Iva, who gave her first name only, lives in Germany with her two cats: 17-year-old Fibi, whom she found on the streets as a kitten; and new arrival Bobo.
Fibi had lived her entire life as an only cat, but as Iva told Newsweek: “We’ve been through good and bad times together, and during all those years, I often wondered: Is she lonely? Does she want or need a friend?
“There were always days when we were out for most of the day, so, for the past few years, I had been playing with the idea of getting a second cat.”
When her husband finally agreed, they learned a friend’s farm cat had had kittens, and so Bobo joined the clan.
And while Bobo is a “perfect kitten … very playful, but still calm when he’s around Fibi,” it has taken a bit of an adjustment for the senior cat.
“On the day of their introduction, we let Fibi smell him for just a few seconds.
Bad idea—she ran off, hissing and meowing,” Iva said. So they slowed down the introduction, keeping them in separate rooms and getting them used to each other’s scents.
But nothing worked—”Fibi was terrified and kept hissing and growling.”
Curious kitten Bobo persisted, and in supervised visits would always try to approach her. But, as Iva said, “Fibi lets him know when he’s too close or too much for her, and he stops immediately—whatever he was doing—and just lies down in front of her, watching her.
“I can see how much he likes Fibi,” the owner said. “He’s always seeking her attention and wants to be near her. No matter how much Fibi hisses at him, he keeps coming back to her.”
But, in a recent video to Iva’s TikTok account @fibiandbobo, the older cat took a big step; she was determined to get to her usual spot on the window, even as the kitten was blocking her way.
Iva wrote over the video: “We adopted a kitten 2 weeks ago and our senior cat is totally afraid of him so let’s see if she manages to get to her window view with Bobo standing in her way.”
The clip, posted on May 22, shows the kitten relaxing on a bed, with Fibi cautiously approaching the bed, and very slowly—with plenty of hissing warnings—making her way toward Bobo.
While Fibi hesitates and stops, giving plenty of warning to the kitten, she eventually gets close enough to the windowsill to jump up, with Bobo quietly watching her every move. And, once there, Fibi appears to relax.
TikTok users flocked to the video, viewed almost 600,000 times, as commenters followed along on Fibi and Bobo’s journey. One posted: “She gave him the stink eye.”
“There wasn’t much angry tail wagging just a few gentle hisses. She’s slowly accepting him,” another user said, as a third wrote: “Yes it’s finally getting there and brave Fibi and cute but hyper Bobo are becoming closer.”
One comment read: “That’s great progress! Even if they aren’t snuggling and playing, acceptance and being ok with sharing the same room/space is awesome.”
Some worried Fibi would never get used to having a younger cat in her space. Introducing a kitten to an older cat takes time and patience; the pair should never be forced together, with the established cat being given room and a chance to escape if they are uncomfortable, according to Purina pet foods.
How well the process goes depends on the cat: some may take to the new arrival immediately, while others will need far more time to adjust. In some cases, the older feline will always ignore and live a separate life to the newer kitten.
Iva told Newsweek it has now been 18 days since they brought Bobo home, and “many people have told me that we just need more time.”
“I can already see a bit of progress—they’re sleeping on the same bed,” she added.
“Bobo is happy when he sleeps near Fibi, and Fibi … not so much, but she’s OK with it. I’m sure that, over time, they’ll become best friends.”
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to [email protected] with some details about your best friend, and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
The post 17-Year-Old Cat Afraid of New Kitten Builds Up Courage To Take Big Step appeared first on Newsweek.
