How do you introduce a new cat to your current cats?
We are thinking of getting another cat from the pound but have never needed to introduce our cats to eachother since they are litter mates, so I’m curious to how you go about bringing in another cat. We have a male and a female (spayed and neutered, six years old) and are thinking of getting another female under six months of age.
With bribery of course.
Give your old cats lots of toys and treats when introducing the two so they won’t think the addition of the new feline is such a bad thing.
The best way to do it is thru a closed door. You put your cat on one side of a closed door and the new one on the other. Try to use a door that is not all the way down to the floor, but that has like an opening that they can use to smell each other and use their paws. The experts recommend to do this for a day or two, then you can open the door and let them stay in the same place, no by forcing them, just let them approach to each other at their own time. It can look not nice at the beginning but normally cats get to tolerate new cats within 2 to 4 weeks. Good luck!
You do it slowly. The new kitty will need a place separate from the others and for a few days let them adjust to her smell and then slowly and only superivseed at first begin letting them meet each other. There will probably be a lot of hissing and posturing at first and maybe even some smacks given out to the new kitten, but within a few months they should start to get along. Most adult cats won’t hurt the kitten but like I said always watch them at first. I’ve had many cats and with my current kitty family they all came in at different times and in fact right now I’m in the process of integrating a 10 wk old kitten. My oldest tom puts up with her. My female tolerates her now, as long as she doesn’t bother her. The only hold out is my youngest tom, who still hisses and growls at her constantly but he at least will be in the same room with her now, which is better than when I got her several weeks ago. Just to give you an idea of how cats handle it differently. Good luck!
You do introduce them with a closed door between them, as another poster suggested, but give both parties treats and pets when they start sniffing at each other. Then, once they are together, introduce some toys at the same time. You can use a laser pointer, or roll balls for them, or play with something on a string with them. They tend to do better if they have a mutual focus. I give lots of treats and praise then too.
I have one cat that does not accept other cats easily, and I have found it makes a huge difference if I pet her and compliment her whenever one of the other cats comes near her. Obviously you can;’t do it every time, but I make a point of doing it frequently. Years ago, I would scold her when she was mean, and found it backfired.