Introducing a new cat

[3smithboys]

Tomorrow night we are picking up a 5 month old girl we are adopting after she has been spayed. We already have a girl who is a little over a year old; we adopted her at the end of July.

This will be the first time we will have two cats. We are planning on keeping them separated for the first week - keeping the new cat in her own room. That room has French doors so they will be able to see each other. I was going to feed the cats their wet food (which she currently gets twice a day) by the door so she associates the new cat with something she loves...and also give her treats there too...

I was hoping that in about a week they would be able to be together. I also wanted to give her some time to heal from being spayed. I'm not sure how my old cat is going to like having a new cat around...and I want her to be able to get away!!!

Does anyone have experience in getting 2 cats together??? Thanks

 

[wiigirl]

Awesome!

 

[3smithboys]

Thanks! We are so excited to get our new kitty! She is a real love bug... she actually picked us, We went to the rescue with the intention of getting a different kitten, but he wanted nothing to do with us. She would not leave our entire family alone! Jumped right up on one of my twins, and then onto DH... snuggled up onto his lap. She let us hold her and cuddle her! She is the exact opposite of the cat we have!

 

[denisem]

Sounds like you have the perfect room and plans made!

Having said that, I did the same thing when we adopted a retired breeder cat, Millie (great grandma to Rocko, the cat we had for a year).

The first night, Millie lasted about 3 cycles of me going into the room to see how she was doing before she scooted out and pranced around the whole house like she owned the place! Rocko trailed behind her, mesmerized as if he'd never seen another cat before...they later became best buds.

So much for our plans!

She sounds like a sweetie and hope you post a picture of your pets soon.

 

[jackemail]

Good planning. Just don't rush it...I brought a new kitten in with my 2 older cats....after a week separated, I had to bring kitten out for short periods of time throughout the day. Took another week or two of this before they all tolerated each other.

 

[Imzadi]

Tomorrow night we are picking up a 5 month old girl we are adopting after she has been spayed. We already have a girl who is a little over a year old; we adopted her at the end of July.

This will be the first time we will have two cats. We are planning on keeping them separated for the first week - keeping the new cat in her own room. That room has French doors so they will be able to see each other. I was going to feed the cats their wet food (which she currently gets twice a day) by the door so she associates the new cat with something she loves...and also give her treats there too...

I was hoping that in about a week they would be able to be together. I also wanted to give her some time to heal from being spayed. I'm not sure how my old cat is going to like having a new cat around...and I want her to be able to get away!!!

Does anyone have experience in getting 2 cats together??? Thanks

Sounds like a good plan to me. I brought my kitty home hours after she had been spayed. She was groggy at the shelter, but as soon as she was put in a box, she went crazy, trying to claw her way out of the cardboard carrier box. I thought she was going to rip open her stitches.

So I would definitely let your new kitty have several days to heal on her own. She will feel the most vulnerable and afraid while healing from a stitched wound. And your other cat may sense that and react badly toward her.


We require pictures tomorrow!

 

[CDoobee]

I somehow missed the subject line, and just read that you were adopting a 5 month old girl. Then saw she was getting SPAYED!!!!!

 

[PatsGirl]

We had a feral adopt us when our 25# Maine Coon was about a year old. We did everything we could to help them assimilate to each other but the older one still hates the other one. Poor thing, he follows him everywhere, only to get batted around when he gets too close or if Indi is in a really bad mood, gets swiped, claws and all. Occasionally they'll have a real cat fight which I break up. I had really hoped they would be company for each other but its just not meant to be. We considered finding another home for the younger (Fitzgerald) but have decided to just let things be and hope it gets better as they age. When things get particularly tough, Fitz will disappear for a day or two but he always comes back...usually right to my bed first thing in the morning for a little Mom lovin

 

[emmabelle]

I somehow missed the subject line, and just read that you were adopting a 5 month old girl. Then saw she was getting SPAYED!!!!!

oh and we just brought in a new boy (8-10 month old kitten)


My daughter's boyfriend found an apparent stray kitten at a park on a rainy night that he just couldn't leave there. After his parents said no and my daughter's roommate said no, I ended up saying yes.

He's a love bug. We really didn't separate him for long from our existing two fur babies. It was basically one night, our older female, who's the boss, started off growling and hissing every time she saw him, but it's gotten better every day. Our second cat is very chill and he got along with the new guy after probably 3 days. I think it really helped that the new one was a baby, he wouldn't fight back when the older two would defend their territory. He just would lay down.

Good luck, it'll be fine since they're both young!

 

[Imzadi]

We had a feral adopt us when our 25# Maine Coon was about a year old. We did everything we could to help them assimilate to each other but the older one still hates the other one. Poor thing, he follows him everywhere, only to get batted around when he gets too close or if Indi is in a really bad mood, gets swiped, claws and all. Occasionally they'll have a real cat fight which I break up. I had really hoped they would be company for each other but its just not meant to be. We considered finding another home for the younger (Fitzgerald) but have decided to just let things be and hope it gets better as they age. When things get particularly tough, Fitz will disappear for a day or two but he always comes back...usually right to my bed first thing in the morning for a little Mom lovin

For years, I've been wanting to get a companion kitty for my cat. But, I'm worried this exact situation would happen. Sometimes, it can take months for the cats to acclimate to each other, so it would not be something evident right away if they will get along. And yes, I would re-home the new cat. I got it for the older cat. It's not fair to either of them to live in a situation where they don't get along. The older cat has been here first, and she doesn't deserve a bad situation. And this place is too small for that kind of negativity all the time. I don't have enough room for them to have separate rooms. My kitty is 11 now. So I don't know how she'd do with another cat now.

 

[njmom47]

We just introduced Stella Luna (she's about 3/4 months old by now) to our older guys. DD has been keeping Stella in her bedroom (as she did with Brody, the 3 yr old) and letting her out a little bit at a time.
As a PP stated, she does flop on her side when Brody seems to be getting aggravated with her so she seems to realize his limits, and Junior is so old (I think he's somewhat blind and deaf) they pretty much ignore each other.
Stella does however, seem to love Ella the bunnie.
I think the gradual/French door idea is great! Good luck!

 

[Tozzie]

I think you have a great plan, the only other thing I would do and I have done this is take a towel, a small dish towel rub the new cat with the towel and then give it to the other cat, and vise versa this way they get used to the smell before they are together.

 

[3smithboys]

Thanks everyone! I loved reading all of your stories/advice! We can't wait to get her tomorrow, and I know that she will need time to recover, so that might just help with her staying in the other room. We have enough rooms in the house that they can find other places to go if they want to get away from each other. I sure hope they wind up liking each other, though....

 

[PatsGirl]

And yes, I would re-home the new cat. I got it for the older cat. It's not fair to either of them to live in a situation where they don't get along.

We had hoped that in time they would get along but our Coon is soooo spoiled and so much bigger that he's a real bully. I make sure to give our "baby" lots of attention when the other is not around. In fact, he's taken to sleeping at the foot of our bed alot of nights so I still think they're both getting the attention the need, albeit "staggered". They are in/out cats so there is plenty of space for them both to get away as needed. I guess I just had visions of them curled up together Its been 18 months now so I don't think that'll happen. To think, this is the kitten that the MSPCA was going to euthenize and the local feral shelter said could never be domesticated so we were told to let him go where we trapped him. We did but he just never left.

 

[Imzadi]

We had hoped that in time they would get along but our Coon is soooo spoiled and so much bigger that he's a real bully. I make sure to give our "baby" lots of attention when the other is not around. In fact, he's taken to sleeping at the foot of our bed alot of nights so I still think they're both getting the attention the need, albeit "staggered". They are in/out cats so there is plenty of space for them both to get away as needed. I guess I just had visions of them curled up together Its been 18 months now so I don't think that'll happen. To think, this is the kitten that the MSPCA was going to euthenize and the local feral shelter said could never be domesticated so we were told to let him go where we trapped him. We did but he just never left.

I hope you don't think I was criticizing your situation. I meant I didn't think it would be fair in my situation. I have such a tiny studio apartment, the cats wouldn't even get a different room to hang out in alone. Unless one was hiding under the bed, they'd pretty much always know where the other is all the time. And if they don't get along, that would probably be uncomfortable.

In your situation, Fitz gets away for a bit and comes back for cuddling.

 

[It'sOffToDisneyWeGo]

I somehow missed the subject line, and just read that you were adopting a 5 month old girl. Then saw she was getting SPAYED!!!!!

 

[3smithboys]

Well, we brought Lilly home, and she is as happy as can be! She is a real love bug!! However, Stormy is not a happy cat... She has been grumpy and hissing and growling and the door that is separating them. I think I made a mistake by letting her see the new cat... I had the curtains to the glass doors open. I closed them later and that seemed to calm her down...

Stormy still stayed by the door for a lot of the evening, and she was grumpy with us too! I hope things get better. I know it has only been 1 evening, but I want it to work out...

 

[Tozzie]

Well, we brought Lilly home, and she is as happy as can be! She is a real love bug!! However, Stormy is not a happy cat... She has been grumpy and hissing and growling and the door that is separating them. I think I made a mistake by letting her see the new cat... I had the curtains to the glass doors open. I closed them later and that seemed to calm her down...

Stormy still stayed by the door for a lot of the evening, and she was grumpy with us too! I hope things get better. I know it has only been 1 evening, but I want it to work out...

Excuse me but there is a rule you have the kitty we get a picture otherwise no more suggestions

 

[Imzadi]

Excuse me but there is a rule you have the kitty we get a picture otherwise no more suggestions

 

[3smithboys]

Ok, I just have to figure out how to post them!!!