Dear Henry,

I have a 5-year-old cat, Horace, that makes life miserable for my other cats. We brought home a 5-month-old kitten from the shelter and Horace hissed and even made lewd gestures at the kitten, until the kitten ran away! I want to welcome other cats into my home, but Horace makes it almost impossible to do so. Help! I've enclosed a photo of this "his highness" in one of his ill moods, so you could get an idea of what I have to deal with. 

—A Frustrated Kitty Mom

Dear Frustrated Kitty Mom:

Whoa, now that's an angry cat! Here's a few tips that might make it easier to introduce a new kitten to "Mr. Grumpy" over there.  The following is from the cat expert, John Reed. It's pretty good advice and I hope it works for you.

Henry
henry@askdeb.com

• Give the cats some space. Keep them in separate rooms—with their own food bowls and litter boxes—for the first week.
  
  
• After a week, crack open the bedroom door just an inch or so and let the cats eyeball each other.
  
  
• Put the new cat in a carrier—with the door closed—and leave it in the living room so that the resident cat can get close, but not too close, to the new cat.
  
  
• Divide up the house. Feed the cats separately and place their litter boxes in separate rooms. Eventually, they will work out a truce, and their territories in the house will begin to overlap.
  
  
• Feed them together in the same room but with food bowls widely separated. Slowly, over the course of several weeks, move the bowls closer together. Why? You want the cats to associate pleasure—eating—with being together.
  
  
• A playful kitten can re-energize an older cat—or be an extreme annoyance. Purchase cat furniture with lofts high above the floor. That way, they can mingle when, and if, they want to.
  
  
• Time for a pill? If all else fails, ask your veterinarian about temporary use of tranquilizers for the senior cat.