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Okay, thank you for answering all the questions.
Since you have the one bedroom that New Cat has been staying in, continue to keep New Cat in there for now with no attempts at interacting with the other animals. Don’t try any introductions, don’t let them see each other. For now, act as though New Cat will be in that room forever. Make sure that the room contains whatever New Cat needs, food, water, litter pan, scratching post, cat tree, window to look out. If there is a window that you open, make sure the screen is reinforced before opening the window. I used Chicken wire to reinforce mine. But, you can use hardware cloth if you want. A cat can and will easily push out a screen or rip it with a nail. For now, the room is New Cat’s and nobody (other animals) should be able to enter.
If you feel bad for New Cat being isolated, try to push those feelings aside. If New Cat goes outside, sooner or later New Cat will not return one day and you will feel horrible. New Cat will be bored. That is good right now. We want New Cat bored. We want New Cat thinking everything is always the same and will not change. Of course, you should interact with New Cat, have routine play sessions and spend some time with her.
Consider this a decompression time for New Cat. A time for New Cat to adjust to her new boring consistent safe indoor life.
The amount of time New Cat spends in the room alone will all depend on New Cat, and your current cats and dogs. The goal here is to make New Cat feel safe, secure, and bored. No harness walks, no visual on any other animals.
When New Cat has adjusted (probably about 1 to 4 months), then a very slow introduction of New Cat to the rest of the household can start, beginning with scent swapping. But for now, New Cat needs her safe haven of a room to herself for a while. Also, your established resident cats and dogs need to relax and get back to their normal routines, without worrying about an intruder.
Introducing cats when they are adults is hard. It is a slow process that even when done correctly, still takes a long time. I introduced an outdoor 2-year-old neutered large male cat with an outgoing personality into my house with a senior spayed female older cat who was feral and is very timid. It took time, but it can be done.
It takes a long time when everything is going well. When there are negative incidents, it adds a lot of time to the introduction because you must go back to the beginning. When you have multiple bad experiences for the cats, then eventually you need do a total reset.
With dedication and patience you can do this, The out come you are wanting is a peaceful co-existence.
Thank you for taking this cat in.
c
Since you have the one bedroom that New Cat has been staying in, continue to keep New Cat in there for now with no attempts at interacting with the other animals. Don’t try any introductions, don’t let them see each other. For now, act as though New Cat will be in that room forever. Make sure that the room contains whatever New Cat needs, food, water, litter pan, scratching post, cat tree, window to look out. If there is a window that you open, make sure the screen is reinforced before opening the window. I used Chicken wire to reinforce mine. But, you can use hardware cloth if you want. A cat can and will easily push out a screen or rip it with a nail. For now, the room is New Cat’s and nobody (other animals) should be able to enter.
If you feel bad for New Cat being isolated, try to push those feelings aside. If New Cat goes outside, sooner or later New Cat will not return one day and you will feel horrible. New Cat will be bored. That is good right now. We want New Cat bored. We want New Cat thinking everything is always the same and will not change. Of course, you should interact with New Cat, have routine play sessions and spend some time with her.
Consider this a decompression time for New Cat. A time for New Cat to adjust to her new boring consistent safe indoor life.
The amount of time New Cat spends in the room alone will all depend on New Cat, and your current cats and dogs. The goal here is to make New Cat feel safe, secure, and bored. No harness walks, no visual on any other animals.
When New Cat has adjusted (probably about 1 to 4 months), then a very slow introduction of New Cat to the rest of the household can start, beginning with scent swapping. But for now, New Cat needs her safe haven of a room to herself for a while. Also, your established resident cats and dogs need to relax and get back to their normal routines, without worrying about an intruder.
Introducing cats when they are adults is hard. It is a slow process that even when done correctly, still takes a long time. I introduced an outdoor 2-year-old neutered large male cat with an outgoing personality into my house with a senior spayed female older cat who was feral and is very timid. It took time, but it can be done.
It takes a long time when everything is going well. When there are negative incidents, it adds a lot of time to the introduction because you must go back to the beginning. When you have multiple bad experiences for the cats, then eventually you need do a total reset.
With dedication and patience you can do this, The out come you are wanting is a peaceful co-existence.
Thank you for taking this cat in.
c