The one-room challenge

Well I've decided I'm definatly going to adopt another cat, preferably not a kitten, around 5 or so would be perfect. Zoe darling's going crazy without anyone to interact with while I'm at work, and I got her to the vet today because of blood in her urine and found it could be Sterile Cystitis, which is stress-induced! I feel terrible.

Anyway, the point of all this is, I'm renting a room, that's all. I don't have a seperate room to keep a new cat in and gradually introduce to the household. I do have my own bathroom but it's not connected to my "bachelor apartment", so that wouldn't really work. Does anyone have any suggestions about making the introduction of a new cat easier? I'm heading to the Humane Society to find out if I can foster first to make sure they get along before committing to adoption, but I still need some good pointers.

Thanks!

inkl

You could get a large dog crate to keep new kitty in for a bit, just to see what the initial reaction is with Zoe. I personally do not do any intros with my kitties and have been ver lucky in that my crew is very excepting of newbies, but then Zoe already has a history of stress induced illness so that would probably not be the route for you to take. I suggest asking the Humane society for cats that seem to get along easily with other cats, that may help- good luck!

Oh, maybe get one of the Feliway plug-ins too, they are supposed to be excellent for calming kitties

I got the impression that all cats were supposed to be introduced over a few days. That makes me feel better!

The good news is, I know that while Zoe doesn't get along with all other cats, she really likes other tuxedo cats and torties for some reason. I just checked out the local humane sociaty website and guess whats there! http://www.niagarafallshumanesociety...p?showpets=cat look at the bottom cat, Whiskers. Perfect! I'll go check it out on my next day off and see what other cats they have!

Yay! Another cat! I kinda want to change his name to Dave, is that weird?

Thanks so much!

inkl

P.S. I almost forgot, I got anti-anxiety medication for Zoe at the vet's today, hopefully that helps things.

Wow! whiskers/Dave is a gorgeous kitty!! That would be great if you could adopt him Hey, if i can name my cats after figures in Greek mythology, Dave doesn't seem all that strange Good luck with everything, keep us updated

I'll be interested to see how things go for you. I will be adopting a 2nd kitten next week. I live in an apartment but it has a really open design, so the only room that I could realistically put the kitten in is our bedroom. However, Brady always sleeps with us in there. If he doesn't, he'll cry all night and the neighbours will complain (he's an Oriental Shorthair so he can get REALLY loud and demanding ). You have a much bigger challenge than me but it's a similar issue. Good luck with everything. It's great that you're adopting another cat, and I hope they get along really well.

One thing I wanted to add is that if you want to introduce them slowly or there are problems, you can use a large dog crate, as someone else mentioned, and then cover it with a blanket. That way, the kitties can smell/hear each other but they can't see each other, so they may feel less intimidated. Some hissing, etc. will be normal.

Carlie

Hey.. this is totally unrelated, but I clicked your link, and that is where I got my kitty from too!!

Did you get Dave? I clicked the link and his picture isn't there anymore.

Let us know how this goes! I too live in a one room situation and am very very curious to hear your experiences!!!

Since you don't have an extra room, what I would do is aquire a large dog kennel/crate or cage and put the newcomer in there with litter pan, food/water and cover it with a few towels.

They can hiss at each other thru the bars but can't have physical contact. It might take a bit longer for introductions; then again, it might be a faster way.

Just supervise direct contact when the new one is out of the cage.


Yeah I checked the link too and no "Whiskers" is on the screen.