Introduction advice please!

cat hunter

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Hi all, 

I'm after some advice about introducing a new cat to my resident cat. I've never done an introduction before, and want to try to get it right. 

I adopted a second cat (name TBC, currently Mele) yesterday. She's a 3 year old female. I already have a 7 year old female RoRo who I've had for 4 months. Both cats have come from a multi-cat household, and this is the reason I thought RoRo would be happier with a companion. 

I brought Mele home yesterday and she's isolated in the spare bedroom. The cats haven't seen each other yet but they are aware of each other through sniffs under the door and through sound. 

Mele seems curious and is desperate to escape her prison room. She seems to be a very confident cat.

RoRo also seemed curious and friendly to start, but by yesterday evening she had turned a little hostile. Mele started to meow, which turned RoRo into a hissy, growly cat. Sometimes RoRo sits quietly outside the door, and other times she's wandering about hissing and growling. 

RoRo is more or less herself, but a little more aloof than normal. Eating okay, playful... She has the run of the house as normal.  

Is it normal for the cats (or at least one) to be hissing and growling without even had a face to face yet? She's growling a little at me too at times :( 

Another question...

The door to the spare room has quite a gap at the bottom (about1.5 inches) so for now, I've put cardboard across the bottom so that the cats can't see each other. Is this a mistake? Should I remove it? Or is it too early?

Thanks cat people! 
 
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cat hunter

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Thank you! I'll read those links. 

Is the hissing/growling before face to face normal? 
 

mwallace056

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i don't have enough experience to answer that :) 
 
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mani

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Hissing and growling is the way it works, really...
  It certainly lets you know that it's inadvisable to go any further.  Yes, leave the cardboard for the time being.  If you follow the steps you can't really go wrong.  The biggest problem is impatience... forcing the issue.  Honestly, it doesn't work and you can end up right back at square one.

Let us know how it's going...
 
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cat hunter

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Thank you! I was just a little worried that the growling had started and they hadn't even seen each other!! 

Less growling and hissing this evening. But I think that's because Mele isn't meowing, and I even had a cuddle from RoRo earlier. RoRo continues to sit outside the spare room door sniffing about. 

Definitely don't want to rush this and mess it up. I'll keep you updated! 
 

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      Good...
 
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cat hunter

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Hi all - quick update from me on Mele and RoRo. 

Mele is still in the spare room and has been there for 4 days now.  We have lifted the cardboard at the bottom of the door just slightly so that there is a normal sized gap between the floor and the door (there wasn't any gap) so the two of them have been sniffing at each other from either side of the door. RoRo has been hissing once, and then just sat there growling. But she's happy to sit there. Mele is totally chilled and isn't bothered at all by the hissing/growling. 

This morning Mele is attempting her escape and is attacking the cardboard at the bottom of the door. So this morning RoRo was sat by the door as little grey paws came through under the cardboard. RoRo did not attack, she just sat there and watched. I'm hoping this is a good sign.

I was afraid that RoRo as an anxious cat would be off her food, or would be hiding. But her behavior is totally normal and she seems a happy :) 

I'm happy so far with how it's all going. Next stage will be to raise the cardboard again a little further  - maybe tomorrow. 
 

mani

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Sounding good!  Thank you for the update!
 
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Ok, things moved faster unexpectedly yesterday. While making my exit from the spare room, the cats got a look at each other (as one was trying to escape, and the other wanted to get in). Both cats seemed calm so I allowed the door to stay open just slightly. Mele was fine and happily having a sniff, and again RoRo was curious but growly and hissy. 

RoRo continued to sit outside the spare room door at several periods yesterday so I allowed them to have one more face to face. Again no attempt to attack, just low growling only from RoRo's side. 

Mele wants out of prison and is regularly sticking her paws under the door which is very cute! 

I think it's going well. I hope we can have a few more face to face interactions today. 

I realized I didn't post photos of them! 

This is RoRo by beautiful ShadowCat


And this is Mele
 

mani

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How gorgeous..
  Beautiful glossy black RoRo and gorgeously fluffy grey Mele.. They're going to look quite stunning together when the introductions are finally over!

It's great the way things are going, but really do keep it s-l-o-w...
 
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Thanks Mani! There's not been any real progress since my last post. They've had another quick sniff at each other through the door yesterday. 

RoRo hissed a little and growled and then calmly wandered off with apparent indifference! Mele continues to try to get through the door to meet her new friend. She's fearless! 
 

mani

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RoRo hissed a little and growled and then calmly wandered off with apparent indifference!
It's hilarious when they do that!
  It's like they think it's what they should be doing - almost a reflex action.
 

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I am introducing a 9 week old kitten to a 3 year old cat. I'm reading your experience to go along with mine haha! I'm on day 3.
 
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Hey brierkelly! It's tense isn't it!! lol!! Hopefully it will be easier with a little kitten. 

So great news from me today! We had our first supervised intro yesterday! After very little progress on Tuesday, I propped the door to the spare room open about an inch which got RoRo a lot more interested. They had a few meets through the door with no, or minimal growling. And then they had their first nose boop! Yay! After a few more of these positive interactions, I kind of rushed ahead a little and allowed Mele out of her room. 

So they had their first proper meet and it went really, really well! RoRo growls, and hisses if Mele gets too close, but other than that both cats seem relaxed in each other's company. We allowed Mele out again this morning and again they got along fine until Mele got too friendly. 

Mele seems to be afraid of nothing, so that's great! She was cheeky though and pee'd in RoRo's litterbox and tried to eat her food. It's like she's trying to pi*s her off!! lol! RoRo is calm and doesn't seem too bothered at all. 

We'll have a few more supervised introductions today. I'm really pleased with how it's going!! 
 

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Wow!! That's amazing! How long has it been? I can't get Pepper to eat when I feed her. She starts to hear Lilo crying and goes off. I've moved her food farther from the door. I live in an apartment and not a house, so maybe that's why it might take longer for me with such a small space, but did you do the thing where you feed the resident cat closer and closer to the door?
 
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It's only been a week! I totally failed with the feeding near the door. I tried it, but Resident cat would not have her food moved from her usual place.

I think it has been easier as both cats were previously in multi-cat homes so are used to other cats being around. Mele lived with a dog too. 

I'm in a house, but the living space is all on one floor, so like an apartment really. It helped yesterday leaving the door between them open just a little bit. It meant they could go and look at one another and have a sniff whenever they wanted to. 

I'm actually totally amazed at my two. Mele has been roaming free now for a while and RoRo is just napping! 

Have your two been sniffing at each other under the door?
 

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Not really. The few times Pepper did she hissed, but I know that's normal. I think I might have to either get a baby gate or take the large cat carrier we used to use with the grid front for the face to face meetings. Lilo got out a few times and they met. Pepper hissed and growled a lot. Lilo is the size of a remote! And she's so fast. She gets out so easily, especially because I'm afraid of squishing her in the door haha.

Pepper has been sleeping in her normal place and played a bit on her own last night, so I think that's a good sign?? It's mainly her eating I'm concerned about.

She still sits with me on the couch and she sniffed the blanket that was in Lilo's room. She won't eat treats, so I'm going to put catnip on it and try to get her to play on it tonight so she can have a positive association. I might just spread some in several places, because I've been letting Lilo run around the kitchen and living room to try to blend the scents.

I did read an article that said until kittens are 18 weeks old, older cats can feel threatened by them instead of taking a maternal instinct because they are afraid of the mother is going to come around. However... That is 2 months from now!!!

This marks day five, and Pepper wouldn't eat breakfast. I might move her food to my bedroom. I'm keeping that as her room, no scents from Lilo.
 
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cat hunter

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There was much hissing and growling from RoRo in the first few days too. She also wouldn't sleep in her normal place or play either - she was just wandering about growling at everyone - human or cat ;) That's why I didn't push it with the food - I left it in her usual spot. RoRo was quite fast to come around in the last 2 days though - it happened very suddenly. It was like she just gave in lol! So yes it's a good sign that Pepper is getting back to her old routine. 

I think a baby gate or something would be a good idea for you so that they can see each other safely. It was easier for me doing through the door introduction with two grown cats than with a wriggly kitten!! Another good way for them to get used to each other's scent is from the cat brush. RoRo would try to lick Mele's brush! 

Where did Pepper used to have her food? Try to keep her routine as normal as possible and let her have access to everywhere she normally would - except for the room you have Lilo in. And lavish Pepper with lots of attention and love, especially after any kitten interactions. 
 
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