Handling a New Arrival

I'm glad I came here to read how others handle new arrivals with resident cats around. I've only had my resident cat's brother for a day and there was no fighting, but just hissing from Inkie's brother who is still a bit stressed. I've separated him and have let him out to explore the rest of the house at small intervals, and give Inkie a chance to smell and see his brother once in a while, and give them a chance to interact. I put Molson (Inkie's brother) in our computer room for the night, and gave them a chance to interact this morning, and will continue to do the same at small intervals until they're comfortable, and I'm comfortable, leaving them together. My main issue is that when we got Inkie, he was declawed and Molson wasn't. I'm just afraid Molson will hurt my poor Inkie!

This is my first time owning cats...how do I know what's normal in their interaction and what to really worry about?

Well, it is great that you are only giving them interaction in small intervals. If there is any hissing, stalking, or fighting while they interact separate them immediately and start over with a smaller time interval. It is also good to make their time together a positive experience, like feeding them a treat together or playing with them.

What to watch out for would be any type of agressive behaviour on either cats part. Meaning hissing, stalking, fighting, biting, etc. Bites and scratches from cats can become easily infected. Hopefully, you will not have to deal with any of that.
GOOD LUCK
-safron

Thanks safron,

may I ask how long it usually takes for each cat to get adjusted to each other?

Inkie, you will know if the kitties are really in a knock down drag out fight. You will probably think the bowels of hell opened up in your living room from the sounds emitted. Basically just keep an eye on them and if it looks like it is getting a bit too rough, where you think one of them could actually get hurt, make a loud noise. If they are playing, this will startle them enough to break it up. If they aren't just playing, this probably won't bother them too much, and you really need to intervene and separate them.

As far as how long it takes, that all depends on the cats. I've heard of it taking up to 6 months to do a good introduction, but that was with two older cats. The younger they are, the quicker it will probably go.

Since your two are so young, they are probably more interested in playing than defending territory so once they get used to each other being there things should be fine. Are they neutered? If not, please get them altered ASAP. Not only will this cut down on the territory issue that could cause fights, but also they may not figure out how to spray if you get it done soon. (PEEE-EEEWW!)

I have two cats, one declawed (bad advice from the vet ) and one not. They have figured out how to play without hurting one another. Just keep an eye on them (which obviously you are doing) and let Molson know when he is getting too rough with the claws. For the most part, when they are just playing, they don't use their claws that much anyway.

Please do not get Molson declawed. Clawed and declawed kitties can live together in harmony. It doesn't sound like you were going to, but please don't. If you have any questions about what declawing is, take a look at the thread Declawing for information and our experiences.