So, last night I was very silly and broke all of the rules re Cat introductions! I'm now paying the price with a very spooked cat.

There has been a very friendly cat around our area over the past week or so. She looks healthy and a little overweight but always seems to be out and about. Last night she followed my husband and I home and sat outside the door to our block meowing after us. Somebody else in the block must have decided that the Cat lived there and so let her in. I was wondering for a while why I could still hear this cat's meow so loudly when inside our flat. When i opened the front door I realised that the poor thing was walking up and down the stairs meowing at all of our neighbours doors!.

I then made the, in hindsight silly decision, to let her into our flat for a few minutes, while I made a paper collar for her asking her owner to call me. My own two Cats, who had been asleep under our bed then decided to wake up and come out. Upon coming face to face with the new cat they were not especially happy. It has to be said that the new cat was very friendly and tried to go up and sniff them. My usually timid Cat was sort of ok... she just sat there and looked. However, my other cat, who is usually friendly, very confident (and maybe sometimes a bit of a bully) was immediately growling and hissing and spitting away. The new cat was removed asap and taken back outside. However, my cat was growling and hissing at both me and her sister all evening! She was better this morning but still was still occasionally walking around growling to herself.

So, how do I calm her down as she is obviously still spooked by it? They are both indoor Cats so chance encounters with other animals never happen to them.

I did receive a call about the other Cat, but from somebody who thought she was mine. Apparently, she has been hanging around the ambulance station near our flat and won't leave. So I'm still none the wiser as to whether she is lost or has been abandoned. If that turns out to be the case, I would quite like to take her in. However, with my Cats reaction I'm not sure how that would work out.

Apologies if this is quite rambly but I'm trying to type this at work and keep getting interrupted!

Thanks in advance for any advice or tips.

__________________
<

If you do want to take her in, give her a separate room and some clothes, blankets or bedding with your scent end the scent of the cats, so she will get used to your smell.

Then, after a few days, take away some of the things she has been sleeping on, and leave them in a place your cats often come. This way, they get used to the scent of the new cat being mingled with their own.

And get a feliway diffuser, if necessary more than one, to cover the entire apartment.

You can use the feliway to calm and reassure your own cats, too.....

__________________
Jiskefet & the mognificent Dutch bunch

My little angels at the rainbow bridge

Thanks for that but I have just had a call from the Cats owner... so I won't be taking it in after all. Probably for the best, but I am a little disappointed!

__________________
<