Dear Critter Corner: I recently adopted a senior cat, and she is a bit timid but has been coming out of her shell nicely with me. My sister’s 6-year-old daughter is scheduled to stay over at my place during one of the weekends this month and has limited experience interacting with cats. My senior cat can be a bit unsure of new people at first but has been able to warm up to whomever visits my apartment. Do you have any tips or tricks to help the introductions go smoothly and hopefully be less stressful on my cat?
Young children can sometimes be more stressful on animals than adults are. I would suggest starting with making sure that a safe place is set up for your cat before your niece comes to visit. This place would have all the basic amenities that she would need as well as a couple of scratch posts and places to hide or perch away from everyone. Your cat can retreat to this place if she becomes overwhelmed.
It would also be great to have your niece visit a couple times before the big weekend, to help slowly get your kitty used to her scent and presence in the apartment. It is important to teach your niece how to approach and interact with your cat from the very first meeting. This would include going over basic body language with her and the do’s/don’ts of how to pet a cat. Keeping in mind that younger children might have more trouble at times gauging how gently they are petting a cat, it is important to be present to ensure a positive interaction. I would suggest having all visits with your cat supervised and allowing your cat to have multiple high-up places to escape to if needed. The best time to have them meet is when both are at a lower energy state (after playing or exercising vigorously). You can also have a lot of tasty treats prepared to give to your kitty. This will help set the tone for all future interactions between them, and we want to keep it all positive for them both!