Hi all

We brought home a 6 month old cat yesterday and have been advised to not introduce him to the other cat for 1 month. He is very confident and after just a few hours is behind the door in his safe room when we try to go in so I can see him getting out before 1 month.

Also as we are at work he is in his room all day - we leave food, water and toys and he was looking out the window when we left this morning but I still feel very bad. However even tonight one of us will have to sit in there with him rather than let him out - is this usual to wait 1 month? How can we stop him being lonely in the meantime?

1 month is quite a long time IMO.

When I got some new additions to Moggy Towers earlier this year, they were fully intigrated into the house by the time a month had passed.

Firstly, what age & sex is your first cat?

Secondly - Give the new cat a day or two to get used to his change in circumstances and to get to know you and your family. Then, start to swap bedding / old sweaters / anything the cats sleep on to get them used to each others scent. You can also use old socks - put them on your hands like gloves and stroke both of the cats with them, paying special attention to face, chin & bottom areas as this is where their smell is strongest. Also, let them sniff at each other under the door.

Then, after a few days, you can take the new cat out of the safe room and intorduce him to the rest of the house. Do this when number 1 cat is either out or asleep in a room that can be closed off. Then allow no 1 cat to smell the safe room. This will also help it to get the idea of another cat in the house.

After about 7-10 days (use your own instinct in this, there are no hard & fast rules) bring the new cat into the same room as # 1 cat, but in a carrier where he will be safe from attack, if the worst should happen. Depending on how this goes, you should be able to let him out of the carrier within a short time. Hopefully, by the end of two weeks, they will be slowly accepting of each other.

If # 1 cat is quite young, then this may all happen much quicker. Younger cats bond better & quicker than older cats who can be slow to accept change.

Good luck and let us know how you go.

Also, welcome to the forum, lovely to have you with us, what are your cats names and please reward all info given by showing us piccies of your babies. We like our cat piccies around here!!!

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welcome to the forum.

Congrats on your new kitten. A month does sound a long time if by that they mean keeping it in the room with no indroduction at all to your current cat.

How old is you older cat? Every cat is different some will bond straight away and others will take more time.

When I brought my two kittens home I kept them in their own room for a few days and bought them out if the older cat was outside or in a room that I could shut him in, to get their scent round the house and so they could explore. Then I put them in carriers and let my older cat meet them where he could not get to them and he felt safe aswell. once a couple of times this had gone well I then let them meet each other face to face with out being confined and let it go from there. I would always put them in their safe room if I was out or at night just in case, but this only took me a couple of weeks till I felt save to leave them together.

Hope this helps.

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Oh dear! We have only had our new kitten a week and have left her to roam the house with out other cat today whilst we are out at work. They seem to have got one find the last few days though and have played together! Fingers crossed I don't return to chaos!!!

Hi

No1 cat is 4 and a half, she has been up by the door but is more nervous of the room, the kitten (Mogwai) tried putting his paw under the door. Yoshi (No 1 cat) is now mostly staying downstairs but am sure curiosity will get the better of her soon.

We are at work all week so maybe if we try letting him out to other rooms this weekend when Yoshi is out etc? I was worried letting him out to other rooms will make it even harder to keep him in the spare room when we are out?

Thanks for your advice and will post piccies soon as they are both very cute.

I agree a month is a long time,and after that month there wont be a sudden acceptance of either cat so IMO that month has been a waste of time.I dont have any "first hand" experience of intro's but I think this link to a very good site should help.Living Together - Introducing a New Cat
Good luck and let us know how it goes.Welcome to the forum

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Not the same, but we have just got a 4 and a half month old kitten and we were advised to slowly introduce him to the dogs, by keeping them separate, feeding each other with a door in between, then swapping scents and taking it from there.

I didn't, I don't really have time for that, so I crated the cat and introduced the boys (dogs) one by one, first in the crate, then Wheatley on someones lap, then on the floor. All 3 dogs are fine (but then we didn't need to worry about Sadie) and I now have a kitten cuddled up to the dogs and we've only had him since Sunday..

Obviously if that didn't work, I would've gone about it another way, however it is different as they are different species..

Good luck

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