Came here for support!

Hello -

I decided to join this site because I just adopted a stray on Saturday and I am in the process of getting her all fixed-up and introduced to my two residents, bonded cats, Alice and Bon Bon. I adopted Alice and Bon Bon nine months ago from a local shelter. Both are 2 years old. They have settled in nicely!

My new cat , Casey, seems very sweet and purrs a lot. The vet thinks she is 6 months old. She is getting treated for ear mites so she is quarrantined from the other cats. But they are all aware of each other.

Casey is getting spayed tomorrow, so Im thinking that she will need to be quarantined from Alice and Bon Bon for possibly 3-4 weeks before we can think of doing face-to-face introductions. Does this sound reasonable?

I have a white glove I have been using for scent exchange so far. So far all animals have not had any bad reactions to this. Any advise?

Thanks!

Hi and welcome to TCS. Bless you for adopting this stray. I would definitely keep Casey isolated from the other two for at least 2 weeks to allow the spay to heal and to ensure she doesn't have any contagious diseases. Has she been tested for FIV and FELV yet?

As for introductions, you are doing the right thing with the scent exchange. There are some other helpful hints in this article.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/introducing-cats-to-cats

Welcome to the site, you'll find a lot of good advise and help here, I think they all have about everything covered and have a LOT of experience. Your new cat might be a little grouchy with what she is going to go through, so you are wise to keep them apart. Just go slow and watch everyone carefully for a while, you know that everything happens when you're gone! keep us posted on how they are doing and what YOU are doing to help them all get along, we all learn from others. Good Luck!

Yes I had Casey tested for FIV and Luekemia before talking her into my home. Neg on both counts! Just got the call from the Vet that surgery is over and she is in recovery. Poor baby...

Welcome to TCS!   I'm glad to hear those results! Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery. 

Hello

Issue #1 has begun. I brought Casey home from the Vet yesterday from being spayed. She seems in good spirits and this morning went into her room to say good mornign and she seemed fine. About a 1/2 later I went back into her room to scoop the litter box and give her fresh food and water and could smell that she had sprayed somewhere in the room. Bummer....

Is this a reaction to being spayed? Is she trying to tell me something? I really hope it doesnt continue....

I'm not sure about the spraying issue.  Could be she's scared and/or in pain.  I do know about cats urinating in inappropriate places--if you don' t know about this already, be sure to clean with an enzyme cleaner (like Nature's Miracle or something) in the place(s) she's sprayed, that's really about the only thing that will work to get rid of the smell completely.  I know that doesn't solve the problem and hopefully another member will come along who has some advice/thoughts about that issue.

I really just wanted to say welcome and kudos to you for doing all the right things--testing, spaying, separating the cats and doing slow introductions, and being such a responsible cat mom!  

An Update: Its now been 3 weeks and on Last Friday night I finally opened all doors and let the cats mix together. Since my husband and I work from 8am - 5pm, yesterday and today I have separated Alice and Bon Bon (the resident cats) to the downstairs half of the house and let the dog and Casey (the new cat) stay upstairs. But when we are home in the evening and during the overnight, everyone can access the whole house.

There has been some hissing, but when the hissing happens, their ears are straight up (not back like they are in attack mode). There has not been one fight, just a lot of avoidance. Some staring but aggresion. I am thankful for all of that.

I thinkit's going well. I am hesitant to let everyone mingle if we are not there to monitor the situation. Is there anything more I can doo to bring the group together or does that have to happen on its own and in its own time?

Thanks!

Some hissing is pretty natural. As long as there is no actual fighting, I think the introductions are going well. I would still supervise during their times together but let them get accustomed to each other at their own pace.

Another update: since last weekend was a 3 day weekend and we were home all weekend,  we had all cats open to the whole house, night and day and did not have any problems. Casey the new cat still sees her safety room where we initially kept her as the pplace to go if she feels scared.

All has been well until last night when Casey and one of the other cats (not sure which one) had a "spat" in the kitchen ( I was in the living room). I went to the kitchen immediately. It only lasted a second, but I decided to separate Casey from the other two cats for the night, and all day today while we're at work.

Ugh....I was hoping we were passed this. Is this a bad sign? Is this normal?

Completely normal.  One of them startled the other, so the startled one hissed and the other probably hissed back.  My cats have lived together for years and they will still hiss and spit if one startles another.  For my own peace and quiet, I do separate the youngstesr into their own room at night and only sleep with the old quiet ones!

it takes time for new cats to fit in and be accepted. As long as no serious fights occur, things are proceeding properly! Don't be too quick to separate them. Instead, if a disagreement occurs, try distracting them with treats or toys.