Hey everyone!
I have a situation where I have recently introduced a new cat into my household - I already have a resident cat. My resident cat is a 1 and a half year neutered and declawed male cat named Ringo, and the newly introduced cat is a 5 year old spayed and declawed Persian mix cat named Missy. They are both really sweet and have very affectionate personalities. I did a lot of reading about new cat introductions, and have been proceeding with the introduction of the two cats very carefully and consciously.
I separated the new cat in a room (with everything she needed- food, litter, etc). They would sniff each other through the door, a few growls and hisses from the newcomer; as to be expected. We then kept Ringo (resident cat) in a room, and let Missy (new cat) roam the house without him present. Of course, we were starting to introduce them to each other's scent through exchanging blankets they both slept on, etc. We then after 5 days or so let them freely see each other through the door, which was wedged to only open a little bit so they could see each other. They weren't trying to kill each other through the door so after a little while, we then proceeded to letting them out to see each other...
The newcomer Missy would be the one to be most "freaked out" by Ringo at first, periodically growling and being really uneasy around him. (And really, she is still that way now...not at ease around him.) Ringo would be submissive to all this initial uneasiness for the first week of them seeing each other when we were around to supervise, of course. He was very curious as to getting to know her, but she was not interested in being in close presence of him and still isn't comfortable around him - i.e., he goes around looking for her, while she does not go looking for him but growls when he comes too close to her. She is still curious about him though, but on her own terms.
It has been 11 days now since they have been out together with us around to supervise (in the nighttimes, Missy is separated from Ringo and also when we are gone and no one is home in the daytime - Missy is separated in "her" room, which is my bedroom). However, within the past few days, Ringo has started to change his behavior towards her and when she growls, etc and occasionally hisses when he comes too close to her, he does not act submissively but advances on her and they are standoff-ish with each other. They bat at each other in each of their defenses, and Missy now usually backs down from Ringo being so in-her-face and goes and hides.
By the way, both are eating perfectly and drinking...and using the litterbox and everything, so neither seems to be ultimately stressed in an inhumane way at all. In fact, Ringo is quite nonchalant about Missy and unless he goes into this "aggressive" approach to confronting her; he will flop down in front of her, roll around, clean himself...in other words, isn't afraid of her at all. Missy however is much more weary of him, and when she comes out around she is always on the lookout for him, and still growls when he comes too close.
Now mind you, when they are both sleepy and calmed down, they will sleep in the living room together - on opposite couches mind you, but that is certainly a good sign.
Keep in mind... we completely acknoweledge that these introductions take time, but are just wondering if what we are doing is appropriate for the situation.
Given this whole scenario...
..... any advice/tips/feedback/experiences you guys would like to offer?
Thanks so much!
I have a situation where I have recently introduced a new cat into my household - I already have a resident cat. My resident cat is a 1 and a half year neutered and declawed male cat named Ringo, and the newly introduced cat is a 5 year old spayed and declawed Persian mix cat named Missy. They are both really sweet and have very affectionate personalities. I did a lot of reading about new cat introductions, and have been proceeding with the introduction of the two cats very carefully and consciously.
I separated the new cat in a room (with everything she needed- food, litter, etc). They would sniff each other through the door, a few growls and hisses from the newcomer; as to be expected. We then kept Ringo (resident cat) in a room, and let Missy (new cat) roam the house without him present. Of course, we were starting to introduce them to each other's scent through exchanging blankets they both slept on, etc. We then after 5 days or so let them freely see each other through the door, which was wedged to only open a little bit so they could see each other. They weren't trying to kill each other through the door so after a little while, we then proceeded to letting them out to see each other...
The newcomer Missy would be the one to be most "freaked out" by Ringo at first, periodically growling and being really uneasy around him. (And really, she is still that way now...not at ease around him.) Ringo would be submissive to all this initial uneasiness for the first week of them seeing each other when we were around to supervise, of course. He was very curious as to getting to know her, but she was not interested in being in close presence of him and still isn't comfortable around him - i.e., he goes around looking for her, while she does not go looking for him but growls when he comes too close to her. She is still curious about him though, but on her own terms.
It has been 11 days now since they have been out together with us around to supervise (in the nighttimes, Missy is separated from Ringo and also when we are gone and no one is home in the daytime - Missy is separated in "her" room, which is my bedroom). However, within the past few days, Ringo has started to change his behavior towards her and when she growls, etc and occasionally hisses when he comes too close to her, he does not act submissively but advances on her and they are standoff-ish with each other. They bat at each other in each of their defenses, and Missy now usually backs down from Ringo being so in-her-face and goes and hides.
By the way, both are eating perfectly and drinking...and using the litterbox and everything, so neither seems to be ultimately stressed in an inhumane way at all. In fact, Ringo is quite nonchalant about Missy and unless he goes into this "aggressive" approach to confronting her; he will flop down in front of her, roll around, clean himself...in other words, isn't afraid of her at all. Missy however is much more weary of him, and when she comes out around she is always on the lookout for him, and still growls when he comes too close.
Now mind you, when they are both sleepy and calmed down, they will sleep in the living room together - on opposite couches mind you, but that is certainly a good sign.
Keep in mind... we completely acknoweledge that these introductions take time, but are just wondering if what we are doing is appropriate for the situation.
Given this whole scenario...
Thanks so much!
