Posted on 02/11/2005 2:36:18 PM PST by beyond the sea
OK girls and boys, please help me.
I have two 10 year old cats living with me. A friend with a problem is asking me to take his two cats (five year olds) to live with mine in our house.
I am begging you for any advice on this!
I have two floors in the house, but you all know cats, the smell will be there. They will know.
How is the best way to deal with this?
The cats are coming here in about 36 hours.
Please tell me what you may know on this matter!
I've has cats all my 58 years, but this is a first situation like this with me.
HELP!!!
Darn. . .found out!
("Happy happy, joy, joy. . . ")
In our case, everybody adjusted fine. But it does take some time.
Separate litter boxes and food dishes.
If possible, keep the new cats in a separate room, with door closed. Allow your cats to sniff around the door for a few days before you very carefully introduce the new cats to your cats one at a time.
The important thing is for them to have the chance to see and smell each other without being able to do more than touch noses through the baby gate or the screen door. Once they get settled a bit, they'll hiss at each other a lot but get along o.k.
We introduced a new Siamese baby to our two older cats (then 10 and 12). We kept the new baby in a dog crate with a tunnel inside for her to hide in, a little litter box and a water bowl. That let the other cats come up and sniff (and hiss - a lot.) She slept in my daughter's bedroom with the door closed for awhile.
She is now 7 and they are all best buddies, sleep together in a sheepskin heated cat bed that was meant for one . . . They kept on pretending to hiss at each other for a long time - - I walked in our bedroom and found the new baby and my big 14 pound male attack Siamese sleeping cheek to cheek with their front paws around each other. Their eyes snapped open and they looked a bit sheepish - I told them, "You are both SO busted . . . "
Probably not until some fur flies, though. If there is a scuffle, check each cat for open wounds(bites) that may become abscessed. As long as each pair of cats has a safe place to retreat to, they will work it out.
Any wisdom would be appreciated on this four cat matter...... or should I just take gas beforehand........... and die?
You're an angel to take in two needy cats.
Suggest you keep them separated from yours for at least a week, maybe two. It's good if they're in a room with a door hung high enough so they can work a paw under it. That way, your kitties can check them out at their leisure. Then after two weeks, you can try opening the door. Hopefully there will be only a brief period of pretend hostility, back raising, hissing and fur poofing before they become bored with it and settle in. You WANT them to be bored with one another.
On the other hand, a neighbor of mine just took in his 16th needy kittie. He just brings them in and puts them on the floor, and none have had too hard a time fitting into the enoromous herd except an aged Siamese who now has his own room.
It ain't gonna work. Cats, unless they are from the same litter do NOT get along. You are going to have territory fights until your friends return.
Great advice here through the posts: Give the new ones their own space, own food bowls, and "toilet"; separate from the older ones. Do the introductions gradually. It's basically the same advice as for when you are moving to a new place with pets. Gradually, bit by bit, is the ticket. Keep iodine handy. :)
You never know you might get lucky. But within a few months at the longest they will be best friends .
As a former Light Infantry Guy, the idea of Stimpy providing CAS frightens me.... :)
I would introduce them first through some kind of barrier they can see through but not reach each other through... and that's hard to arrange... Do they make kiddie gates that are tall? Let them be that way, or see each other only in short controlled doses for a few days. They may or may not get along... some do, some don't, when introduced as adults.
They may fight badly, or they may just spar back and forth without causing real injury... (be careful, cat scratches almost always get infected) time will tell, and don't let them get overly involved and don't leave them unattended alone together for awhile... You may be able to discourage an outright aggressor with a water spray bottle.
Isn't it hard to put Depends on the cats?
WoooWOOO~
If want to feel all fresh and fitter
Lace your Joe with Kitty Litter
BURMA SHAVE
Thanks... everything you say seems to be true. It's always worse though, I guess, when the new cats are not kittens.
I know cats ALWAYS cop an attitude. What would they be if they didn't cop an attitude!
I'm not looking forward to this. I'm going to put the newbies in the finished basement and hope that the "oldies" can tolerate them after some time.
I have no illusions about this. (this is going to be like getting used to John Kerry lecturing about my time in the Army Security Agency!!!)
I KNOW cats, and I love them........... but they can be a pain in the *ss with this kind of thing!
We had our first cat for about three years and then decided to get another one. It was BRUTAL at first, but then we were given a few helpful hints:
First, keep the "regular" two separated from the "new" cats for a while. The best thing to do is keep them separated by a door that has a decent size crack underneath and let them smell each other that way for a time (days?/weeks?/months?), then let them spend a few minutes near each other without the door as a separator. Alternate between these two situations as often as makes you comfortable.
Of course, this will be a bit more difficult for you than it was for us because you have two groups of two to keep an eye on at these times. A fight can erupt rather quickly. But once they get used to each each other's smells, things will be fine.
It might take a while, though.
Is this for good or just a temporary situation? Contact me again if you need to. I've written this rather quickly, as I need to get back into the kitchen!
I have 2 and they still fight, but it's mostly playful. They get very bored if the other isn't around. We have a small cat tree with a round cubby hole part topped by a platform. Their new routine is that one stands on the platform and the other lays in the round part and they swat at each other. They will do this for a solid 15 minutes once or twice a night. They never actualy hit each other is the funny part.
They do chase each other and get rough once in a while, but nothing too crazy. One time the younger one attacked the older one for no good reason. I clapped my hands loud for them to stop and I swear it was like that scene out of Shrek 2 where Puss in Boots does the big doe eyes like, "Are you mad at me? But I'm so cute!"
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