Crating For Introduction?

herekittykitty8

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Hello Everyone,

I currently have one 5 month old cat. I have adopted a rescue cat, and she gets here in just a few weeks! She is coming to us already spayed, and my cat is due for his operation next week.

I have a spacious apartment, with plenty of room for them both to play - however, I only has one bedroom. The rest of the apartment is a pretty open space. I was planning on making her safe room our bedroom (we won't use the bathroom, as that is our current cats "safe area" with his litter, and scratching post. I'd rather not disrupt too much of his routine since we'll be adding his new sister to the mix


While browsing petfinder.com - I saw a method for introductions that didn't involve a safe room - rather a large kennel (about the size used for a medium to large sized dog), which would be "out in the open" and in my case, the living room.

There was barely any information given on this method other than to back the crate up against a wall, and cover the crate with a blanket, exposing only the front of the cage - then, you would gradually remove the blanket more and more everyday. Of course, food, litter, toys, etc would be in the crate along with the new cat.

I've searched many cat related forums to find out more about this method -but haven't been able to find anything.

I don't know if I'll be using this as my method - as leaving an animal in a cage that long when they have no medical necessity doesn't seem entirely fair to me - BUT - it could certainly help make things a bit easier, so we don't have our new cat waking us up at 4am wanting to play, as so many of them tend to do at those ungodly hours!

I would love to hear your comments/thoughts/ or experiences with this. Or, perhaps a link so I can learn more about it? Does this seem like a good way to ease along the introduction? Or, a disaster in the making?

Thanks Everyone!
 
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herekittykitty8

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Hmmm...
I think I'll assume from the silence that using a crate for introductions is a terrible idea
 

carolina

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I would much rather use the safe room, and if you want to do the crate at all, do it for a couple of hours a day only...
I used a baby gate on the door of my bathroom, and worked well...
Since one of your cats is a kitten the introduction is probably going to be very very fast, just enough for the new cat to be comfortable with the new house or a little longer... I would not worry too much about this intro, you will be fine!
 
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herekittykitty8

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Thank you so much, Carolina!
I'll keep everyone posted on how it goes.
 

missymotus

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I agree on only crating her for a short while each day, though it could make whoever's in the crate feel trapped or cornered by the roaming cat.

I'm not sure how many cats are held back by a baby gate though, I've got 4 week old kittens that easily scale a gate
so it could be quite useless on older kittens & adults.
 

carolina

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Originally Posted by missymotus

I agree on only crating her for a short while each day, though it could make whoever's in the crate feel trapped or cornered by the roaming cat.

I'm not sure how many cats are held back by a baby gate though, I've got 4 week old kittens that easily scale a gate
so it could be quite useless on older kittens & adults.
Baby gate worked fine here - I used in the beginning 2 gates, one on the top of the other, but after a while I was comfortable enough to leave only one gate high. Did not have a problem at all... Kittens are much more trouble than adults though - they are the ones who scale gates, curtains.... Adults are easier, calmer IMHO.
 

missymotus

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Originally Posted by Carolina

Kittens are much more trouble than adults though - they are the ones who scale gates, curtains.... Adults are easier, calmer IMHO.
I would suggest that depends greatly on the cat (and breed), no calm adults here
Longhaired cats and breeds are usually more relaxed and perhaps less likely to climb.
 

carolina

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Originally Posted by missymotus

I would suggest that depends greatly on the cat (and breed), no calm adults here
Longhaired cats and breeds are usually more relaxed and perhaps less likely to climb.
Oh well... alright.
 

chausiefan

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i dont agree with crating cats a trapped cat does not usuallly feel safe i actually think its kinda cruel


a room with a screen in front of both cats at the door is the best
 
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