiss at him but this time, her tail didn’t floof up at all. She also stopped hissing at me after smelling my hands and the towel. We tried another exercise that evening where we put Mango in a crate and let Mochi be with him in the same room. We put a carrier in the crate too so Mango can run inside if he felt scared. Mochi hissed at him some more but Mango didn’t seem to mind too much. He did back away but it seemed he really wanted to meet Mochi.
I’m writing this Monday morning and we had let them roam living room together. Mango played around a little but when hissed at, he ran under our rocking chair. Mochi and Mango swiped paws at each other while Mango was underneath so them having playful contact was good. Mochi did bonk him on the head if he got too close but he did a good job respecting her boundaries. She hissed but not as much as when they first met. After a few minutes, we separated them again and plan to try this exercise later this afternoon.
Anyways, that’s why my weekend had been so busy. I will try to do better to post again on Saturdays. Hope you enjoyed the read and I’ll see you all next week!
