Next move on new cat getting along and how to know its ready for your other cats and them for her!

Need anyones advice!!

Last night my husband brought the new 2 yr old female out and placed her on a parson chair in our living room and Hammer our 5 yr old male, was on top of the couch. Prob 3 ft from each other. NO hiss! He stared at her but didn't move and she gave a small mew.

So neither budged.

But MC , my other  black male cat,one who is also 5 and brother to Hammer ran upstairs. Then Spirit jumped off chair and went straight to her safe house because I did remember to leave her pet gate open.

MC will go over to the petgate (SPIRITS safe house) and they will do the deer in the headlight stare but no noise.

So I don't know at this point how they feel about each other.

But as I said a week ago, she surface scratched me as I was carrying her back to her safe house when she saw MC laying in the path of her and I.

catsmeow100.

Now last night, in addition, Spirit we allowed out and she laid by my husband in his chair while my the other 2, stayed on couch and other on chair. I think she and Hammer are fine but she and MC are not as of yet.! MC gets bossed around by Hammer all day and MC is the lap cat. Perhaps SPIRIT senses that too and they are competive because she and he have the same things alike. Both lap but she is bossy like Hammer.

MC and she mew and appear agitated at each other.

We have petted them both in the open and they seem ok but won't stop doing the stare thing and sometimes whiskers back and low mews.

In reply to integrating my cats, MC & Hammer of course are fine or were til this afternoon.

I still have the pet gate up for Spirit (the new girl cat) and I know she is a jumper so I put my husbands wide and high office chair in front of the gate.

I am trying throughout my day when I am here, to leave the bathroom door open and just have the pet gate so she can see and hear what goes on but I was with Hammer giving him his treats in my home office for the tricks he does and Spirit appears in the doorway. So I petted her at the same time as I did Hammer

She and he started moving a little closer ,then the growling and the hissing by both(which is a first for Hammer but Spirit is quite her usual at that!

I calmly said," okay that's enough and  held one of their beds between them (in case there were any thoughts of putting up the dukes).

She immediately turned away and went back in her safe house as I opened the pet gate. A little peavey, I might add..

But I went in with her and talked to her and she was just as friendly as any time with me.

She may have come from a family that had no other cats and of course my two have been strictly indoor with each other for over 5 yrs. So with a new kid on the block, I hope they will adjust. Though it is only 4 days past a week she has been behind the pet gate in our bathroom.

I played Da Bird with her earlier over the pet gate and then swung it out to MC so they were both playing at the same time but in separate if you know what I mean.