A question that I know has been asked a billion times...

I am the mommy of a 3 yr old DSH Tuxedo kitty named Oliver. I've had him since he was 4 wks old (the shelter lied and told us he was 8 weeks when we got him!!) and he's very attached to his mommy (or at least I like to think so!)

Next wednesday we are bringing home a new friend for him, a DSH/Persian Tuxedo female who's around 10 months old. A friend found her huddled behind a dumpster in the middle of a Chicago snowstorm!

They're both fully vetted and fixed, and in good health. I plan on following the introduction plan that's been laid out on this website, but figured I would ask you all for advice, and to share stories of your cat to cat introductions.

Our vet says we've made a good match since she is female and young there won't be as much competition---but since Olly's been an only cat and the center of the universe for so long, I'm afraid it might take him awhile to adjust. We're hoping they'll grow to be friends---Oliver is still very playful at 3 and I don't always have time to roll around on the floor with him when he wants to!!

Any advice would be appreciated!

hi, just wanted to say good job on rescuing these kitties and also that the shelter probably did not intentionally lie to you about the age of the first one. Many shelter workers are just volunteers or part time people who love animals, and not necessarily trained in every part of the job. Not all are educated in giving a completely accurate guess on the age of the animals. It is also hard to tell sometimes. We have had an itty bitty kittens come in one time and it turned out it was an adult and had adult teeth, it was just really small for its age. Yours could have been really big for its age maybe.

Anyways, just go through the introductions like you read how to do it and hopefully it will all go well. You can also put some vanilla on each of their necks, heads and base of tail so they smell alike. That always helps. Good Luck!

Well I know you are "supposed" to keep them seperated, etc............. When I got Bakker in November I just opened up the carrier and let him snoop around and show the food dish area, litter box and let the others (3) come up to him. I've never had a problem with absolute fighting. He understands his position amongst the four and he tests his limits but nothing earth shattering yet!! Have fun!!

I've had 3 different reactions from Joji, the earliest of the 4. When Skinny moved in, I had an average of 3 catfights a week. When QT was brought in, I did the slow intros but now QT is bullying everybody mostly Joji. Finally, with Wawa there was no problem at all. Maybe it helped that he is the only male and that I bathed him and the rest one morning so by evening everybody smelled the same.

My only advice is to not get discouraged when they aren't happy with each other at first. I was silently hoping my oldest would want to "mother" my new baby when I brought her home and was disappointed that she was so unhappy about it and hissed for the first two weeks. Give them time and they'll learn to trust each other.

theres loads of good articles on here which will help you. maybe buy a feliway diffuser to promote calmness?