Introducing a New Cat into a Home with Cats

Introducing a New Cat into a Home with Cats

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  1. catsCats aren’t the loners that they are often portrayed to be. The feline in fact has a strong sense of cat community, which includes a pecking order with an alpha cat. Whether you have one elderly cat or multiple young adult cats in your home, introducing a new cat or kitten can be a difficult process and lead to permanent rifts between your cats if not handled properly. The key thing to remember is that smell and territory are the two key components to a successful introduction of a new cat or kitten.

    New Cats are Not the Same as New Kittens

    It’s sometimes a crapshoot when it comes to introducing a new kitten and depends on the personality of your cat. Some cats take to kittens reasonably fast and are willing to adopt them as their own, while more often than not the cat will become violent and swat at the offending youngling.

    With a new adult cat introduction, you do not have the option of letting the resident cat feel that it can also be an adoptive parent as you likely feel toward the new cat. This new adult cat is instead a territory usurper that needs to be quashed. Even the most mild-mannered cat can be aggressive against a fellow feline that is perceived as an intruder.

    How to Introduce a New Cat

    You’ll need a separate room with a litter box for the new cat and include a cat bed or towel for the new cat to sleep on. The new bed or towel is an important part of the equation because it allows the new cat to add its smells to something that can be presented to the resident cats. The separate litter box is also essential, since feline litter box usage can complicate the current territory negotiation that is happening in your home at this moment, with you as the arbitrator.

    For the first two to three days, isolate the new cat into the separate room, allowing the new cat to sleep on the towel or bed and get a good amount of fur and smells on it. After the first day if the cat has spent time on the towel or bed, take the new-cat-scented item to the resident cats and let them just sniff it to their hearts’ content. This would be a good time to observe their behaviors as they sniff the new cat’s bed. The resident cats will likely sniff the bed and utter a meow to determine where this new cat could be. After your cats have had some time to explore the new smells, groom them and comfort them. Your new cat also needs attention, so spend plenty of time grooming the new cat as well.

    After a few days, leave the door a crack open or if possible add a screen between the cats so that they can see each other but not physically interact. This is essential as cat battles during the early introductory phase can lead to anger and permanent rifts between the cats.

    Easing the New Cat Into the Home

    The best way to get the cats to tolerate each other’s company is by having mutual feeding or play time. Your new cat should by now be a somewhat familiar smell to your other cats. Include your new cat in the same room about 5 feet away from the others cats with the new cat’s own food dish. While there will be some initial difficulty bringing the cats together at first, you can eventually feed them all in the same location. Make sure to supervise that the current cats do not attempt to steal the food of the new cat. If one of them walks over to the new cat, gently pick your resident cat up and show affection and grooming. The resident cat should not approach the new cat until it can be supervised by you.

    Final Introductions

    After the first week, the hard part is over. If you avoided cat battles and altercations, you made the transition much easier for your cats. You can now slowly let the new cat wander among the other cats. Break up any fights by picking up the resident cat specifically. By picking up the new cat, you are showing favor to the new cat, which will make the other cats resentful of the extra attention. Always remember that the first cats are the top cats until the new cat is assimilated.

    Once the new cat is assimilated into the cat household, you will be able to spend less time supervising and more time enjoying peaceful time with your pets.

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