helping short term visits go more smoothly...

This is the second time we'll be bringing our kitten down to visit my mom and her 2 adult cats. The first encounters didn't go as smoothly as we'd hoped, and surprisingly, it was our little girl that wasn't behaving. I swear, I've never heard such hostile sounds coming from such a small cat!! growling, hissing, spitting, etc... you name it, she was doing it. We tried to ease the intros. by letting the cats sniff each other from either side of a door, but we weren't there for very long, so the cats didn't get much of a chance to get to know each other. And when we let them meet face to face, our Nikita was being really... well... hostile. She'd just crouch by the door to our room and puff up like a little toothy hairball and baffle my mom's big, fuzzy, blissfully ignorant male.

We're going to be at my mom's for 3 days this time, and we were wondering if there were any other hints you had to help things go better this time 'round? I'd hate for this to be a "constant" when we visit my mom!!

It takes longer than 3 days to get cats acquainted, so I would suggest you bring her, but just keep her shut in the room you will be sleeping in. With successive visits, rather than remembering the fights, they will be getting more used to each others scent, and may become friends in time.

When my brother's family (and cat) would visit his in-laws, his cat stayed primarily in his room, although it had free run of the house, along with several resident cats. Although the cats didn't fight, they weren't best friends either. But the visits went smoothly, and the cats weren't required to follow human social rules. (Oh, Fluffy, let Schnookums have your catnip mouse! LOL!)