two new cats arriving to join the one that's here--what to do?

[ginnyinWI]

Our home is big enough but I'm worried about a possible civil war coming: our daughter is living here with her cat, probably until sometime in the Fall. Now my son is going to work overseas for a year (Australia), and is bringing their two cats to stay with us too. Anyone have experience introducing cats to one another? They might get along fine, but then...

The one that's here is a female calico, maybe 13 years old. She tends to be a sort of Alpha-kitty, and has even leaped off the deck to chase strange kitties out of our yard! She feels she rules the roost now, since our old male cat died last January.

The two who are coming this Thursday are also both female. One is a brown tabby about five years old, and the other is a black longhair about three years old. They are good friends.

The other element is the fact that the calico doesn't like kids and is likely to dive under the bed at the first sight of my baby grandson who is 8 months old. They will be visiting us for a week before heading overseas.

So what should I do--put the calico in a separate room at first, or just take my chances that they won't fight? I need some ideas about how to proceed so that they will all become buddies eventually.

[blondie58]

1. oh., boy that is a tough one

check out this article. I have found this website,www.littlebigcat.com invaluable in cat related questions- http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=cattocatintroductions

Good luck to you all and keep us posted!

[ginnyinWI]

5. that's a great article

I'm going to incorporate some of those ideas too. I like the feeding-near-the-door idea. Makes perfect sense.

[Eurobabe]

2. Keep them separated at first

I would put the strangers in a room by themselves, for at least 2 days, swap out the Queen of the roost once in awhile so she can smell the visitors in the room they've been assigned to, allow the visitors to roam the house. Then by the 3rd day, you should be able to let them all hang out. Anything less than that I think you are in for some flying fur. I've always introduced my cats to strangers this way.

Hope it works! By the time they adjust, the visitors will be gone. LOL.

[ginnyinWI]

3. thankyou--I'll try that

and let you know how it goes. I'll put the two new ones in the basement and then switch them around after a day or two. To complicate matters, on day two we are having a bunch of relatives over for a cookout and visit with our son and his family.

[demnan]

4. That may not be so bad

They might be able to bond and compiserate on how insensitive humans are at that point.

[ginnyinWI]

6. the plot thickens...

Today is the day. Or rather, tonight is the night. We are determined that the old cat will not lay eyes on the new ones for at least three days. They will smell each other's presence until then.

To add to the drama, on Wednesday my other daughter is coming home for the summer and has nowhere else to bring the cat who belongs to her fiance and herself. She'll be here for about eight weeks, until their August wedding. The cat in question is named Charlie and he's a big, beautiful, fluffy gray Maine Coon cat type--white paws and bibb--but he is a big wuss. Is intimidated by other cats. We're gong to have to have three cat zones until they can all be melded into one big, hopefully happy summer gang of cats. Man, what have I gotten into? After the summer we'll be down to three again--or maybe even two. But it's gonna be interesting.

Here's Charlie:


Here are Jezebel and Zelda, our son's cats:


And here is the resident matriarch, Camilla:

[demnan]

7. Get lots of catnip

to put on newspapers in all the cat areas so they have plenty of room to roll around in it and get silly. This sometimes helps ease the tension of newcomers.

[ginnyinWI]

8. great idea!

It grows wild out in the yard. It'll be a stress reducer.

[Beaverhausen]

12. OMG! Charlie looks exactly like my dear departed Carmine

That pic made me :cry:

[japple]

9. It sounds like you have everything covered. One thing I have

done the last 2 times I introduced new kitties into my household is to get a window screen and prop it in the bedroom doorway so that the cats can see each other, but not get to each other. (This was after the "quarantine" period.) It worked very well, although after 2 months, my senior male still hisses at his youngest sister. Your Camilla is gorgeous and looks just like a queen. The other cats are beautiful as well.

Oh, and you might get some Feliway or Rescue Remedy in case you need it. Good luck and keep us posted.

[ginnyinWI]

10. Day one: so far so good

We got in very late last night after picking up son's and family and cats from the airport. New cats allowed the run of the house while resident cat was put in the basement. All are on their guard and there has been some hissing, but all in all it's going well. Resident cat Camilla doesn't like all the new scents and sounds, particularly of the baby. Cats haven't laid eyes on each other yet: the scents are enough for today. Catnip has helped.

[ginnyinWI]

11. day three

Cookout last night, whole houseful of people. Resident cat got a chance to see the black longhair, who is the more timid of the new cats, and took off after her. We got them apart but now black kitty is scared and hides most of the time. Resident cat saw the other one too, this morning--the brown tabby and took off after her. But later they were discovered in a stand-off in the upstairs hallway. Each reclined and watching each other from about ten feet away. So maybe things are resolving somehow between those two. The timid one is still hiding though, so we'll be dealing with that one separately I think. So a little progress, at least! They have all been smelling each other's scent for two full days now, so maybe that's helping.

[demnan]

13. You might try brushing them all with the same brush

this will spread the scent evenly between them all. Also, put a stuffed animal if you have one and some of your old clothes or blankets in with the shy black kitty for comfort.

[Warpy]

14. This is the advice I took, hilarious read

http://www.petpublishing.com/catkit/articles/newcat.shtml

[ginnyinWI]

15. status: stalemate

The four cats have set themselves up in their own areas of the house. The original cat is in her normal spots on the main floor, and the new cats are in two bedrooms upstairs. Jezebel seems to want to come down sometimes and sooner or later I think she will. Zelda and Charlie are the two longhaired ones and are both fraidy-cats--but both like to prowl around at night. Tonight we'll see if they can make friends and prowl together. Neither is a dominant type so I have hopes they will.

We've gotten so tired of moving the cats around that we've pretty much started to let them be where they want to be--and they are giving each other plenty of space. Hopefully they'll get over being scared or territorial and just co-exist.

Word of warning: constantly picking up scared and resistant cats and moving them to new locations in the house will make you their enemy. Two of them growl at me on sight! If I were doing it over again, I'd just keep each cat in its own location and maybe just bring a new cat to see them in a cat carrier briefly to get them used to each other. That's what we're doing now.

[ginnyinWI]

16. progress!

The evening hours are where we are making progress. We are working with three cat zones, two in upstairs bedrooms and one on the main floor. But at night the new cats seem to get much more confident and bold and wander out of their areas and into others.

So last night Jezebel the brown tabby came to "see" the Maine Coon mix, Charlie at his "digs". While she watched from the doorway, he went into this act, like, "oh, I don't care who is watching me--I'm cool and this is my territory!" as he rolled over on his back and exposed his fluffy white belly fur. He then scratched long and loudly on his cardboard scratchbox--then spread himself out on the floor majestically and looked at her. She had to do something to counter that! But because he's about twice her size, she wasn't thinking attack. She stole into the room and past him, then put one paw on his scratchbox, then jumped on it briefly, looking over her shoulder all the while. He gave out a few complaining mews, so she jumped hastily off again without scratching on it. She just wanted to make her point, I guess. But this was all good because no fur flew, no yowling commenced, no scratched noses were had. Cat politics is really interesting!

Resident cat Camilla has had staring contests with Charlie across a distance of about 25 feet, but no fighting either. Nobody wants to challenge that big furball, not knowing exactly how much cat muscle there is underneath all that fluff. So he's got smooth sailing I think, from here on out. He still hides by day though--we call him the Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde kitty--except that he's nice at night, not a monster, and a fraidy cat by day.

Camilla is getting used to the idea of the other two cats in "her" domaine as well--it's going on two weeks now. She needs a little more contact with them so that they will see that she's no real threat.

[badgerpup]

18. Laughed when you said 'cat politics'...

Remeinded me of something that happened when I still had Misha and ex- Sig Other wasn't Ex....

My alpha cat Misha had these bouts of 'psychogenic alopecia'...which means he'd lick holes into his fur, and then lick the skin raw; usually on his belly.
Made an appointment so our Sainted Vet would give him a cortisone shot to break the 'licking raw skin even worse' cycle...
I had to go to physical therapy and didn't have time to double back...and didn't want to leave Misha at the vet where he'd have to be in a cage. Figured he'd have more fun hanging with 'Uncle Jason'(Sig Other), who he knew and liked.

Jason had two cats of his own. Alpha female Hara came out and hissed.
Misha returned the courtesy...only he was a BIG cat with BIG fangs...and they were quite visible. He made no threatening moves, just sat there and returned one...single...hiss.

Hara did an almost audible "HOLY SHIT! Uh...you better not try to pull anything, or I'll...I'll...I'LL TELL MY DADDY ON YOU!"
She then retreated to "Daddy's" lap.

Misha spent my absence sitting in the window 'reading the paper' (looking out the window) and the cats all ignored each other.

[ginnyinWI]

17. Three weeks out--

We now don't restrict any of the four cats any more. The new ones generally stay upstairs and the old one downstairs, but there have been forays into foreign territory by both sides, especially after dark. There's been some hissing, spitting and growling but I think that's totally to be expected after only three weeks. Each one is testing his/her mettle against the rest, trying to see where they fit into the pecking order around here.

Question for anyone who's gone through this: is this good for three weeks into the process? And can I expect things to get even better? My goal is to have the cats each willing to walk past each other without aggression-- to share territory. Then I can move all the litter boxes to the basement and food dishes back to the kitchen. A little playfulness and friendship among them would also be very welcome, but I'm not asking for miracles here. Even the two who came from the same household will sometimes hiss at each other when they are stressing about the other cats.

At least they aren't hissing at me anymore. I've been able to build up their trust with food and lots of petting and coat-brushing.

[MiniMe]

19. I only have experience with other dogs, never had a cat

But you are doing a great job. When I bring fosters into the house, we always go through a period when I watch them like a hawk at first to make sure that aren't getting into it. I also don't allow any playing for the first few days. Since my dogs are used to having fosters in, they are usually pretty good about things, if there a problem it is usually from the foster. The main thing is that they have to work it out themselves, you can't do it for them, at least that is what I have found.

I had a 1 year old female in a few months ago. She got along with my boys great. Then, one day I was taking a nap on the couch, and unbeknownst to me, she had stationed herself near me. When the youngest came to wake me up because he had to go outside, she went after him. She had become possessive of her person and thought she was protecting me. It was quick and bloodless and I dealt with it, but she had to find out where she was in the pack, and with one quick action she put herself above my youngest. Then she had to see where she fit in with my oldest. They started standing neck to neck and leaning and I kept breaking it up because I don't allow that, it is usually dominance behavior. They kept at it and I finally gave up trying to break it up, I just stood close by to nip anything that started in the bud. Well, nothing started. I don't know what they proved by doing that, but my oldest was accepted as top dog. Never had another problem with them, and from that moment on the foster was in love with my oldest. She wouldn't give my youngest the time of day and she fawned over the oldest. That drove my youngest crazy because he really wanted to play with her. He was turning sommersaults for her and she just yawned. I also worked on body positions with her, I wouldn't allow her to place herself between me and the other dogs, she was at my side.

Sorry about the longwinded story, it was something that happened relatively recently, and it isn't like that with most fosters. I haven't had the youngest for that long and he isn't used to the fosters comings and goings. The oldest is great at fostering, the youngest isn't quite as sure about it.

[ginnyinWI]

20. it is interesting even if about dogs.

What I'm learning is that when I trust them and give them the opportunity, they find ways of working out who is who in the pecking order. When I just keep them apart, no progress can be made. So now the top cat can come into the areas where the others are when she feels like it, and there is some growling and hissing, but I see it as part of the process they need to go through.

Me, since I've got the food and cat brushes and toys, use these to try to encourage sociable behavior among them. Today the new cats were willing to be fed halfway down the stairs-- which means closer to "enemy" territory--looking rather ridiculous I must say.

[demnan]

21. I think you're doing well

They will get used to each other in time without hissing and growling. Except in those rare times when one crosses the line with an older and cross one. As far as play goes, the youngest cat has to initiate it. If the older cat is accepting it becomes play, if not, it becomes teasing. I have both in my place.

[emilyg]

22. Don't laugh

I always put a tiny dab of perfume on the tail of each cat - so they all smell the same.

[tulsakatz]

23. the best advice I can give you is............

don't try to force them into anything. If the older cat has not been around other animals, she probably won't like it but she will eventually tolerate the other animals.

Cats are very territorial. She will probably just keep her distance and watch the other cats for awhile. I doubt she would fight with the other animals, unless there is a reason to do so. But she will definitely hiss at them.

I have 2 cats. When my oldest kitty was about 5 yrs old, I got my little kitty. The older one, Mystery would just sit on one side of the room and watch the other one. If the little one got too close, she would hiss at her. While they were trying to adjust to each other, Mystery would not eat out of the little cat's bowl. (That's something else you might want to do is get them their own bowls.)

Eventually Selena (my little kitty) decided she wasn't afraid of Mystery. Sometimes Mystery would be sleeping on the floor and Selena would walk up and pounce on her!!! haha.......and I was thinking, 'you'd better watch it, she's bigger than you are!'

Anyway, I've had them both for a long time now and they are good friends. Sometimes Mystery chases Selena and they play together a lot of the time!

Just let them have their space and they will adjust over time.