My girlfriend and I will be moving to a new area in the near future. This will be the first time we live together. We each have a cat, and they have both been living as the sole feline in the household. What can we expect when they are living under the same roof and are there any ways of reducing the impending chaos/turmoil/carnage (note: I’m talking about the cats)?
also: both spayed female cats.
The worst thing you can do is just throw them together and hope for the best. Keep them in separate rooms at first. Separating them by a door is good, since each knows the other is there, but not threatening. When they get used to that, you can leave the door open an inch or two, so they can smell and see each other, but not threatening. After that, you can bring them together for brief periods, supervised, then returned to their rooms.
With my two cats, it took about 3 weeks till they could both be free in the house, eating together and using the same litter box. Another couple of weeks before I saw them groom each other.
When I got my second cat, we were moving into a new house at the same time. I think that it definitely helped that the house didn’t “belong” to either cat. We put them in the same room and supervised to make sure that it went okay. Initially they both ignored each other and took in the new atmosphere. After and hour or so, they sniffed at each other and then went off in their own separate directions. The first night we put them in separate rooms just in case, but it was never really a problem.
Even now, 3 years later, they aren’t particularly close, but they tolerate each other and occasionally play together.
My cats are both fixed, a male and a female, for what it is worth.
if it is a new place for both of them it is much easier.
i would put a litter box each in separate areas, release the cats near the litter boxes, cat a with l.b.a, cat b with l.b.b. then watch them carefully as they check out the new surroundings. if there are any problems separate them, and reintroduce slowly.
be ready with lots of pets, and good kitties, and a treat or 2 for good together behaivour.
I agree that it’s good you’re both moving to a new place.
cats are very territorial by nature, so my suggestion is you give them each an area to start out in (and be able to retreat to) with their own liter box and food and such. Keep them in their area for a few hours at the minimum before letting them go out and explore, an hour or two at a time, and when they’re together keep an eye on them. Give them treats if they act civil towards each other and such, it’ll encourage the behavior. If they start fighting (not play fighting but scowling and hissing and whatever) then seperate them and lock them in their respective areas.
So long as they each have a “territory” it’ll go over much more smoothly
Man, I really need to not read thread titles like this immediately after reading math threads.
The first thing I thought of when I read this was the old xkcd cartoon about taking the fourier transform of his cat. :smack:
I disagree, 10 minutes in the dryer set on permenant press will do the trick. (kidding). It took 4 weeks for my cats to call a truce. Lots of hissing from the older one.
Watching two cats hissing at each other can be pretty nasty - especially if you like both of them.
Some time ago I saw a post by a veterinarian (who I rated) he said cover the cats with sardines and sardine oil, then throw them in the bathroom for a cleaning and eating orgy.
Worth considering.
I adopted two cats who hadn’t lived together, and was given very gradual instructions. Let the male have the run of the house, and keep the female separate behind a door. Over the course of days, bring the female into the main house in a carrier, starting with fifteen minutes and gradually increasing the time.
What actually happened was that the first day the male got into my bedroom, they ripped open a package of catnip that I had left out, and spent the day getting high and snacking. I don’t know if this is an approved way to introduce cats, but it worked.
Here’s a good site on the subject of integrating cats
I posted this here awhile back. I had the same situation as you, new house, bringing both cats in at the same time. Moving in was done in rushed time frames and we didn’t take enough time to let the cats get used to the idea. The method that we tried was to keep them separated, for about a week. My older cat has always hated cats and hates the younger cat to the point of attacking her, still. There is still alot of running around and snarling in the middle of the night and I moved in November. I think my older cat is just a bitch though, everyone always tells me that she is too mean 
Erin