Fighting like cats and dogs

Afraid your beloved pooch will turn into a bully when you bring home your new pet kitten? While the cliches would have you believe that cats and dogs can never get along, many happy cats and dogs can be part of a happy family. The same goes for introducing cats to other cats. By using some common sense and being respectful of the needs of your beloved pets, introducing your pets to their new family member can be much less stressful. In this post, we’ll focus on introducing your new cat to existing feline family members. In a follow up post, we’ll discuss introducing your new kitty to your pooch.

Introducing a new cat to your pet cats

Cats are creatures of habit and the stress associated with moving to a new home can upset them and alter their behavior. In order to limit the stress, keep them confined to smaller portions of the house away from other pets for the first few days. Make sure they have safe places that are just for them, such as beds and crates.

When introducing your cats to the new family member, take it slowly. Start by letting the cats get used to each other’s scent by rubbing each cat down with a towel or blanket and then letting the other cat(s) smell it. Feed the cats near these towels and near the door that separates them so that they associate the new kitty smell with something positive. Once the two cats become more settled, you can introduce the cats in such a way that they can see each other, but not actually touch. Use something like a screen or a cracked door. Let the cats do what they will. There might be some nervous hissing or tail swishes, but hopefully more meetings will alter this behavior

Once they’ve had a few days to get used to seeing each, you can move them into the same room for meals. Keep their feed bowls apart, ideally all the way across the room. Keep them separate the rest of the time. Feel free at this point to allow the new cat to travel around the rest of your home. Just make sure your other cats are confined while this happens.

A Happy Family

After as many days (and possibly weeks) as you think it’s necessary to keep the pets separated, once you sense that they’re finally comfortable, it’s time to let them meet. Don’t leave them alone together at first, and watch closely for any signs of aggression or stress. If they get into a fight, separate them again and try reintroducing them slowly. However, don’t expect that they will become best friends immediately, or ever. Sometimes the most you can hope for is tolerance. However, by taking the time to make their introduction comfortable and less stressful, no one has to get seriously hurt.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 18th, 2010 at 1:22 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.