Large Pet Door

I have 2 male pets – a male boxer, Tucker, who just turned 1 in Dec. and a 6 month old kitten, Niko, we have had since since July. It didn’t take long at all for my dog and kitten to get along. Niko and Tucker play with each other all day. My kitten is not aggressive at all – he never hisses at Tucker or anything. I thought that getting another kitten to play with them would be great since they have so much fun together. Well, so far its not working out. I understand that you have to give kittens time to adjust to one another but this is the situation:

My husband and I were surfing the internet and found an ad for a young 5 month kitten who needed a new home. We figured it would be a good idea to keep it around Niko’s age. So we contacted the women (we’ll say her name is Debra – so it’s not confusing later on) with the kitten and decided to go see her. Debra had told us that the reason she is giving the kitten a new home is because she had to separate her two cats from the kitten. Apparently her cats are very friendly but were not accepting of the younger one. We also found out that this kitten originally came from a home with a houseful of other cats. 14 or so. Debra said that the women with all the cats was planning on or already did have the kitten outside. Debra thought the kitten was too young to be kept outside and wanted to give her a safer home. She didn’t seem to be interested in us while we were there. She just kind of laid down the whole time on her side and when she did get up it wasn’t towards us. I noticed she was chubby but didn’t think anything of it. Well, I liked her and thought she was cute – she reminded me of a cat I had when I was younger. Debra said if it doesn’t work out and our kitten doesn’t accept her to call her back and she would take her back. I figured we’d be fine since Niko is so outgoing and wouldn’t hurt anyone. So on the drive home, she just laid down and didn’t meow or cry at all. When we got inside we put her and her litter box in a large bedroom. We named her Onyx because she’s all black. We left Onyx in there for a little bit but my was already curious. We allowed him in the bedroom to smell her and she growled and hissed at first. We figured that would be normal. He immediately backed off. So we left them together for a few hours later on that day monitoring them. The next day they finally broke the ice by playing behind the curtains. But I don’t know if Onyx doesn’t like playing for a long time with Niko but she claws at him and hisses. Even when I go in there and try to pick her up she kinda growls. I don’t like that I can’t pick her up without her getting mad. I also noticed that she doesn’t walk around a lot. She always seems to be laying down (again on her side). I even pet her when she was near the food dish and she plopped right down on top of the food dish. So its been a few days and we open the door for them to roam hoping that being in a large area they won’t fight. Niko just plays with her – like if she hisses he taps her on the head without claws. She just seems to hate the fact the he wants to play. Anyways, we were wrong about giving more space. Niko just follows her around and tries to tackle her. It seems like they are playing at first but then it seems like Onyx gets really rough with him – uses claws but the tail wags a few times. We let our dog out and as large as he is, all the sounds that come out of Onyx (growling and hissing), Tucker won’t even go near her. As of right now, I don’t know what to do. I had separate the two kittens. I went in to check up on Onyx and rubbed my hand across the ground to play with her but she doesn’t even acknowledge me.

So recap:

- she came from a houseful of cats – may have been an outdoor kitten
- chubby (possibly pregnant??) she doesn’t allow me to pick her up or pet her really
- 5 months old and she lays down all the time – no active at all
- she is using her litter box. i have checked and there is urine and poop in it.
- she did 1 time follow Niko to play but then turned around and growled and hissed.
- ignores me if i try playing with her

I guess I just always thought all kittens were playful and active. I don’t know if she’s like this because of the life she’s had or what. But then I don’t know if its safe to keep her here with Niko and Tucker. All they want to do it play. Tucker already knows to stay away from her.

I’m sorry this is so long. I just didn’t want to leave any details out. I wanted everything to be out in case there may be an explanation. Thank you.

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