Is it safe to leave them alone?

[waddle]

I brought a new cat home recently. She was in her own room for about a week. I let her out to meet the others (two 4 yo cats) this past Sunday. There has been some hissing and chasing, but no real fights. I have still been putting new kitty back in the room when I am not home and overnight. Do I need to wait until there is no more hissing to leave her out full-time or do you think it's OK to do it now? One of my cats doesn't seem to have much of an issue with her at all now, but the other still hides a lot and hisses when she gets too close.

 

[strange_wings]

Give it a few more days if that makes you feel comfortable, but ultimately the cats just have to learn to get used to each other. Make sure you keep her room set up for a bit, just in case. The way I do it is slowly increase the amount of time a new cat is out each day - this gets all the cats used to seeing each other as well as a new scent being around.

I have one that's been in a month, and she still hisses and yells/yowls at my other cats. The important thing is that they do nothing back, so there are no fights. She's even starting to play with my smallest male (still larger than she is) and allows him near her in bed at night!

Which one is doing the chasing? The one of original cats or the new one?

 

[waddle]

The new kitty is chasing. I thinks she wants to be alpha cat. At first my older boy seemed scared of her (she is half his size, LOL) and was VERY tense. He is now more relaxed, but still wary and hiding under the bed a lot and hissing at her.

 

[tim w]

I've experienced this several times with new cats. Give it one or two more days. Then simply give them some boundaries because the hissing cat knows the other cat is present but wont get used to new member until they've gotten to spend more time together. I have a cat thats now 1 years old and it still gets hissed at by my 3 year old.

 

[srrh]

It is probably "safe" to leave them alone, but I think the more time you limit their interactions, the more time they'll have to get fully used to each other. We kept Fiona and Lolly separated when we were not around for about 10 days, then let them be alone together. We probably should have given them more time, but it went OK. They have had a couple scraps (or Kitty Thunderdome, as I like to call it

), but no one was ever actually injured, and they get along with no issues the vast majority of the time.

 

[zuma-xo]

Originally Posted by Waddle

I brought a new cat home recently. She was in her own room for about a week. I let her out to meet the others (two 4 yo cats) this past Sunday. There has been some hissing and chasing, but no real fights. I have still been putting new kitty back in the room when I am not home and overnight. Do I need to wait until there is no more hissing to leave her out full-time or do you think it's OK to do it now? One of my cats doesn't seem to have much of an issue with her at all now, but the other still hides a lot and hisses when she gets too close.

I'd say that yes time does help a lot in introductions, but eventually they will have to fight and deal with eachother. You can't save them all the time, eventually they have to dook it out and figure out who is on top. If you notice one is drastically bullying the other, yes you should seperate them, but unless they are fighting ALL the time or there is blood drawn, I'd say leave it.

 

[gloriajh]

Originally Posted by Waddle

... One of my cats doesn't seem to have much of an issue with her at all now, but the other still hides a lot and hisses when she gets too close.

I wonder, - ?? what would happen if you leave the new kitty, and the one that doesn't have an issue with the new kitty, together -- and then, put the other cat in the "private" room while you're gone ???

Just wondering the pros and cons of that sort of thing.

I can see some advantages, and disadvantages, too ?