How to introduce cats & all about our new kitten

Do you remember in my All about Astro post I recommended getting two Siamese cats instead of one?

Guess what!

Meet Cosmo, our four-month-old kitten! We got him for various reasons, but the biggest one was to give Astro a brother, and despite our fears from the beginning, today they are inseparable! In this post I’m going to cover the history of getting this adorable boy, how we successfully introduced him to Astro, and all about his personality. Strap in because this is going to be a long one.

How we got Cosmo

We had always talked about getting a new friend for Astro, but we were never convinced until January this year when we saw a posting for a litter of Siamese kittens. I wasn’t instantly sure, though. I thought the kittens were adorable like everyone else would, but it felt like just another opportunity that we probably wouldn’t take. It was only after running through the reasons that we realised the cirumstances and the timing were too perfect to ignore.

Now, when I tell you we would be going on a trip to New Zealand the following month, you might think that’s the opposite of perfect timing. But the boy we had our eye on wasn’t ready to leave his mom yet, so that 14 days or so away was the perfect amount of time for us and the kitten! Plus, the trip was exciting enough that it made the wait much less excruciating.

We were already going through lots of name ideas. It wasn’t like Astro, where his name suddenly came to us and immediately clicked. We had quite a few on our list that we were going back and forth on:

• Leo
• Miles
• Pluto
• Dash
• Cosmo

It’s more that we ended up going with the most “logical” option. Following the space theme with Astro’s name, ending with an O, sounding nice together, we ended up going with COSMO! And I can say it definitely suits him – the only problem is that their names might be too similar and go too well together that we often mix them up…

Many plane flights, mountains, kiwis, gondolas and luges later, we made it back home – and the next day we would pick up our kitten!

The unfortunate thing is that we got very sick by the end of the trip – headaches, severe fever, extreme fatigue. So after we brought him home, the first few days was just us crowded in one room with blankets and cat toys. When you’re sick, everything feels pretty hopeless, so I was put off from almost everything and wasn’t able to fully appreciate Cosmo’s cuteness.

Luckily, Cosmo is growing slowly and is still unquestionably a kitten, so now that we’re well over our sickness, we’ve got a second chance to appreciate it. Astro, on the other hand, seemed to spend one week as a kitten and then blew up into his typical self.

How we introduced our cats

Cosmo was extremely shy at the beginning. Hiding in his igloo all day, running under the bed at the smallest sound, sometimes hissing at us. However, we realised quickly just how playful he was, so all we had to do was wag a toy around and we started building up his confidence. Now he’s so confident that he’s comfortable jumping on a cat who, to him, is about the same size a full grown lion would be to a lion cub.

SPOILER ALERT: Astro and Cosmo are best friends now (and have been since the beginning.)

Today, we’re not really sure whether they were just destined for each other, or if it was thanks to the methods we used that they got so comfortable with each other so quickly. Either way, I’m going to go over the steps we did to introduce them, just in case it would help somebody wanting to introduce two cats.

1. Give the new kitten/cat one room to start off with

In general, this is a good idea. Your kitten will likely be scared of the new place and a large area will overwhelm them even more. Introduction-wise, this is also important so the older cat doesn’t feel like their whole territory is being invaded right away.

2. No eye contact

One thing to know about cats is that they are all about scents. Do not let them see each other. Just allow the cats to sniff each other under the door. You’ll know they’re ready for the next step if they are comfortable going close to each other’s doors. For us, Astro and Cosmo were even sticking their paws under and playfully batting each other.

3. Create positive associations

This can be done even if there’s still a door between them. Whenever the cats see or smell each other, give them treats and affection so that they associate each other with positive things.

4. Gradual visual contact

When you think they’re comfortable enough with each other’s scents, it may be time to open the door, but ONLY A CRACK – maybe to the point that they can’t even really see each other. This is just to see how they react when they realise they may finally meet with that cat behind the door.

Watch your cats’ body language: when you open the door, are they excited, scared, threatened, calm, playful, curious? Are they puffing up, hissing? This will tell you how much to open it, and for how long, and whether they really are ready for this step. The first time we cracked the door open, Astro and Cosmo were looking at each other like, “What’s the big deal? I already know this guy. Why are you hiding him from me?” So we were comfortable opening the door even more to the point they could get right up close.

WARNING: While we did this, we had two people on either side of the door holding both cats back. If this isn’t an option for you, just make sure the cats cannot touch or swat each other. It’s normal for them to hiss, but if they start fighting or getting angry, take them away and try again later when they’ve calmed down.

4. Free roaming (with supervision)

After testing their reactions with the last step, you should know when your cats are ready to “free roam” with each other (as always, every interaction must be supervised).

What we did when our cats were ready was open the door to the kitten’s room. Being there for only a few days, the kitten didn’t strictly consider it his territory, and the older cat was comfortable going in there since it is part of his house. We weren’t ready to give Cosmo the whole house yet, so we let Astro explore his room, sniffing everything he’s scented.

It’s normal for things to be a bit different from when they were looking at each other through the door. For us, Astro was relatively relaxed when we first let him into Cosmo’s room, while Cosmo was actually a little overexcited. Once he got too close, Astro hissed. That is the one and only time he has ever done that to Cosmo, and understandably so. The rest of the interaction proceeded as normal. No fights, no swatting, no puffing. Just the cats setting their boundaries and sussing each other out.

But it may take multiple sessions for them to get used to each other’s presence.

5. Let the new cat explore the whole house, go back steps if you need to, and hopefully…

All about Cosmo

Astro came from a household where other Siamese cats like him were piled up to the roof. It was like heaven for his breed, so you can imagine his disappointment when he came to a home with no other Siamese. The only other cat he knew was Ruby, an amazing Burmese-Bombay lady who almost lived up to 20 years old! Unfortunately, such an old cat wasn’t a great match for an energetic Siamese kitten.

He spent around two years with her before she passed away and was left with no one else… but another year and a half later, he saw his own kind for the first time since he was a kitten – his new brother Cosmo!

Born on the 11th of December 2024, Cosmo is a four-month old kitten. Unlike his brother who is half seal-point, half chocolate point, Cosmo is fully seal-point and is thus already on his way to surpassing Astro’s darkness.

The first time we held Cosmo, I cannot stress just how small he was. He was literally a mouse, being tiny, timid, with these giant eyes and ears. It made me a little bit worried, because as you might recall, Astro was bred to be bulkier to avoid the health problems Siamese usually inherit. However, he has definitely grown since we first got him, and is already catching up to Astro in size, colour and especially confidence! They do physically differ in a few ways, though:

Astro has always had very long legs while Cosmo’s are more stocky.

Cosmo’s ears are still very large and already as big as Astro’s.

And the most noticeable difference may be that Cosmo’s tail is much longer than average, compared to Astro. It’s a good built-in cat toy!

Other than that, it’s easy to get them mixed up at a glance.

Cosmo is a very smart boy. While Astro did occasionally play fetch when he was a kitten (and almost never does today), Cosmo will consistently fetch his ball any time you throw it! He makes a few different sounds to Astro – the most famous one is the growl. He used to make this sound when you got too close to his ball, but now he makes it anytime during crazy hour.

A cute downside is that Cosmo is… pretty destructive. He’s slowly getting over it but he will take the opportunity to tear up tissues, bite the sides of my iPad cover, pull on my pants strings, etc.

He’s not afraid to literally jump onto Astro and start a wrestle fight either, biting each others’ necks, chasing each other. This doesn’t happen much anymore but it can be shocking when you’re not used to it. Just know that if no one walks away with any wounds, they’re likely being more gentle than they seem. It’s just how cats play. You should still trust your instinct though and you definitely don’t have to encourage this behaviour!

The good news is that they snuggle a lot more than they fight. Despite the responsibility of becoming the leader of his pack, Astro is still a playful, loving boy, and I think it’s safe to say that Cosmo has improved his life in almost every aspect. And I’m glad we were able to give Cosmo a home with another Siamese right from the beginning!

That’s about it from me. I hope you were able to learn something from this post or were at least entertained by the adorable Astro, Cosmo, and a special appearance from Ruby. See you in the next one!