Introducing an adult cat to two resident adult cats

[maxcat08]

Hello.....I recently brought in a stray from outside. She's Vet checked and all that. She's very sweet...and is very comfortable in my house now that she trusts me.

My two 3-yr old males aren't as entralled as I am.....LOL...

I read about introducing a cat into the home, but I'm not sure if it was talking about a kitten or a fully grown cat. I've tried to just let the three of them get to know each other.....that didn't work. The first time...Samson jumped on top of Little Miss...lots of loud noise, but no one was hurt..some fur did fly. The second time, Cameo puffed up like a puff ball, made some very loud yowls and chased Little Miss like a vengence, but never actually touched her.

So now, they remain separated. When she comes out for some play time..the two fellows get 'locked' up in a room....when they are out, Little Miss gets locked up.  They do have their own blankies....should I just persue the blankies way of introduction by rubbing them on the cats and letting them smell each other?  Would it be better to try to introduce one cat at a time....although I don't know how I'd manage to do that.

I've introduced kittens before, lots of them, and the resident cat never touched the kitten....but after seeing Samson actually jump on Little Miss, I'm afraid of a fight happening. I've had her about a week, and more and more, she's 'asking' to be let out, and not locked up. She is not the aggressor. Are the males just letting her know that it's their territory and that she's at the bottom of the pecking order??  How long do you think the males will take with smelling her scent before they finally accept her? She is spayed.

Any thoughts?  Thank you!!

 

[momofmany]

I've found that it is always easier to introduce kittens into a household than adult cats. Kittens don't threaten the resident cats for the most part while an adult will. The advice you read about introductions (IMO) works best with adult cats. Your thoughts on scent swapping their blankets is very good. The other thing that works for some people is to dab a little vanilla extract on each of the cats (a dab on their chins, top of head, base of tail) makes them smell the same when they get to the point where they go face to face again.

As far as timeframe goes, every situation will be different. Some are able to introduce them after scent swapping in a couple of days, others take longer. My suggestion is to do the blanket swapping for at least a week, then start dabbing them with vanilla for at least a few days to a week. If you can manage it, putting up baby gates in the entire doorway allows them to see each other without touching each other (usually 3 gates will cover a doorway) and some people have installed screen doors as a temporary measure.

If you can introduce them one at a time in the area where you have locked up Little Miss, you may have a better gauge on how they will react when all 3 of them are together. Then again, sometimes this back fires and the odd cat may feel threatened without their companion.

Not sure what you have been reading, but here is a good thread on the topic. http://www.thecatsite.com/t/67321/introducing-a-new-cat-to-your-old-cat

 

[maxcat08]

Thank you for your help. I have read about how to introduce cats to each other. It's been about a week now.....so I'll keep doing the alternating routine for another week and see how another introduction goes. I'll try the vanilla tip...and rubbing the blanket on them.....hopefully the residents males won't feel too threatened.

Thanks again.