There was a cat adoption clinic yesterday at the Petco near us (no, I didn’t get another cat) and it got me to thinking about the last 3 kittehs we adopted over the years. We were always told to keep them isolated from the other household critters, put objects that smelled like each other around so they’d get used to the smells, let them “meet” thru the door, and stuff like that.
Well, first catwas timid - she hid in our bedroom for a week before venturing forth to meet the dog. We left the door open, but she preferred to snuggle under the bed all day. Once she discovered the house and realized that the dog was a lump who didn’t care about felines, all was good.
After she was gone (poor thing had to be put down - I cried for 2 days) we got a Bengal. By this time, we had 2 dogs, the smaller of which is a bit of a bully. We tried to keep Taz isolated, but he wanted nothing to do with that, and within 2 days, he owned the house, bullied the little dog, and all was fine.
Earlier this year, we introduced Ziva into the mix. We brought her into the house, opened the carrier, and that was pretty much it. I think we also showed her were the litter box sat. She is pretty timid, but she and Taz rassled and became budsand all is good.
Those of you with multi-cat households - did you follow the standard gradual introduction advice, or did you just toss 'em in and let 'em work it out? I have to wonder if anyone does it gradually.
I’ve done it gradually with obviously timid cats, but usually it’s not necessary.
Dogs I always do more gradually (well, don’t leave them together unsupervised) because it seems like they are more likely to make each other bleed when they fight. Cats make a lot of noise, but usually just run away ASAP.
Caelan got brought inside 2 weeks ago yesterday. I left him in his large carrier for a day, then let him out under supervision. The first Monday I spent at work, I locked him in the bedroom and the other cats in the rest of the house. They sprang him from durance vile by digging the towel out from under the bedroom door. After two days of this, I stopped bothering. Now he terrorizes everybody equally, all day long!
Our existing cat is quite temperamental, so we did do it the gradual way. We actually used an old puppy crate we had, and the two kttens were confined to barracks whenever we weren’t around, and whenever the old girl appeared at all. We did that for a couple of weeks. I’m not sure it helped that much, although how would we know? Ed (existing cat) still hissed and growled at them both whenever she had a chance. Relations had been gradually improving however.
I’m using the past tense since one of our beautiful six month old furbabies was killed 3 weeks ago, and the other hasn’t been seen for a week. It’s been a terrible cat month for us
ETA: Edna is 5 years old, the kittens were about 9 weeks when they came to us. The dog, Henry aka the world’s dumbest labrador, took to the kittens instantly, although he was a little intimidated when they puffed up at him. Within a couple of weeks the kittens were sharing his food and his bed, and the three of them would happily groom one another. Edna was very clear on what she thought of THAT nonsense.
In the beginning, there was Gary. Gary was given the run and the rule of the house and everything in it, and was acknowledged as our master.
About six months later, we decided Gary needed a friend, and then there was Mischief. They were never separated. They chased each other around for a couple of hours, Gary’s dominance was established (if occasionally challenged, and they became snuggly BFFs. All was right with the world.
But then, one day, Bit showed up. Literally. He was tiny, no more than four weeks old, but he was a badass gutter kitty, and once again, we let them hang together, with supervision. We kept them separated while we slept or were out, but only because Bit was so tiny that my other boys could have accidentally hurt him.
I’m actually re-introducing them now, because my Gary got lost outside for a week, and came home Friday night skinny, congested, exhausted, and smelling sufficiently unfamiliar as to merit threatening hisses from Mischief and Bit. I’ve given all of them dry baths and am making a point of familiarizing them with each others’scents, but I’m keeping them mostly separated (with occasional greetings under strict supervision) until Gary is stronger and/or Bit calms down (he’s still smaller than Gary, but he really is a scrapper). Hopefully everyone will be back to normal soon.
ETA Charley, I’m so sorry about your kitties. Don’t give up hope for your missing cat!
Has anyone ever had cats that just plain wouldn’t get along? My daughter lives downstairs, and her cat absolutely hates ours. She tolerates the dogs, but she hisses and runs from Taz. Of course, he can be a real butt, so that might have something to do with it. But Cleo stays downstairs in her own domain.
The first two cats were from the same litter and got along, occasionally groomed each other, etc. Then P-cat became ill and had to be put down. So for a while I-cat was Queen of the Litterbox. Then we got M-cat. We followed the “introduce slowly, let them smell through the door etc” advice for a day or two, then just brought M-cat out and I held him on my lap on the couch while Prince Charming held I-cat. M-cat, who weighs 14 pounds, hissed and growled while I-cat, who weighs 7 pounds sopping wet, completely ignored him.
They get along ok. Mostly they ignore each other. The bigger cat sometimes chases the smaller cat but strangely enough defers occasionally to her seniority in the region of the food bowls. They’re like the staid old matron and the unruly teenage rugby player.
No, so far we never introduced new cats gradually.
Each time we put the kitten in the garden and the older cat/s come check it out. For our last kitten, one of them totally ignored it and very quickly they slept together, while the other one was all “OMFG just WHAT is this thing?! Better hide behind the door and run away when he tries to approach me!” for the first few days. Now they playfight a lot.
We have had five cats over the years, and we have never had any of them become friends. I’m not sure what we are doing wrong - we try to do the gradual introduction and we’ve tried Feliway, but they have only gotten to the point where they will tolerate one another. I’ve always dreamed of having two cats that will snuggle together, but it just hasn’t happened.
FairyChatMom - My siamese cat Papi hates other cats. She loves dogs and tries very hard to suck up to my present dog. Mike, the dog who raised her, died about 3 years ago, and she keeps trying to find another dog bud. It’s kind of sad, really. So Papi hates my other three cats. Nick and Spike are two altered males who seem to spat alot, but I think it’s mostly play. Sabrina is another siamese, and she seems indifferent to most of the other animals.