Introducing a new cat into a 2 cat household.

Hello all,

I am new to the site and need some advice. A friend needs a place for her 3 yr. old female kitty to stay while she is relocating. I agreed to take the kitty in until she is settled.

I currently have 2 female cats. They are 1 and 3 yrs old. They have been together for almost 2 years now.

The 3 yr. old Cleo is the queen of the house it is very clear that she is the dominant one. She was there 1st and lived without another cat in the house for a year and a half. When I intorduced Isis (the 1 yr old) It took her about a week to fully adjust. I must admit it went better than I thought. I had heard so many horro stories. Now Cleo and Isis are best of friends. Isis is quite skiddish and seems to be afraid of everything except for me and Cleo.

The new kitty Anna May has been moved around alot in the past few months. I agreed to keep her so she could have a stable home environment until her owner gets back on her feet. I don't want moving in with me and my kittys to be too tramatic for her.

My question is how do I go about introducing this new cat into my home? How do I make the transistion as smooth as possible for all involved?

Thanks In Advance.

Hello and welcome to the board,

I deleted your duplicate posting on this subject in the care and grooming section, as it was word for word what you posted here. Since this kitty is not going to be a permanent cat in your home, you will still want to keep her away from the other ones at first until they get used to each others smells. A good way to get them to get along is to take a long piece of string and tie a cat toy at each end. Place the string on the floor by the door of the room the cat is in and close the door leaving a toy on each side of the door. Your cats will come in to play with the toy, the toy will move on her side and they will tug and play and eventually touch noses from under the crack in the door.

Introducing a New Cat

First, put the new kitty in her own room. She will need to stay there for a couple of weeks, so make sure it is comfortable for her with litter box, water, and food. This will allow your old cats to get used to the sounds and smells of a new cat without having their territory invaded.

After a couple of days, start trading scents between the cats. Rub the new cat (especially around the cheeks) with a slightly damp towel and then go rub the old cats with the same towel (and vice versa. This way they will associate the scent of the new cat with good things (being rubbed and getting attention). Do this several times daily.

After one week, lock up your old cats and let the new cat out for the night or for a few hours. Do not yet allow the new and old cats to be together. Do this for one week.

By the end of week two, your old cats are going to be really curious about what is going on with the cat behind the door. You can try bringing the new cat out with the old cats for brief visits. As soon as the new cat comes out, give them all some tuna or some other really yummy treat. This way they associate great things with the other cat. Put the new cat back in her room after a brief period of time. Make sure you keep any aggression from occurring (GENTLY toss a pillow at the aggressor).

Gradually increase the amount of time the cats are together. I recommend keeping new kitty in her room over night for at least a third week. When the cats are out together, make sure you give
lots of attention to the old cats so they know that they are the top kitties.

Expect lots of hissing and perhaps a swat here and there. But...this should keep any real aggression from occurring. The hissing will stop once they establish their hierarchy and get used to each other.

Most importantly....have lots of patience and take things sloooooowly!