Help = Introducing new cat.

Status
Not open for further replies.
E

ennyllorac

New Member
Help!!! I am coming back to you all after 3 years. You all helped me get Mico OTJ and he has been doing quite well since he has been eating Wellness and he has been OTJ for 3 years now. I even introduced another male cat to him 2 years ago (Noname) and they get along quite well. The introduction only took 3 days.

Now here is my dilema. Three months ago, I found a very young female cat at work. She was definitely a stray but very friendly. I took her to my vet and they tried to help me find her a home. Well, to make a long story short. She came home with me on Friday. I set up a bathroom for her and she is fine in there. I introduced her to the boys and all she did was hiss and growl. The boys hissed once and walked away. However, she was very stressed and hissed and growled at me. It took me 45 minutes to be able to catch her again and take her to the bathroom. Is this going to be a lost case? She has gotten a bit temperamental. HELP!!!!
 
Well I don't know if this will help in your situation, but we just got two new baby girl kitties which we introduced into our furry family of 8. (5 males and 3 females). We still have some hissing and growling going on but nothing that is mean or aggressive. It has been only since Thursday since our new additions joined our bunch so I expect some hissing.

But the way we did our introductions is we have a large dog kennel that we used to house break the drooler. We put the kittens in that so everyone could meet and greet from a safe distance, and the kittens weren't in any danger should someone really not like them. After the first night we let the new girls out with us so we could watch everyone's reaction and make sure it didn't get nasty. I made sure to rub my hands all over our new babies then go to each of our furry family and let them smell the kittens on me. Also held the kittens while the older cats came to check them out, so hopefully they would connect Momma and kittens.

We also set up a baby gate so the bigger cats can go over to our bedroom (and their favorite hang out) but the kittens are too small to follow. It's only been a few days and while we still have a few hisses and growls they are getting less and less. Since we aren't making a big deal out of it the other cats seem to be getting use to the idea we have new family members. So I think perhaps if you just give them time to work out the "pecking order" they should be fine together in time.

Everytime we have added a new family member it seems like we have about a week or two of hisses and growls then everyone just gives up and gets along. In fact two of my older boys that absolutely HATED each other when they first came into the house are now best friends and will sleep curled up together.

Mel & Muse (GA)
 
Not to worry, what happened is pretty much to be expected. It's actually better not to let the cats see each other for a while. Rather than try to go into details, there are many sites which can help you. Just search for "how to introduce cats". Basically you want the cats to gradually get familiar with the smell of each other (rubbing with a towel then putting the towel in the other cat's area, for example. You want each cat to associate the smell (and later the sight and the presence) of the other cat with good things. So for example, you would progress to feeding the cats on the opposite sides of the same door. Then perhaps to letting them see each other through a baby gate, and giving each treats. You want to be sure the cats do not feel they have to compete for or protect resources, such as cat boxes. You definitely need to add extra litter pans when adding a new cat.

Again, search a little and you will find the many webpages on this topic.

laur
 
Hissing is normal as the others have said. I would just introduce gradually. Just be aware that first observed behavior may not be the lasting one. My last new cat, ignored my other cats at first. Now she attacks them. However, she is slow moving and is really not a concern. Smokey was the worst one I had. Many cat bites and ER visits. They were solved with putting Smokey on generic Prozac. When i brig a new cat in I just throw them in with the rest unless there is fighting. My experience is that slow really does not do much. I presently have 13 kitties.
 
Thank you all for the advice. I am going to give her a few more days alone and see if she trusts me a little more and then I will start the intros....
 
It seems that she is spending all of her time in the crate that I put for her in the bathroom. Is this normal? She didn't hiss at me tonight. I hope I did the right thing by bringing her home.
 
She is likely feeling stressed in what is unfamiliar territory that smells like other cats. So she's staying in the safest hidey hole she has - the crate. You did do the right thing to bring her to her new home. Just give her time to adjust. Some cats take longer than others. She'll let you know when she wants to go out of the bathroom.

laur
 
Are you saying you think she may be sick? Or is she just shy and stressed? How does she act when you are in there with her? Is she eating and drinking well?

Some cats are just shy or are slow to adjust, After I picked her up for fostering, my diabetic girl Cole hid under the bed in my son's room for probably six weeks, only emerging momentarily to eat and use the box. But over the past two years, she has blossomed and grown in confidence. Now she goes any where in the house, and over the last few months has started to wake me up early to let her go outside in the fenced yard.

So, if you think your new little girl is just very shy, it's ok. Just give her time. But do mention it to your vet. There are some meds that can help a stressed, frightened cat.

laur
 
Thank you so much for our advice, Laur. She was a lot friendlier today and has started to explore some. I am going to give her a few more days to warm up to me and then I am going to introduce her to the "boys".
 
ennyllorac said:
Thank you so much for our advice, Laur. She was a lot friendlier today and has started to explore some. I am going to give her a few more days to warm up to me and then I am going to introduce her to the "boys".
Click to expand...

Crack the door of the bathroom an inch or so and use a doorstop so it cant be pushed open more. Don't completely open the door yet. Also, you may want to switch out bedding, give her something the boys sleep on and let her smell it. When you do open the door all the way, try not to let the boys in the bathroom, let her explore first. Put the boys in another room for her first exploration into the rest of the house.

Good luck!
 
I'm maybe 2 or 3 weeks into introducing a new kitten to my established cats. My master bath was set up with her litter box, bed, toys, and for several days, food and water bowls. Every time she and the older cats saw each other, there was hissing and growling. That has gradually become much less; growling no longer happens and hissing only happens when she is obviously annoying one of the others. (I'd hiss, too, if a little alien pounced on my back when I was just minding my own business!) Over time she and the older cats have become nicely acclimated to each other - not every minute is ideal, but mostly they are getting along fine.

She still runs into the master bath when something spooks her. Even though the door stays open and the other cats now freely go in there, it is still her "safe place." She also continues to sleep there, in her bed or on the counter beside the bed. When it gets cooler, I expect she will come into my bedroom and join the pile of cats that cold weather seems to produce.

It just takes time, different amounts of time for different kitties. But it sounds to me like your situation is working out fine.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top