introducing cats

i brought home a 5 month old neutered male, i already have a 9 month old intact female that ive had for about a couple weeks. the first day (yesterday) i kept them in seperate rooms except for one brief moment i let them see each other and it looked like a fight was going to break out. today i switched rooms, i put the girl in the boys room and the boy in the girls room so they could get used to each others scents. then i did the vanilla extract thing and put some on their faces and the top base of their tails and let them meet. they sit there looking at each other and the female growls a lot but just sits there, ears up. so let that go on for about 10 minutes or so and then seperated them again for a few hours and then let them meet again. should i just let them be in the same space from now on and get used to each other? it doesnt look like any fights will break out. thanks

julie

I would think with the female still being intact, she will not want the male around even if he is neutered or not. And it could cause their first introduction to not go over very well. But someone may know better than me. When is she scheduled to be spayed?

ok, i was wondering if that would make a difference or not. so spayed females are more inclined to accept another cat?

im not sure if i can afford to get her spayed this month with back to school shopping, it might have to wait until next month.

I know in my area you can go to the local humane society and buy a certificate for $20.00 but then you have to call around to see what vet honors them.

Jaycee, Im not positive, but I would think so, since she is of age to mate. But dont quote me hopefully someone will post that is more informative than me. I do know spaying her will calm her down considerably.

i can get her spayed for low cost at the local humane society for a total of around $45 (the spay is $25, then you hafta pay $10 or so for required vaccines and $6.50 for the license)

its just with buying back to school clothes for two girls this month on a low income and zero help from their father i dont know if i will have it or not this month, im going to try though, next month for sure.

if i do have to wait, it is very easy to keep them seperated in the mean time and also give them both plenty of attention so that helpful.

I can understand that. If you just go by my opinion, I would say keep them separated, simply because you wouldnt want their first experience to be traumatic. Also, most people suggest you introduce them slowly, anyway, I think like a week. But I have also read where they just plopped down a kitten and it went great. Im not sure if she would recognize the neutered boy as a threat, tho. But she may be more territorial in her nature from being intact.

I agree - I would wait until she is spayed. As Pami said - you wouldn't want the first experience to be traumatic.
Talking from a few introductions myself, I had one that went so well it only took 3 days and I had another that took almost 3 months and never ever went right. It depends a lot on the personality of the cat too.

After she is spayed you will just really have to watch the two of them and you'll get the feel for when one or both of them have had "enough" for that day"
Good luck!!