Introduce before or after spay?

momof5furbabies!

momof5furbabies!

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Aug 11, 2023
Messages
12
Purraise
22
Our rescue, Ariel will be spayed on August 28th. She will be approximately 4 months old. Simba our 2 yr old neutered and Ariel haven't meet face to face. Ariel has been cleared by the vet to meet our other pets. We also have 2 labs. That has gone very well. Simba was a rescue also. He was bottles fed by us, not raised with other cats, just our dog's (he's part of the pack)& a holland lop bunny who he has a very healthy respect for. We've done the site swapping. Tried feeding Simba in her room with Ariel outside the door. He had no interest in that. He just sat and kept looking at the door. Ariel started off in one of our spare rooms and has graduated to a hallway, bathroom and other spare room. My husband made a divider to keep them separate. Simba has seen Ariel and he didn't respond well. So, we have kept them from seeing one another. We have a cat proof screen room & Simba is there when it's not too hot. Ariel has been out there as well as the rest of our house. Simba has been in Ariel's main room and seems to be fine. Although he was mad at me for picking him up and taking him in there. We tried just letting him be in Ariel's whole area but, he attempted to jump the barricade. See photo of divider/barricade. Here's my question... should we wait until after Ariel gets spayed and is healed up before we attempt to introduce them?
picture 1 - Ariel
20230811_141736.jpg
20230811_190649.jpg

Picture 1 Ariel in 3rd bedroom
#2 Simba on bed in her room
#3 Divider - Simba has never spent much time on that side of the house
 

Attachments

Furballsmom

Furballsmom

Cat Devotee
Veteran
Joined
Jan 9, 2018
Messages
39,464
Purraise
54,248
Location
Colorado US
By the way, if you haven't seen this yet it might have some tips to help with the actual introduction

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide - TheCatSite

There's one other tip and I don't recall whether it is mentioned in that article, having to do with her smelling like the vet after her spay. You might try this trick;
--either with vanilla or raw coconut (which still has fragrance) ;

From valanhb valanhb
You put a dab of vanilla extract under the chins, at the base of their neck (by the spine) and at the base of the tail (again, on the spine not the underside of the tail!) of all of the cats to make them smell the same. Cats recognize each other by scent, so if that kitty smells the same as "me", then he must be a friend. Kitty logic at it's finest.
This trick works when introducing cats into the household as well, or during a reintroduction after a redirected aggression event.

Also, it's possible that calming products and low volume Cat Music can help both cats :)
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #7
momof5furbabies!

momof5furbabies!

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Aug 11, 2023
Messages
12
Purraise
22
Furballsmom said:
By the way, if you haven't seen this yet it might have some tips to help with the actual introduction

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide - TheCatSite

There's one other tip and I don't recall whether it is mentioned in that article, having to do with her smelling like the vet after her spay. You might try this trick;
--either with vanilla or raw coconut (which still has fragrance) ;

From valanhb valanhb
You put a dab of vanilla extract under the chins, at the base of their neck (by the spine) and at the base of the tail (again, on the spine not the underside of the tail!) of all of the cats to make them smell the same. Cats recognize each other by scent, so if that kitty smells the same as "me", then he must be a friend. Kitty logic at it's finest.
This trick works when introducing cats into the household as well, or during a reintroduction after a redirected aggression event.

Also, it's possible that calming products and low volume Cat Music can help both cats :)
Click to expand...
Yes, I have read that article. 😀 I'm going to try the vanilla extract. (It wasn't in the article)
After I posted earlier I did remove the blanket since Simba was in the living room. I sat where both of them could see me. I spoke to both of them in a calm voice. Ariel did come to the divider and sat for a few minutes. She never shows signs of aggression or fear. Simba didn't approach, just sat, watched her and then went and laid down. This evening my husband tried to play with Simba with a wand toy that Ariel has played with and Simba hissed several times. I really thought he had adjusted to her smell...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top