Unlimited access >

Introducing new kitty?

We had to let my older orange boy kitty go a few weeks ago. He was normal that morning (jumping up on the counters and playing), and mid afternoon I found him crying, he had vomited some green bile. By the time we got him to the emergency vet (45 mins later) he was ataxic and very very sick. The vet thinks a mass burst, his chest cavity was filled with cloudy fluid. His chances of survival were basically nil and he was so sick, we decided to let him go.

We weren’t really looking for a new cat so soon, but the other kitty was very lonely and one of the women who works at our barn knew of a kitty who had just been surrendered to animal control.

Therein lies my question. Any thoughts or advice on easing the transition for both kitties? We have the new girlie on “trial” to make sure they get along. She is so sweet and cuddly, so we would really like it to work out. This is only her third night with us and I’m assuming they both just need more time to get used to one another.

They aren’t bad, I don’t think, but when they get close to each other they hiss and eventually one or both of them retreats. We have been spraying Feliway on a towel and rubbing it on both of them on suggestion of the woman from the shelter. Any other ideas would be much appreciated!

(We do have food/water/litter boxes set up in different rooms in the house, so no competition for any of that.)

Feliway is a great idea; and definitely make sure no competition for resources, which you’re also doing. I also tell people to put new cat in a room, with 2 super awesome fun toys connected by a string, one on either side of the door-- one of the cats will start playing, the toy on the other side will move, hopefully other cat will join in. You can also rub cloth on cat A’s cheek gland, put where cat B can smell it, and vice versa. Provide fabulous, high value treats for any neutral or friendly behavior. You can put new cat in a safe spot and let original cat in NC’s space to sniff around (again, snax for not growing) and allow NC to check out OC’s space ditto.
I usually recommend at least 1 resource type, ie, litterbox, per cat plus one or one per floor in the home, whichever is greater.
ddfl.org has good cat into protocols under their resources tab–lots of good ideas there.

1 Like

I’ll try those suggestions! I’ll go out and get some cat treats today. We don’t have any because our kitty who passed on was allergic to everything.

Any idea how long it generally takes to integrate a new kitty into a household? A few weeks? A month or more?

Our 2 orange kitties gave each other the hairy eyeball once and then settled in together happily on day 1, I’m assuming this isn’t normal.

I think you are on the right track, three nights isn’t much adjustment time. I adopted a new cat last Fall and it took about two weeks for her to integrate into the household/herd. It’s stressful though! I just lost my 20 year old cat and would like to get another, but I worry about rocking the boat again with a new addition.

The treats are a big hit. I forgot how food motivated our little orange kitty is. I haven’t had cat treats around since we identified all the allergies of the old man kitty.

They sat on either side of me happily and got scratches and treats.

Neither kitty is super toy motivated, but I’m going to try some fresh catnip toys and try to get them playing across a door as suggested above.

Fingers crossed things keep moving in the right direction.

2 Likes

I leave a new animal crated in the house and let them absorb some of the house smells before introducing. Yes our houses have their own smell, animals have more cognitive sense of it. It will help them be accepted better. The other animals will know the new one is there and can take some time to be curious without confrontation.

2 Likes