help moving and intro issue (bit long)

Okay we have had Roxy since October and Monkey for 3 years. We have been slowly letting the 2 get to know eachother but have yet to actually let them just be with eachother. We do let them be together on the bed or couch for a few minutes untill one of them starts to atack the other. Ususally its Roxy attacking Monkey and causing Monkey to hide.

The problem is we decided to move and found a place very fast. We found it on Sunday and have most of our stuff over there already. The new place is great except it does not have anyway for us to keep the cats seperated. The only doors are on the bathrooms and both baths are very small, definately not big enough for a kitty to spend more than an hour or two at a time in. So we have to just let them meet and work out any issues right away.

I already know they will be stressed out from the move and then having to just meet may be too much for them. We do have an upstairs so I thought I could let one out upstairs and one out downstairs and let them find eachother on their own. Would this work. The one plus side is no one will have a territory established yet so I hope we should not have a problem with that.

My other idea was to just put them together now while packing and let them get to know eachother more before we move. I just don't know what to do and its starting to stress me out.

Help!!!!!!

Wow, this is a tough one! It was basically Monkey's home, and even though Roxy is new, she chases Monkey. It sounds like Roxy is very dominant and will adjust easier to the move since she hasn't settled in yet. Monkey is the one I would worry about being stressed even more so by the move. I would try what you mentioned, let them out together but under supervision, see if they can find balance. Keep an eye on Roxy not to physically abuse Monkey, chasing is fine, just interfere any extreme physical contact. I would still be concerned about the final move, you mentioned there is an upstairs and downstairs. There must be a way to separate the two temporarily. A board, door, gate, something so that monkey can relax if it's a constant chase.
I hope everything works out, keep us updated!

Thank you for the advice.

I think the same thing about Roxy, she shows all the signs of being dominant.

When we moved last year, Monkey seemed to do just fine. She hide for a few hours but then was ready to come out and be with us and explor the whole place. She knows what is going on. A soon as she saw all the boxes she just looked at me with this "not again" look. So far though she seems okay with it all. Roxy just sees the boxes and spends her time playing and helping us pack. She has no idea yet what is about to happen.

DH and I looked at the place again today while we were taking stuff over. This time we looked at it with the cats in mind. We figured out where a door could go if we needed it. We want to put a door in upstairs so we have a place to put the babies when we have people over and have the patio door open. Just so no one get out. It will just take a little time untill we can get the money together to do it. We need to build a frame for it and everything. Luckily our land lord is cool, we curently rent from him. Its a lateral move. He will have no problem with us putting in a door.

That's awesome that you can eventually install a door, could you possibly purchase an inexpensive folding door in the same area till you can actually install a door with frame? This way they can be separated when they are alone to avoid a major scuffle. Unless they seem to suddenly love each other, I would definitely release one upstairs and the other downstairs, with separate litter and water.......You never know what a new home is going to bring, so it's best to be prepared.

Originally Posted by cheylink

could you possibly purchase an inexpensive folding door in the same area till you can actually install a door with frame?

Click to expand...

DH loved this idea. He seemed kind of ashamed that he had not thought of it.
As soon as I told him your idea he started looking online and found some nice ones that would be more like a permanant door. I think we will be going with this option. Its less work and less money, plus the door will take up less space when not in use than a regular door.

Our goal was to be out by Saturday but based off the stuff we took over today and what is left we will probalbly be sleeping there tomorrow . Thats 2 days ahead of schedual. We have been saying all along that as soon as the bed gets moved so do the cats. Unfortunatly I will not have internet for a few days. Hopefully by the time we actually get over there I will have some more advice on how to handle the move and the kitties. If not I will try to post the updates as soon as I can.

I already have one box set up in the downstairs bathroom for the kitties. We will be taking the other box for the upstairs bathroom when we take the kitties over. Right now we only have one carrier so we plan on taking Monkey first and releasing her upstairs and then coming back for Roxy and releasing her downstairs. They will both have food and water on both levels so that won't be an issue. Hopefully they work everything out somewhere in the middle and we all get a descent nights sleep.

Sorry it took so long to update.

We moved in a couple of weeks ago and love the new place. We did keep the furbabies apart for about 3 days. We kept rotating them every hour. It got to be very inconvinient. We just desided to let them out together. We started with a few hours everyday and then just started to ignore them and see how they did. Well it seemed to work. They wrestled a bit at first. No hissing or any aggression. Monkey did kick Roxys butt a few times, threw her down the stairs and knocked her over but that was about it. Roxy tried all she could to take Monkey down but Monkeys kung fu was too strong. Roxy gave up and now they sleep together and everything. Monkey is teaching Roxy all the things Roxys mom did not teach her. Its very interesting watching them together. Monkey is very motherly and patient with Roxy. We still have not let roxy be out in the house while we sleep. We are working our way up to it. Hopefully in the next few days she will be able to but right now she needs to be in her room and bed to sleep. Monkey seems to appreciate the break as well.

Awwww, sounds like they are going to be inseparable! They just might not know it yet ......You are doing the perfect intro! Good to hear things are working out!