Two years ago my cat of 16 years died. I adopted her in Korea and suspect she was a feral cat when captured before I adopted her. True or not she was very antisocial (she barely tolerated me and would hide for hours after someone she wasn’t used too visited my house). I thought it was never a good idea to introduce another cat into the house while she was alive due to her behavior. While I loved that cat I realized that she wasn’t likely all there mentally and it never seemed fair to her to add extra stress to her furry brain.
Now I have a new cat that is female and about 2-years old. Unlike my previous cat this one is HIGHLY social. For what it’s worth she spends most weekends and evenings, when the weather suits her, outside (my previous cat had been declawed by her previous owner). I love in a house next to a lot of vineyards and farmers fields where there is minimal traffic. I know an indoor cat is safer but I’d hazard a guess that the area where I live is pretty safe as well. She’s fixed, has an ID implant and all the relevant vaccinations. I’ve been thinking about introducing another cat into my household but wanted to talk to some other multi-cat owners for any and all advice before doing this.
I haven’t started looking for a new cat but it would be an adoption from a U.S. or German rescue organization.
So, assuming no one here talks me out of adopting a companion for my current beast, what tips can you all recommend about making sure the integration process is as smooth as it can be.
IME it depends on your current cat and it’s dominance over you (since cats own us, of course)
I’d a cat many years ago, when a second cat came along that I wanted to adopt, first cat went mental. Sulked in the corner of the dining room and screamed abuse if you went into the room. Second cat had to be sent away
More recently I had an elderly lady of a cat, and a younger ‘stray’ followed her into the house. The older cat didn’t care one bit, but the new cat got very cross that there was already a cat in the house
so it’s really a case of you bring a new cat home, and take your chances!
Lobelia: The current cat isn’t, from what I can tell, completely dominant. She’s affictionate but largely indifferent. Given a warm summer day I can count on a dead mouse or two, starts the night in the bed with me but migrates to another part of the bedroom after a bit and isn’t by any means a lap cat.
Humm … during the long winter days when going outside isn’t as much fun as it is for the beast in the summer would a house mate alleviate the ‘boredom’ of being inside?
It’s southern Germany in a smallish town outside of Heidelberg … lots and lots of fields growing a variety of what not outside my back door. She’s a lucky little rat I admit …
Do you have a spare room? The only thing that worked for us is to bring the new cat into the house and lock him in one room. He had his own food/water/litter in there. The existing cat - who was very dominant and not very social - would walk past the door and hiss at it. Then, after a day, she’d walk by and sniff at the door and walk past. After a couple of days, she seemed curious.
We tied toys at two ends of a string, slid the string under the door, and let the two cats play with the two toys. That way they were kind of interacting.
We gave it a week, and then introduced the two. Their reaction was just kinda indifferent. They acknowledged each other and went about their business. So, new cat was released, and they lived happily together.
However, the first time we tried to introduce a new cat to the same dominant antisocial cat, she reacted very aggressively and force the new cat to hide in a closet at all times. But, we didn’t’ take any precautions and simply put the two together. Luckily, my sister was in the market for a cat and she got the first new one.
Yes yes, I’ll try and get pictures. I do know the rules.
Thanks Brewha. I do have a spare bedroom and that might just be the trick.
Question for everyone. I have a vague notion of what to look for in a Dog that thinks it’s dominant but am not sure what signs to look for to make me think my cat feels it’s dominant. She’s loving enough, runs into the living room for some petting when I get home from work but like I said isn’t much of a lap cat …
Also does the age of a second (yet to be picked out) cat matter? I’d enjoy a kitten for all the obvious reasons but a cat that really needed a home wouldn’t be out of the question either … Is a kitten a good or a bad idea or does it matter?
Seriously, our Blue persian was very much a quiet cat when we took him on as a stray. We had an old Siamese and though smaller than him she was clearly head honcho in his eyes.
Now she has popped her clogs he has taken over the house. I virtually get told what he wants te have for breakfast every day. I have never seen a cat emerge so quickly. To some extent i think most cats “can” be dominant.
Whether it suits them not to be…
Other folks will surely have different thoughts on the matter
I have practiced the separte rooms for a week before twice… once they turned out to be best buddies (two neutered males) and one time they tolerated each other but had a definite alpha and beta relationship. (Two spayed females, older was alpha).
I LOVE the idea of the linked cat toys under the door… if I ever am in that situation again, I am ginna do that.
That’s what I did with Lenny and Squiggy. One cat was locked in the bedroom, they’d sniff at each other under the door. Then I’d switch them (with some help) so that the other cat got to explore the house.
They’d spend a lot of time examining each others’ scents around the house/bedroom.
There first face-to-face introduction was under human supervision, and they didn’t get to stay alone together until it was clear that everything was peaceful.
[del]I’d keep the new cat in a separate room, as mentioned, but after a few days I’d switch them so the new cat gets the run of the place and the original cat is confined. This gives the new cat a chance to explore the rest of the house without worrying about the other cat and lets the old cat get more used to the new cat’s scent (which by now will be all over everything in the room).[/del] What Swallowed My Cellphone said.
If you’re still having trouble, a Feliway diffuser can help mellow them out a bit.
A new kitten can work, but be aware that a kitten’s personality can change a lot as it grows. A mellow kitten can turn into a real asshole of a cat and vice versa.
You get dead mice?! my cats clearly hated me, all I got was a dead pigeon!
You might be okay bringing a new cat in with the current cat being female, now I think of it. Our angry-at-a-new-cat was a boy (as was the newbie), the other cat who couldn’t care less that there was a new cat [provided it didn’t sit on her chair] was a female.
I recall a friend having a problem introducing a new cat to her male cat…
From what I’ve experienced it worked better for me to get a younger(kitten) cat to go with the older one I had. We had a 6 year old male neutered cat and my brother brought home a female adult cat and they HATED each other, it kinda turned my male cat into a real douche while the female was around. My brother then brought home a little 14 week old orange neutered male kitten. I wanted to do the whole put them in different rooms thing, but he insisted just to let the little one out. As soon as the carrier door opened the male cats became instant friends. The little one started taking on the personality of the older male cat which was great and I think I got real lucky with that.
If you find an older cat that you fall in love with I also suggest doing the different rooms trick for a week or so, but know they might not get on well and the new one might have to go back.
We got two kittens from separate sources many years ago. One was a male the other female. The male was fixed soon after he arrived, the girl got out one day and then we had more kitties. One little girl failed to launch with the other five, so then we had three.
Alas, the male challenged a car and lost.
Later we got a male kitten. He weighed 5 oz when we got him. He was boss from that day forward. They all get along, but he can be a bully at times.
You just never know.
Quite often the First Cat will tolerate a kitten better then a adult New Cat. But not always. Contact your local shelter, they may have kittens in search of a new home. These are often feral born kittens that were taken away from their feral mom in time to gt socialized. You might even volunteer to be the socializing home for such a litter of momless kittens. It will keep you in cats for about two months, and who knows, your First Cat might actually adopt one or more of the kittens. And if he doesn’t, the rescue center will find homes for all of them.
When my husband and I met, we each had an adult female cat. They have been living together for the last 10 years or so, and they still have hissy spats just about every day - at this point, I think they actually enjoy the arguments (or they just hiss out of habit).
Man I knew I lurked/read this forum for a reason … you all are the best. Great ideas suggestions here. I’m calling the vet tomorrow to start asking. Hoping, as I said, for a kitten but will do the adult if one’s local and in need.
