Introducing Cats

username000

Hi,
Hopefully someone can advise.

About a year ago we took in a cat that a neighbour had abandoned. She is kind of a grumpy cat, doesnt like to be petted, doesnt like people, doesnt like other cats etc... but we like her and she has become the Resident Cat. She is about 6.

Before Christmas I came across a stray cat with kittens so we rescued the kittens and got them into foster and we took mamma cat in ourselves and got her neutered and vaccinated. She is about 1. She is a real sweetie, friendly, playful, the total opposite of the Resident Cat!

I only have a small apartment so currently Resident Cat lives in the front - with cat flap access to the outer world and New Cat lives in the back, no outside access yet. We'd like to keep both cats but if they really cant get along we will rehome New Cat.

We have done the following with the view to introducing them: let Resident Cat into New Cats empty room and vice versa, swapped beds, swapped other scented items, let them smell each other under a door, and slowly moved food and water bowls down until Resident Cat has to eat outside New Cats door. Initially there was a lot of hissing from Resident Cat at the mere sniff of New Cat but we took it all slowly and now there is no hissing with any of the above.

Last week we began "peeps" through a door cracked open an inch. Immediately Resident Cat ran to the door and began hissing, spitting, and boxing the head off New Cat as much as she could through the crack. We have continued "peeps" and they have all been similar to above - they do stop when I say "AH AH!" but neither of them are calm about it at all! Usually we stop it after a minute or so and Resident Cat then hides under a table - New Cat seems less psychologically affected!

The vet says to just put them in a room together now and let them go at it and only separate them if the fight gets serious.

But Im afraid of one of them getting badly injured so want to continue "peeps" for a while longer.

Can anyone advise if the above sounds ok or is there more I could be doing? I was planning on getting a baby gate as the next step but until "peeps" calm down I dont want to progress.

Any advice would be appreciated.

morgana

Sounds like you are doing everything right - and no, do not force them to be together without a way out to a safe place.

It can take a long time - it took about 3 months to integrate a new kitten to our 2 resident cats (11 and 10 at the time). We did all the same things, and basically kept them separate using a large rectangular climbing frame for plants and plastic as a baby gate did nothing to keep kitten from scaling it.
What clinched it in the end was letting them meet outside on neutral territory - kitten got told in no uncertain terms who is boss (where the older two would just avoid her inside and rather go outside than deal with the little one (a very boisterous kitten, but very friendly and non-agressive) and she learned cattiquette pretty quickly from thereon in.

A week later we could leave the doors open and they would tolerate each other. Now kitten is fully integrated and tries to get them to play with her (mostly unsuccessful) - but the oldest female and kitten are often seen together even though she does not encourage her playing but she keeps watching her.

What also seemed to help was Feliway - definitely in boosting the eldest female's confidence and helping her to assert herself rather than avoiding the newcomer althogether.

username000

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. I forgot to mention I already got feliway but it doesnt seem to have helped.

Im aware that it might take a long time alright and thats ok, I guess I just wanted to know if it gets past the "boxing the head off each other through a crack in the door" to being able to tolerate each other. I dont expect them to be best pals but Id like to think they can learn to ignore each other and not actively be trying to smack the head off each other which is what happens now!

Im worried if I let them meet outside that Resident Cat will refuse to let New Cat back into the territory and she will end up straying again as she was when we found her.

Nody

I'd try to feed high quality dream stuff from the other side of a big room/corridor for each. This way they are not very close to each other and while they can see the other cat they don't want to give up their food for it. Once one gets close to done split them apart and then slowly move them closer to each other.

username000

Ill try that Nody. Currently Resident Cat is a foody and New Cat just wants love and play.

Both can be distracted from the open door with toys so we have been using that to help prevent the head smacks! But they just use that as an excuse not to go to the door crack at all so the "peep" doesnt really happen.

aonb

Jeez OP you are a saint! Well done for the huge effort with both rescues! Your Brownie Point Counter is sky high

If its any consolation, in October I found a kitten, and introduced it to anti-cat terrier as slowly and as carefully as you are doing. I never really believed that they would ever get to share the same house, never mind same room... As I type, both terrier and cat are fast asleep in the same bed at the stove. GOOD LUCK!

él statutorio

We have 2 cats and were in a similar situation to you.

We did all the softly softly intros, new smells, etc etc. Eventually we just let the two of them at each other. There was some violence but nothing major. Eventually the 2 cats settled into a routine, in our house, New Cat is currently the dominant one and Old cat is the submissive one.

However, this does on occasion change and the roles get reversed for a few weeks, I have no idea why.

Sometime the two of them will curl up together and groom each other and it looks like they're best buddies but usually they just tolerate each other. They stake out a patch of the house each and tend to stick to it, they have some communal areas that they share too.

username000

Thanks aonb, yeah, Ill get to cat heaven anyway (where they will probably eat the soft parts of me first )

él statutorio - ultimately I think it has to come to this - that they meet fully and go at each other. Im just so nervous that one of them will really get hurt.

The latest is that Resident Cat is refusing to go to the open door crack at all, this has happened for the past 2 days. She see's me setting it up and then goes to the other side of the room where she cant see New Cats nose poking through and refuses to move, and hides under a table if I try to encourage her over!

Im also nervous about eventually letting New Cat outside again too - I hope she knows this is her home now and comes back to us! I didnt have this problem with Resident Cat as she just started living with us when she was abandoned but we had known her from outside for ages before that and knew she didnt go far.

As you can see, Im a nervous cat mammy.

Shivi111

We have two cats and sometimes mind my sisters cats, in my experience, letting them meet and judging their reactions under supervision is a good way to go.

Our two residents met while they were still very young (3 months old for the kitten and almost a year old for the older cat). We allowed them to sort it out themselves (with supervision) and after about three days of hissing they were the best of friends.

Now, when cat visitors come we allow everyone to meet, usually the older male cat ignores the visitors, occasionally giving them a hiss or growl if they come too close. He continues with this for a few days then accepts them. The younger cat get a little more stressed, and will show her claws, but we have had no serious fights and everyone calms down after a few days.

I find that, as long as we offer escape routes for all the animals (the cat tree, airing cupboard etc. etc.) that we don't have problems. Even the two who live together and are normally friends do fight a little if they can't get away from each other when they want to.

A note on separating them if they fight, do so very carefully! When I was a new cat owner (who knew no better!) I got some very serious scratches by trying to separate one of mine fighting a neighbours cat. I stupidly picked him up and, in his panic, he lacerated my back and shoulders!