Advice on taking in another cat

Hey Steve.

It is possible to have multi-cat households.

If your brother's cat has never been an outdoor cat, it won't have the street savvy that your cat has, and it won't learn that savvy from her either. There are cat flap products that are actived by a chip or magnet in the collar of a specific cat, so you could change your cat flap to one of those, so Snuff can keep doing her thing, but Kevin can't get out.

That's the practicalities out of the way.

Cats are territorial. That is the most important thing to remember when trying to introduce two adult cats into a space where they will cohabit. Planning well in advance, and taking your time, are the two most important aspects of cat introduction.

In advance, decide whether you're going to upgrade your catflap, and whether you're going to keep Kevin inside-only and what you'll do with Snuff in the short term. Be warned, it is not unusual for cats with outdoor access to be so unimpressed with the introduction of another animal that they simply piss off to someone else's house. You may want to consider keeping Snuff indoors for a few weeks while you manage the introductions between her and Kevin.

When introduced to your house, Kevin will need to have access to a single room where Snuff will not go. Before he arrives, shut the door of that room and keep Snuff out of it for a week or so, so that she adjusts to not being allowed in there. Don't choose a room she's attached to (e.g. don't use the room where Snuff is normally fed, or where she uses a litter tray).

In the Kevin room, you'll need to set up a bed, some toys, food bowls, a water bowl and a litter tray. Elsewhere in the house, set up the equivalent for Snuff. It's a good idea, if Snuff already sleeps with you, to use your room as the Snuff room.

When you leave the house to collect Kevin, make sure Snuff is shut indoors. Bring Kevin home and take him straight to his new room. Do not put his cage on the floor to try introducing him to Snuff. Best if she hardly even realises there's a new arrival. In his new room, let Kevin out of his carry crate and allow him to explore the room. Give him food, water and a litter tray. Then leave him in there, and go out and cuddle Snuff. It's fine if she can smell Kevin on you, that's not an issue.

For the first two days, leave Kevin to settle in his room, heading in occasionally for a cuddle and to feed him and clean his tray. Snuff may come and investigate the door of the room - that's fine if she does. If she growls or hisses, try distracting her with a treat and give heaps of cuddles.

After a couple of days, bring out Kevin's carry crate (minus Kevin) and leave it out on the floor, open. Let Snuff go and investigate it. She'll sniff it all over, climb in, so on. Give her lots of cuddles (again) and a treat. You can also take a blanket or item from Snuff's bed, and leave it in with Kevin to investigate.

After three or four days, bring Snuff to the door of Kevin's room, and let her snuffle around at the door. Give her a treat and praise her. (If someone can be inside with Kevin, this is also good - get them to praise and stroke him too.) Feed both cats at the same time on either side of the door - the first associations they have with each other need to be positive.

After maybe five days, and assuming neither cat has gone up the walls in a fit of territorial fury, you can try a face to face introduction. Don't allow Snuff to enter Kevin's room. Coax Kevin out of his room and into the house, but leave his escape route back to his room clear. Don't spring him on Snuff as a surprise either - yes, wait until she's relaxed, but don't allow him to approach her if she's fast asleep on the couch, for instance.

A typical first introduction will involve both cats seeing each other and freezing. There will be direct eye contact, and possibly some inflating of fur. They may approach each other extremely slowly. They may get close enough to be nose to nose, and usually what happens next is mutual hissing and growling, and Kevin may back off and even run back to his room, and Snuff will have the serious grumps for a few hours. This is completely normal. It's even normal for her to take a swipe at him. Don't let it turn into a full-on brawl, and don't let either cat physically rush the other or you'll have a cat fight, but don't give out to them for hissing or growling at each other. That's par for the course, and if you give out to Snuff for growling or hissing or swatting at Kevin, you'll shake up her world. She's the resident cat, it's her territority, she's allowed
to be pissed off at Kevin. If you admonish her, you'll ruin the natural order of things.

Keep the first introduction very short. Kevin will most probably be the one to rush back to his room, because it's all new to him. Shut him back in there, give Snuff lots of cuddles, let both cats calm down again and then try feeding them on either side of their door.

That's pretty much it - repeat ad nauseum. Allow them longer and longer time together, especially if they're getting along. Don't leave them unsupervised too soon. Lots of reassurance from you, lots of cuddles, plenty of treats. Try playing with a toy with the two of them - a piece of fabric, tied to the end of a long piece of string, and the other end tied to a stick, is a good toy - you can sweep the fabric along the floor or through the air, and your fingers are well out of the way.

There are products you can buy to help ease introductions - Feliway is a synthetically manufactured feline 'happy hormone', available as a plug-in like an air freshener, and as a spray in a pump-action bottle. It can help promote an atmosphere of calm and happiness when you're introducing cats. You can spray it on bedding (never direct on the cat) and you can use a plug-in in a room where both cats will be spending time, like the lounge. (Plug-in lasts four weeks.) You can also use a little Rescue Remedy, some drops in the water and a droplet or two on the back of the ears, rubbed into the skin, can help calm the cats.

Happy cat households are very doable, but time and calm are two things that you simply cannot substitute with any amounts of products.

Dunno if this has been mentioned, but when I introduce a new cat to the existing cat, I rub a sock or other piece of fabric along the head of the new cat, and then rub the scent of the old cat on it as well, and prsent it to the new cat, so that the new cat (and the old one) can get used to the smell of each other, without having seen each other...so when they meet, they know what the other one smells like.

Has worked so far for us ;-)