Mom, Dad, and Kitten Reintroduced

Hello everyone,
I am brand new to TCS and have already found some very useful information. I want to know what you guys think about my situation. I have two cats; Lady and Blue and they had kittens about 2 years ago. My boyfriend decided to adopt one of the kittens (his name is Lloyd.) Well, my boyfriend and I are about to move in with eac hother. How do you think my cats (Blue and Lady) will react to his cat (Lloyd)? I am moving into his place so it is Lloyd's territory. Will they instinctually know each other as family? Since they smell each other almost every day on our clothing, will the introduction be less severe? Blue and Lloyd were best friends when Lloyd was a kitten, do you think they will rekindle their friendship?

Just want to know your opinions. I know they will get to know each other again over time. I'm just worried they won't get along.

They will not know each other as family - cats do not remember family as we do. Are they all spayed/neutered now? If not you should do it before reintroducing the two males, as they will fight over the female and the territory (and cats mate with their brothers/sons whatever). Apart from that, there is a lot of information here on the forums about how to introduce cats to each other. Good luck.

I would read over the info here on introducing cats. They probably won't remember eachother, but yes it will be helpful that they are familar with the scent of eachother! Keep the "baby" sequestered in it's own room for a bit, and then gradually have supervised visits.

This article gives lots of great tips on how to introduce your kitties to your boyfriend's kitty.

Welcome to TCS!!

A couple of ideas...

For the couple weeks before, bring some things that have Lloyd's scent on them (perhaps things he's laid on, like clothes, towels, etc.) into Blue and Lady's home, bringing in new things every couple days to make sure the scent still exists. This will get them familiar with his scent, and they will feel less intimidated going into his territory this way. Also do the reverse of bringing stuff with their scent to Lloyd.

I would normally suggest separating them for about a week (new kitty in a room with kitty necessities, with old kitty having the run of the house), but because you're bringing two kitties into a one-kitty household, this may not work as well. You could do this, but shorten it to a day or two, and introduce them to see how they relate to each other. If you do the scent thing I mentioned above, they shouldn't react so severly to each other as a normal introduction would bring about. If you find that one of them is reacting strongly, separate them again for a day. They'll get the idea.

As I put into posts about such things, there is something you should be aware of. If you introduce the three of them, and things are going just fine, be warned that they will be fine for about a week, and might be not-so-great for about two after that. The thing is that if things go great right away, the kitties may be thinking it's just a temporary situation, and once they realize it's not, they may have to be separated for a time until they get along.

Other than those things, I would just be sure they have their own places to go if they wish to avoid each other (they being separated into two groups, Blue and Lady vs. Lloyd). I would make sure until you're certain they're fine with each other that their litterboxes, food, water, and comfort items (such as beds, etc.) are in separate spaces. Don't worry if one kitty decides to hide for a week or so.

All in all, it sounds like it'll go just fine. They'll work out their differences, and all will be a happy family.

The most important thing to remember is to take it all in their time.

Feel free to ask any more questions!!