Introducing 2 new cats to each other in a new environment

Quandary

Hi All,

Just looking for some advice from those with the benefit of hindsight and experience

On Saturday we adopted 2 adolescent male neutered cats from a shelter. One cat is almost a year old and the other is maybe a month or 2 younger.

Each cat has been living in a closed off part of the apartment with their own litter box and food/water. We have swapped their blankets so they can get used to each others scents and this has gone well with no hissing or growling.

Yesterday evening after the cats had become more confident in their new environments, we decided to let them see and smell each other through a slightly open door. Again, we felt this went really well because there was no hissing/spitting/yowling and both cats were playfully swatting each other through the small gap in the door.

Because everything has gone so well up to now, we were planning on introducing the cats to each other properly this evening. The reason being that we don't want the cats to get too settled and territorial about their own "patch" of the apartment which might lead to squabbles.

I have come across lots and lots of guides online which describe introducing a new cat(s) to a home with an existing cat. These have been helpful but our situation is a little bit different in that both of the cats are new to the environment, and so far have only met briefly (20 mins) through the slightly open door.

Any advice or thoughts would be most welcome!

thanks!

Sassy58

By the sounds of it you have done it right - I would just open the door let them meet but make sure that each of them have a clear line of escape if they want to get out.

There maybe a little hissing and growling if one gets over excited and if this happens I would just seperate them and let thinks calm down and then 30 minutes later try again.

You could also try putting rescue remedy in the water of both cats...the one you get in the herbal shops.

Quandary

Thanks for the reply

The rescue remedy is something I have seen mentioned alright but i'd rather not use it just yet. Fingers crossed the meeting goes pleasantly. Both cats are very young and neutered so I can't see them getting overly aggressive.....hopefully!

Quandary

Ok, so had the first face to face meeting last night between the two cats. It went quite well because both cats were simply curious for the first 10/15 minutes and they started playing a little bit.

One of the two cats (white one) has lived with other cats/animals before but the other (black one) has not. I could see the white one was very much at ease and relaxed around the black during the playing, but the black one started getting a little aggressive and the playful swatting started to get a bit more serious(claws were out and the ears flattened etc)

There was no growling or hissing but the play had definitely become aggressive and hostile so we decided to separate them back into their own rooms.

Today i placed a piece of chicken wire fencing across an open doorway between the two cats so that they could see and smell each other without contact. There was no aggression between them and both cats seemed quite relaxed. I then placed food bowls on opposite sides of the wire(about 18" apart). Both cats ate the food and seemed to be settled enough. From what i understand so far of cat behaviour; getting two cats to eat in each other's presence is an important part of their social development.

It's still very early days and we dont want to rush them to mingle, but we were wondering is it best to continue to let them meet via the chicken wire fence separator for the next few days, or simply let them meet properly again and establish their own boundaries?

All/Any thoughts are welcome!

spookwoman

Found a kitten tonight and would like to keep it. Have 2 already that tolerate each other. Eldest growls and hisses if he smells another cat and the other Dexter is a wimp when it comes to unknown cats. Eldest is my cat or should i say I'm his human. Dexter took to me when I saw him and the vets. Kitten is about 6 weeks old going to vet tomorrow to get checked out. Looks like kitten (Stumpy) has taken to me as well, was crying out and when I put my pillowcase in the box on top of blanket he settled down and went to sleep. Really don't know if this will work.

planetX

Quandary wrote: »

Ok, so had the first face to face meeting last night between the two cats. It went quite well because both cats were simply curious for the first 10/15 minutes and they started playing a little bit.

One of the two cats (white one) has lived with other cats/animals before but the other (black one) has not. I could see the white one was very much at ease and relaxed around the black during the playing, but the black one started getting a little aggressive and the playful swatting started to get a bit more serious(claws were out and the ears flattened etc)

There was no growling or hissing but the play had definitely become aggressive and hostile so we decided to separate them back into their own rooms.

Today i placed a piece of chicken wire fencing across an open doorway between the two cats so that they could see and smell each other without contact. There was no aggression between them and both cats seemed quite relaxed. I then placed food bowls on opposite sides of the wire(about 18" apart). Both cats ate the food and seemed to be settled enough. From what i understand so far of cat behaviour; getting two cats to eat in each other's presence is an important part of their social development.

It's still very early days and we dont want to rush them to mingle, but we were wondering is it best to continue to let them meet via the chicken wire fence separator for the next few days, or simply let them meet properly again and establish their own boundaries?

All/Any thoughts are welcome!

For cats that's a very good first meeting, you shouldn't have major problems since both are new. I'd just let them at it now, they'll get used to each other.

Ellian

Everything stated here sounds about right to me but I'd also recomend Feliway to anyone in this situation. It diffuses pheremones in the air and lowers the stress levels. We introduced two cats to one cat via the method above (keep them apart for three days) and then introduce them. When they first met (Feliway in the air) there was some curious sniffing but generally they gave each other a wide berth apart from the odd cautious sniff at meal times) A few days later when the feliway ran out, it amped up a bit to spitting, chasing, hissing and the cats walking around with tails like bog brushes. When we reloaded the Feliway it went back to cautious sniffing. After about a month we dispelled with the Feliway altogether.