Any tips on introducing a new adult cat to the house?

Any tips on introducing a new adult cat to the house?

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Mobile Chicane

Original Poster:

20,832 posts

212 months

Friday 2nd January 2015
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Apart from "don't do it"?

Both neutered males. Bob is 12, the resident cat, and very defensive of his territory - all 'garden intruders' are sent packing. He was rehomed (to me) two years ago because his former owners acquired a new kitten that Bob didn't get on with.

Norman is 4 and rescued from a scenario where he'd been turfed out in all weathers to fend for himself. He's currently in the downstairs bathroom / utility area behind a door and a baby gate. He's very timid, but is getting bolder by the day, and is beating the door down of a morning to get out into the rest of the house - which I've let him explore when Bob is out.

The cats haven't been introduced although Bob knows there is AN INTRUDER in the house. Any accidental glances have been met by yowling and hissing.

Currently I'm exchanging blankets to mix their scents around the house, and stroking them one after the other to mix their scents on each other. Both still seem a bit sketchy about this, two weeks in.

The vet just said to 'take it slowly', which of course I will. Can anyone give me any advice on how long the introduction process might take? Any tips for integrating them? Also - hate to say it - at what point do I need to accept that it's never going to work?

TVMIA.

Mobile Chicane

Original Poster:

20,832 posts

212 months

Friday 2nd January 2015
quotequote all
wombleh said:
We did an introduction process with a baby gate on the room with one cat in, sat outside with the other cats giving them fuss & treats then started opening the door a small bit and fussing/feeding all of them. Aim being to associate each other being around with nice things happening but not allow them close enough to fight. When they were all released together it'd be with us in the house keeping an eye and if there was fighting or chasing then new cat went back in her room for a few days and started the introduction again. Took a few months and had to re-start the whole process a few times but eventually they chilled out enough to share the house.

Having a fire in a cold winter helped too as they all wanted to sit near it.
Very helpful - thank you.

ETA: They are both extremely FOOD oriented, so hopefully feeding/fussing together will work.

Edited by Mobile Chicane on Friday 2nd January 15:53

Mobile Chicane

Original Poster:

20,832 posts

212 months

Friday 2nd January 2015
quotequote all
wombleh said:
Having a fire in a cold winter helped too as they all wanted to sit near it.
hehe

Mobile Chicane

Original Poster:

20,832 posts

212 months

Sunday 11th January 2015
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I've started feeding them within sight of one another, separated by a baby gate (and me). At the moment they're staring one another out the second they've finished, so I have to usher Norman into the bathroom again frown
I was warned it would be a long and slow process. As it's proving to be.
I feel terribly sorry for Norman being shut away, but as OH points out, it's a million times better than what he came from. He's still a bit sketchy about being groomed (his coat is full of flea dirt), but we're overcoming this with the aid of Applaws fishy pots ;-)

Mobile Chicane

Original Poster:

20,832 posts

212 months

Sunday 11th January 2015
quotequote all
Oh yes yes

Mobile Chicane

Original Poster:

20,832 posts

212 months

Monday 23rd February 2015
quotequote all
Slow progress I'm afraid, not helped last week by Norman getting himself entangled in a cat dangler, where I had to call the vet out to catch him and get the thing cut off.

Having barrelled around the house screeching and spitting like a Tasmanian Devil, I finally managed to corral him in the bathroom, to keep him quiet until the vet could attend.

It took half an hour and two people to drag him out from behind the bath and cut the thing off. Poor sod had managed to entangle both back legs and his tail. No physical harm done, thankfully, but relations between Bob and Norman are back to an all time low, Bob having reacted badly to Norman's crying, and managing to push past me into the bathroom and ATTACK.

Unfortunately, the broader challenge isn't Bob, it's Norman. He has fear aggression, which is hardly surprising since he's spent the last three years fending for himself, having to fight for everything he's ever had frown

I will persevere, however I have mentally set a six-month review point on this, whereby if the two can't be successfully integrated, I will ask Cats Protection to re-home Norman. He is a sweet little thing, who would I'm sure blossom in a quiet household where he would be the only cat.

On the positive side, his coat is improving due to good food: half Lily's Kitchen wet, half Applaws dried. His teeth are good, but his breath is hanging: the vet diagnosed chronic Calicivirus, which I'm hoping will resolve in time with warmth and a decent diet.

I'm not giving up just yet, but I feel that a degree of pragmatism is called for. In the end, I have to think of what is in Norman's best interests, and I can't help but think that being shut away in a downstairs bathroom isn't it frown

Mobile Chicane

Original Poster:

20,832 posts

212 months

Tuesday 17th March 2015
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Update:

I initially thought the challenge would be Bob the resident cat, but no, it's Norman.

He has what I can only describe as a mixture of fear aggression and resource guarding behaviours.

Moreover, he bites, purely out of the need to resolve tension, I think. Poor sod, it's not his fault that he's in the state that he's in. frown

The vet has assessed the situation and prescribed amitryptiline for Norman. (A human anti-anxiolytic.)

We will see how we go with this: gradual introduction as before, then taper off the dose once peaceful integration is (hopefully) established.

Mobile Chicane

Original Poster:

20,832 posts

212 months

Monday 25th May 2015
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ali_kat said:
How are they doing now?
We tried Cats Protection and were told that shelters across the UK are all full.

As an aside, the vet said that if we were to re-home Norman, there would be a danger that any prospective cat servant might not be as caring, or as patient, and that he'd end up in the cycle for re-homing, again and again. I couldn't contemplate that.

The answer being - try harder! We moved house so that Norman could be a barn cat. The new house has acres of woodland adjoining, plus a huge workshop / garage where Norman has food, water, and a warm bed. It has a cat flap cut into the door so he can come and go as he pleases.

Norman still has his 'issues' - I suspect these are neurological and therefore non-resolvable - but he seems much happier and purrier.



Mobile Chicane

Original Poster:

20,832 posts

212 months

Sunday 26th July 2015
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I never thought I would see the day, but this was taken earlier today. Norman (left), Bob (right):



I don't think they're ever going to be bosom buddies (they're both very independent, 'non-cuddly' type cats) but they at least tolerate one another. When there are spats, these are with sheathed claws.

It's taken eight months, but it can be done.

[Wretched thumbsnap!]