Hi, I have a 14 year old cat with CKD and Hyperthyroidism, long story short she's doing OK and has always lived happily as an only cat. Long story short my mother in law has had a stroke and I am having to take in her two senior cats for approximately 6 months whilst she recovers in rehabilitation unit. I'm so worried about the affect this will have on my own cat. Any tips on how to introduce them and to integrate them happily into the family without causing too much stress to either party.
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
Introducing three senior cats
- Thread starter rusty ckd
- Start Date
I'm so sorry to hear about your mother. I hope she's able to make a good recovery in time.
With the cats: Ideally, you want to set up a 'safe room' for the newcomers. This should have beds, litterbox(es), cat tree/scratching post, water bowl(s)...in short, everything they need to feel at home. If you're able to bring their own beds, boxes etc from your mother's house, then that's even better. Grabbing a couple of articles of her worn but (ideally) unwashed clothing will help comfort her cats by giving them her scent to snuggle up to.
Let them settle in for a few days, then you can start with scent swapping. Take a clean washcloth (one per cat) and stroke the cat all over with it, focusing on their cheeks - where the 'friendly' pheromones come from. Take the two cloths from your mother's cats and place them where you cat will find them, and vice versa. Watch reactions carefully - you're simply after nothing negative (hissing, growling, running away). Once you have that you can do some site swapping (your cat gets to explore the safe room, and the other two can see the rest of the house). Again, you want to see nothing negative from any cat. Then you can move on to feeding on either side of the door, gradually increasing visual exposure to each other (either with a screen door and a blanket, so you're in control of how much they can see of each other, or by cracking the door open and fixing with doorstops - one either side of the door).
Getting Feliway diffusers plugged in throughout the house may help to ease tensions too.
These articles may help explain things :-
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/the-ultimate-yet-simplified-guide-to-introducing-cats
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/introducing-cats-to-cats
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/the-multi-cat-household
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/six-surefire-strategies-to-reduce-stress-in-cats
With the cats: Ideally, you want to set up a 'safe room' for the newcomers. This should have beds, litterbox(es), cat tree/scratching post, water bowl(s)...in short, everything they need to feel at home. If you're able to bring their own beds, boxes etc from your mother's house, then that's even better. Grabbing a couple of articles of her worn but (ideally) unwashed clothing will help comfort her cats by giving them her scent to snuggle up to.
Let them settle in for a few days, then you can start with scent swapping. Take a clean washcloth (one per cat) and stroke the cat all over with it, focusing on their cheeks - where the 'friendly' pheromones come from. Take the two cloths from your mother's cats and place them where you cat will find them, and vice versa. Watch reactions carefully - you're simply after nothing negative (hissing, growling, running away). Once you have that you can do some site swapping (your cat gets to explore the safe room, and the other two can see the rest of the house). Again, you want to see nothing negative from any cat. Then you can move on to feeding on either side of the door, gradually increasing visual exposure to each other (either with a screen door and a blanket, so you're in control of how much they can see of each other, or by cracking the door open and fixing with doorstops - one either side of the door).
Getting Feliway diffusers plugged in throughout the house may help to ease tensions too.
These articles may help explain things :-
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/the-ultimate-yet-simplified-guide-to-introducing-cats
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/introducing-cats-to-cats
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/the-multi-cat-household
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/six-surefire-strategies-to-reduce-stress-in-cats
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #3
Thankyou Columbine, thats some fantastic advice. so no seeing each other to start with? Just to play devils advocate here, if there is hissing when they "smell" each others scent is it just a case of carrying on and persevering? My Mums cats are a male and female and my own cat is female so is there usually a sex that won't get on generally, all parties are neutered. I'm so worried about this situation, especially as my cat is so poorly :-(
Absolutely no seeing each other at the start. They'll be well aware of each others presence just from scent and sound. I don't think sex makes a great deal of difference so long as they're spayed/neutered.
If they hiss etc at the scent cloths, it's simply them saying they're not ready to go to the next stage. Keep on with the scent swapping until they get over their concerns. Just a point - you don't want to force the scent cloths on the cats - just casually place them somewhere they'll be found. Some introductions take longer than others - the longest I've come across is a full year! (though that was with a semi feral - its unusual for things to be quote that slow).
If they hiss etc at the scent cloths, it's simply them saying they're not ready to go to the next stage. Keep on with the scent swapping until they get over their concerns. Just a point - you don't want to force the scent cloths on the cats - just casually place them somewhere they'll be found. Some introductions take longer than others - the longest I've come across is a full year! (though that was with a semi feral - its unusual for things to be quote that slow).
