Getting a Second Cat!

[jbdreamer]

Tonight we are bringing home our new cat!!!
An 8 month old male from the Human Society. We have a 5 year old female cat (Lelu) at home. They are both extreamly friendly to people.

Does anyone have any exprienace in introducing a second cat to the home? Any tips would be appreciated!

 

[vacanut]

Yes, we got a 2nd cat and using advice from the vet, we kept the new cat seperated in its own room for a couple days and gradually introduced them. They may hiss/swat at each other. It turned out we had to get rid of one because they just didn't get along, one was mean and wouldn't let the other eat/use the littler box/etc.

 

[jbdreamer]

It turned out we had to get rid of one because they just didn't get along, one was mean and wouldn't let the other eat/use the littler box/etc.

Oh, how horrible. I hope that doesn't happen!

 

[chrissyk]

We also have a male and a female, and they've gotten along fine since we brought the female home when the male was about 18 months-old. They have their occasional cat spats, but nothing abnormal. We didn't do anything special to introduce them either. I did keep her separated out when I was at work, but it was more so she wouldn't pester him to death all day long while I wasn't home.

 

[LoveWDW]

Keep the cats in separate rooms for a day or so. Then rub your hands over the older cat to get the scent, then rub the new kitten so the scent is transferred to some extent, before letting them get together. When you let the kitten out, call it Lelu's kitten. "Hey, Lelu, here is Lelu's kitten." Give Lelu treats at the same time that the kitten is introduced. Lavish affection on Lelu and ignore the kitten when Lelu is around, at first. Lelu should smell the familiar scent, should associate the kitten with a pleasant experience (getting treats), and should not be jealous since she is getting the petting. Of course, in the end, they just learn to get along, hopefully. Good luck!

 

[Simba's Mom]

We have 2 cats, and I think the key to why they get along so well is that each has his own "space" that the other can't enter. For example, only one goes outside or spends time in the garage, so he knows that's his safe haven. The other has a room that only he (and DH) are allowed in to. We also have 2 kitty litter boxes, although now they have no problems using the same one. But I remember my parents telling me horror stories about how one of their cats used to attack the other when he was using the kitty litter bos.

 

[Danauk]

We have too cats as well. When we got Figaro we introduced them slowly (we have just repeated this progress with our new bunnies this summer!) We put them in seperate rooms which had an adjoning glass door so they could see one another but not get to oneanother. Then after a while we allowed them in the same room where we supervised them. We were lucky and then got on from day 1. With out bunnies the process took a few weeks as the new bunnies were 1/4 the size of our 4 year old!! They all get on well now (including the cats and bunnies!)

 

[scoutsmom99]

No I don't, but what are you naming him?

 

[jbdreamer]

No I don't, but what are you naming him?

The name on his card is Tigger, but that's such a generic name, so I think we will have to change it. Don't know to what yet.

 

[RadioNate]

I'm so no tthe person to ask about this but why not. Hve 2 littler boxes and 2 food. Don't expect them to share. Keep the new cat confined for a few days and let the resident cat have her house.

They will have some spats but hopefully it'll all work out.

this site generally has some good info.
http://www.perfectpaws.com/

 

[Coloradomom]

We have 3 cats. We got our first one (Macbeth) about 3 years ago. He was so sweet that one day a year and a half later when the animal shelter was doing a pet caravan adoption event I went in and came out with....Puck.
Well, then about 9 months later we "happened" to be at the animal shelter and came out with....Noah.

With Macbeth and Puck we locked Puck in the upstairs bathroom near DH's office. (DD even slept in the tub with Puck his first night so he would not be alone! Macbeth (the older )would go sniff and Dh would take Puck out and into his office from time to time, closing the door. after two days they wanted to get to know each other and were fine from that day forward.

With Noah, as soon as he came out of the boxes the other two boys scared him and he ran up to DS room (away at college) climbed into the bedsprings and stayed there for several days. We put a box and food/water in there and he used them, but we never saw him. Macbeth and Puck just stood outside the room like "what did we do?" After a week he came out and now he is one of the boys.

I think it helped that with all of them we did not force it, they are all similar (orange tabbies) and all neutered boys.
Good luck...I am sure they will be fine and soon you will be adopting a third one!

 

[scoutsmom99]

how is your kitty? Are you keeping tigger as the name?

 

[Jessd]

We did exactly the same thing. Our older cat, Ozzy was 6 years old. We got another cat from an animal shelter. They told us he was 5 years old, but I think he is more like 2 years old. We kept him in the basement seperated for a week because they said he had a respiratory infection because he kept sneezing. He never really stopped. He will wake up in the morning and sneeze about 10 times in a row. It is funny to watch.

After the week of being seperated, Ozzy kept going down to the door and they would slide their paws under the door and sniff. We let the new kitty out, a siamese named Mushu. They never really fought. Ozzy will stand aside and let Mushu eat first, they get along great.

Jess

 

[Simba's Mom]

The name on his card is Tigger, but that's such a generic name, so I think we will have to change it. Don't know to what yet.

Good luck on the Tigger name change. I tried to convince DH that "Tigger" was too generic a name also, but I lost that battle. So Tigger gets his drinks from the bathroom sink when the faucet's running. I wonder if it's all part of the "men are basic", like Bill Engvall said, that they go for plain cat names!

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I agree with introducing slowly and also seperate litterboxes. Until they're relationship is established, I would also definately recommend feeding them seperately -- food possession is a huge issue among animals.

My other advice is to understand that they may spit and bat at each other a bit. When new animals come into the environment, they have to establish the pecking order amongst themselves. Once everybody understands their place, fighting is much less common. Sometimes, they accomplish this by having a little fight to see who is going to be the boss. Usually much of the fighting you see will be show, but it can look like a really nasty show to humans. Unless blood is being drawn or throats beings cut --- stay out of it.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

When we get new cats we keep them in another room for a week. That way they have time to sniff under the door and if the new kitty ends up with a virus they aren't as likely to pass it to the existing cats. We got 2 kittens last month and at the 1 week mark they came down with eye infections and we kept them away from other cats for almost another week.

 

[Bashful2]

We started out with a dog who had been an only pet for almost 10 years. At the time, we were not cat people (except DD). When a stray kitten showed up, she begged and we finally decided to give it 2 weeks. DH said it wasn't fair to the dog. They ended up getting along great. It was so cute to see a little kitten and a 10 year old dalmatian playing together.

One thing led to another and now we have 5 cats and 2 dogs. I'm afraid we didn't do it the right way, never separated any of them. It took, maybe, up to a week for them to get used to each other. The only 2 that don't get along at all are the 3rd & 4th cat. 3rd cat is the only female feline and would just as soon be an only child, but she tolerates everyone except Milo. She never tries to hurt him, but hisses and growls everytime he's around. It doesn't help that he antagonizes her every chance he gets.

The dogs and cats all use the same water bowl, although most of the cats would rather drink out of a faucet. All the cats share 3 litter boxes and the same food bowl without problem.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

We started out with a dog who had been an only pet for almost 10 years. At the time, we were not cat people (except DD). When a stray kitten showed up, she begged and we finally decided to give it 2 weeks. DH said it wasn't fair to the dog. They ended up getting along great. It was so cute to see a little kitten and a 10 year old dalmatian playing together.

One thing led to another and now we have 5 cats and 2 dogs. I'm afraid we didn't do it the right way, never separated any of them. It took, maybe, up to a week for them to get used to each other. The only 2 that don't get along at all are the 3rd & 4th cat. 3rd cat is the only female feline and would just as soon be an only child, but she tolerates everyone except Milo. She never tries to hurt him, but hisses and growls everytime he's around. It doesn't help that he antagonizes her every chance he gets.

The dogs and cats all use the same water bowl, although most of the cats would rather drink out of a faucet. All the cats share 3 litter boxes and the same food bowl without problem.

On our first "round" of cats, we didn't separate them, either. It worked out ok, but colds were spread to the other kitties.

Our vet told us that with 5 cats or more that the cats have a hard time adjusting. Not that I'm planning on any more cats now (we have 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 2 kittens), but in the future when we don't have dogs I might. Just wondering about your experience. Sounds like except for one cat, yours have adjusted well. And that cat might have had a problem with even one "sibling".

 

[goofygirl]

Congrats! 2 cats are twice the fun!!

If they hiss and growl, just throw them in a room together til they get along. It really works!

Years ago, when we got a 2nd cat and there was a lot of hissing and fighting, my mom closed the bedroom door before leaving for the day- thinking she was separating the 2 from each other by closing only 1 cat in the bedroom. She came home and found that she closed them BOTH in the bedroom by mistake! They were both sharing the window , and getting along wonderfully!

 

[Bashful2]

Tigger&Belle-I have to admit, the last 2 (Milo & Cody) were harder to adjust the other cats to. Binx, our oldest (now 5), doesn't like to play as much anymore so the kittens get on his nerves. Teejay, our 2nd, is afraid of his own shadow so he usually hides for a few days whenever a new addition arrives. He's so good-natured, though, that once he gets used to the new kitty he gets along great with him. Tabitha, our 3rd, loves human attention, but she usually stays in the bedroom to avoid the other animals. The only one she can't stand is Milo (our 4th). I think that might be because he was the one who took her place as the baby. She likes the 1st 2 & our oldest dog, Patch, but she only tolerates our 5th (Cody, who's only about 4 months old) & Katie, our chihauhua. Milo & Cody both love everyone.

I wouldn't want to be without any of our animals, but 5 cats is definitely enough for us. Our house is pretty much of a zoo most of the time.