After my dad died, I found myself integrating two new cats into my household. As promised to my mom, then my dad, both on their deathbeds, that I would take care of them as they were their loving companions. So, my husband and I basically had to start from the very beginning, unsure of the road ahead. New parents, here we come.
We already had two cats of our own and we were unsure at first how to integrate two new ones into our family; we went back and forth on how the cats would interact with each other and what would happen if they did not get along. Many scenarios went through our mind of ifs and whatfors. The main gist of our decision was that we did not want the resident cats to feel that they were being invaded. We knew we wanted the resident cats to be the dominant ones, after all, this was their home. Dad’s cats, we knew, were very dominate at his house. They went and did anything and everything, even so far as demanding attention with pushing head butts and jumping on everything in site. Tiggy, my dads tiger cat, was the dominate. Bullying himself into what he wanted to do at any given moment, never taking no for an answer, or respecting anyones boundaries. He had to be the center of attention. So, we went into this knowing that we needed to create a situation where he had to have restrictions, and with that habit breaking was at the top of the list.
I had heard that it takes two weeks to acclimate cats into a household. I must state emphatically that this is wrong. If you are bringing in one cat, perhaps. But with two dominant cats into an already established cat household it takes a lot longer. And it depends on the cat, how they react, and how long the resident cats, on their own schedule, take to accept those cats being brought in. We had an advantage when bringing Tigger and Mishi into our home that not many people have. Mom and dads cats already knew us and had developed a sense of trust. Although the move to our home was traumatic (as they panted and were very scared), it was somewhat less traumatic than it would be for a new cat not knowing anyone. There adjustment to the new place went in hours rather than days as we stayed in the space and reassured them. Do not do this with a new cat that you do not know. Let them come out on their own. When bringing in a new cat, whether they know you or not, you will need to have a seperate space for them away from the other cats, be very patient, allowing them their own hiding spaces. It is important that there is no interaction between resident cats and new cats. In keeping with this, we created the upstairs for the new cats and the downstairs for the resident cats – closing the door to the stairs so nigh they meet.
It takes a lot of work and time for integration. It is exhausting and stressful. We have been doing it for over two months and both sets of cats are still getting use to each other. Again, patience is the key. If you do not have time to do the acclimation properly and slowly, you might have major behavioral issues with resident and incoming cats.
The following is the steps that we have taken to make it as stress free as we can ….
- Create separate space for new cats. Install a cat door on the door that separates the spaces and cover with paper or cloth.
- Bring new cats home
- We let the incoming cats acclimate to their new space for two weeks before even thinking about allowing them downstairs to meet the resident cats. Each day go up to sit in space (do normal stuff, do not approach/chase cat) …. cat will eventually come out. It takes at least two weeks for cats to get use to you — sometimes more. Depends on the cat. Slow movements and patience is key. My husband and I sat upstairs and played scrabble or watched tv — a couple of hours at a time. Make sure the cat door is covered and locked so they cannot go through or see each other.
- After cats became comfortable with us and the space, we uncovered the cat door (make sure it is locked) to allow both sets of cats see each other. You will know when it is time. Cats playing with toys upstairs, running around, curious about expanding their world, and not frightened of you going in and out is a good indicator that it is the time to allow them to see the other cats in the household. Put up a baby gate and open the cat door. DO NOT ALLOW the cats to roam freely through the door. We taped open the cat door to allow the cats to hear, smell and see each other, but not able to push through the cat door with the baby gate. We allowed a couple of weeks of this type of interaction. This provided a sense of interaction without the resident cats stressing that the new cats would chase and terrorizing them. Yes, the resident cats hissed and hid. But after a while they tolerated the cats watching them and walked freely. It took a little more than two weeks before the resident cats were walking by the cat door without being alarmed or hissing.
- Each step is slow and methodical. Taking two weeks at a time to give all cats time to adjust to the changes. A few changes at a time, not everything up front.
- Once the cats were ok with the new cats being seen, we started to open the door and allowed the new cats to come into the downstairs space. Keep a water bottle with you at all times. Also, it is extremely important NOT TO ALLOW the new cats to walk freely in the space. They must be supervised at all times. Especially with dominant cats. Do not allow the new cats to dominate the space by allowing the new cats to use the kitty box downstairs or run after or up to the resident cats. You can allow them to slowly go up to the resident cats – but the new cats must back off if the resident cat hisses at them. If there is any hissing by resident cats, aim the words “be nice” or “back off” at the new cats. If the new cats do not listen, you may use a water bottle for one time only along side your word commands like “be nice” or “no no” to assert dominance over them. This way you are basically letting them know that you are in charge. You can use whatever word commands you need, but you should only spray once so they get the point, after that the word commands usually works. Keep the water bottle in your hand, hidden behind your back, just in case you need it an emergency. However, it should be used sparingly — you don’t want them afraid of anything and everything that sprays. By following them around the rooms as they investigate, you are also showing them that you are the boss!
- Open the door a few times a day. Usually the cat will tell you when they had enough investigating and run upstairs to decompress. But if not, usually 1/2 to an hour at a time is about right. Start twice a day. Then expand the time within the days as needed. Do not go to fast. Your resident cats and new cats will tell you when they had enough. — You have to be able to read cat!
- Make sure that the resident cats have full power and that they do not feel threatened. They should not be hiding, but tolerating the cats. They are not best buddies, yet. But given time, they could be.
- Do not allow the new cats to use the resident kitty box for at least four months. This should establish the resident cats as the dominant ones in the household and there should be no more stressful interactions.
- When leaving the house, I would keep new and resident cats seperate for at least 6 months.
In closing, always make sure that both new and resident cats get enough love / recurrence. Sometimes we forget with resident cats that they too also need the reassurance when bringing new cats home. When you see the cat tail gitter, you know that they are happy and well acclimated.