A Friend Of A Friend Needs Advice

[ihave4cats]

I received great advice the last time I asked, so I am asking again for a friend of a friend what is the best way to handle the situation.

She has 3 cats (agea 12,10,11) and lives in a smaller apartment (bedroom, living room, kitchen, entry room). The 3 cats lived together in peace for 9.5 years in her apartment (although the older one was the boss and nobody was allowed to sit next to her). They are all females. When the older one was 11.5 years old it had a big operation and needed its piece for a month or two, so she kept her in the bedroom/kitchen all of the time (she made it like a little apartment) and kept the other two cats in the big living room with a cat window. She did the wrong thing and was worried about the younger ones hurting the older one when he got healthy and as time went on she kept living like this for 2.5 years.

Now she is moving to an apartment about twice as big as the one she currently lives in in October. She wants them to be together again when she moves.

The question she has is should she: A) Mix them together in the current smaller apartment (keep in mind the older one has become very territorial of the bedroom now), or should she mix them together only once she moves into the new apartment so they all have to deal with a new place + each other?

My thinking, which may be entirely wrong, is since the cats have never been in a car for 1 minutes (and the move will have them each in a separate cat carrier for 4.5 hours), is she should put them all together right after she arrives in the new apartment so the cats will probably be a bit exhausted from the car drive (I´m assuming a nervous cat becomes exhausted?) and being exhausted and concentrating on examining a new bigger place may make the cats not bother each other as much..

I also can say the two younger cats are not likely to fight, in fact one does his best to avoid any kind of confrontation, the other younger one is scared of the older one and does not want to fight at all. The older one likes too pretend she can fight but she doesn´t really want to either.

My friend is really concerned that one of them hurts the other, especially because she will not be home much the first few days while buying new things etc...I kind of think leaving the cats alone during the morning and afternoons for the first 3 days (and being home at night with them) may actually make them accept each other again more quickly without her making noise or being there.

Appreciate what you think of the above, my ideas and what she should do. Thanks.

 

[kashmir64]

Moving to a new place is an emotional strain of both human and animals. I think she should start introducing the older cat to the younger ones before she moves. She may have to do it slowly, as if she were introducing an entirely new cat. But this way, when they arrive at the new place, they can comfort each other and not have to be stressed from the car/new place/ and introducing.

 

[ihave4cats]

Thanks. She introduced them last night for 2 hours. The older one hit under the bed and just watched. One of the younger ones did not enter the bedroom, but sat in the kitchen the whole time. The other young one walked around the bedroom and eventually feel asleep there. After 2 hours she put them back in their rooms and will do it one hour longer every day as she said she got so nervous she could not handle it lol But it seems like it is going well.

 

[Elfilou]

Read everything you can find on the topic "how to introduce a new cat" and try to do it before moving, at least as much as possible. It may not be possible to have them living together peacefully in their current home, but I do share your thought that - since in the new home nobody has claimed territory with scent yet - that'll help with the territory issues. I would still try to at least have them eating at the same time at opposite sides of the door, so they associate the smell of eachother with something positive.

Just try to introduce them as much as possible in the current home, but if you can't fully introduce them there, continue in the new home. If you do leave them all together you should keep an eye on them when they're together, and separate when you're not there. Just don't make the same mistake of having one cat always be in one part of the home. The aim, with the new apartment, is for ALL 3 cats smell to be over the entire house. Not that one room exclusively smells of one cat. All the cats need to rub their scent on things in the entire house. Cat furniture like cat trees, cat caves and scratching posts will help with distributing their scents. Good luck!

 

[ihave4cats]

Thanks. She let them be together fpr 7 hours today, the older one just stayed in the bedroom like yesterday but laid on the bed. One of the younger ones was in the bedroom the whole day also and just doesn´r seem to care, or is oblivious, of the older cat hissing. She stays away and also laid on the other side of the bed. The third younger one stayed in the ohter room the whole day. She peaked in the bedroom 2 times and just went back into the living room and stayed there the whole time.
All in all it sounds like things are going good for her. The cats seem to somewhat remember each other after not seeing one another for 2-3 years, and they onviusly have no interest in fighting, i think it will all be good for bher.
Thanks again.

 

[ihave4cats]

Actually I just wanted to leave an update here; it´s pretty amazing but after 3 days she kept the cats together the whole day, and after 7 days the three cats just were back to the way they behaved towards each other 2.5 years ago when they last saw each other. During the week the bedroom cat hissed a bit, the two sisters just ignored her and would not go close to her (if she was on the bed, they slept on the other side of the bed, etc). I visited her and honestly, it´s just weird and funny how it´s almost like 2.5 years never passed by when they were not together. I think she got lucky as the two cats want nothing to do with the older one just like years ago, they remembered really well the rules; may not sit too close to her, avoid her in doorways and just leave her alone. In fact they did not even have any disputes or fights or even a small arguement being re-introduced.
Thanks again for the advice all.