Tangyuan Meets a Kitten: A Ragdoll Becomes a Big Sister

Tangyuan is a cream Ragdoll with a dark tail and the softest personality in the world. She goes completely limp when I pick her up, and in our Huai Khwang flat she spends happy hours chasing glass marbles on the green rug. For three years, she was an only cat. Then, one rainy evening, I found a very small kitten crying under a motorbike near our building.

The kitten was grey and white, thin and loud, and his eyes were clear. I took him upstairs in a towel and called the vet the next morning. She said he was about eight weeks old, checked him for fleas and ear mites, and gave advice about food and vaccines. I called him Mochi. And then came the real challenge: introducing the two cats.

The vet told me not to let them meet freely right away. We put Mochi in the bathroom with a litter box, a bed, food and water, and Tangyuan stayed outside. For three days they only smelled each other under the door. Tangyuan sat in front of the door with her tail swishing, which for a Ragdoll is a very big emotion. Then I swapped their blankets so they could learn each other's smell, and gave treats at the door so that the smell would mean something nice.

On day four we opened the door a little with a baby gate. Tangyuan hissed once, then walked away with the dignity of a queen. The next day she sat and watched him from a distance. By the end of the second week they were sharing the same room, and one afternoon I found them lying about twenty centimetres apart, pretending not to look at each other.

The real moment came with the marbles. Mochi pushed one across the floor with his paw, and Tangyuan, who never shares, got up and rolled one back. They played for an hour. By week three they were sleeping together on the green rug, and she washed his ears every morning with serious concentration.

If you want to bring home a second cat, take your time, use a separate room at first and keep the routines the same. Of course, ask your vet, especially about tests and vaccines before introducing a new cat to the old one. Tangyuan has now learned how to be a big sister. She also learned how to hide the marbles from him, but that is another story.