Posted on 02/11/2005 2:36:18 PM PST by beyond the sea
OK girls and boys, please help me.
I have two 10 year old cats living with me. A friend with a problem is asking me to take his two cats (five year olds) to live with mine in our house.
I am begging you for any advice on this!
I have two floors in the house, but you all know cats, the smell will be there. They will know.
How is the best way to deal with this?
The cats are coming here in about 36 hours.
Please tell me what you may know on this matter!
I've has cats all my 58 years, but this is a first situation like this with me.
HELP!!!
Pinging you two - cat advice needed
Those new crystal litters are a REALLY big help - and if you get them at the dreaded Wal-Mart, they cost even less per month than an equal amount of clay litter. I've been really impressed with them...
I don't want any of these animals to be more unhappy than they need be in this situation.
Thank you.
Meeoing.
We occasionally take in a stray, and I can tell you, it's not easy. Our vet advised us to make the "introductions" gradually, and increase the time spent together a little more as time went on. It might have helped, but it still wasn't easy. The two cats we already had wanted to trounce the newbie, and we had to keep them in separate (but of course equal) spaces for a time. These days they curl up together all in a pile (all three of them) in front of the fireplace--so eventually it gets better.
And stir a couple of teaspoons into your coffee in the morning and the rest of your day will be just fine. . .
Have the new cats in separate pet taxis. Introduce them to your cats that way. Leave them in the taxis for a few minutes until everybody settles down. As far as the smell goes, you're going to have four cats so you can't get around it. Just keep the litter boxes clean.
It's best if you have all four cats spayed and neutered. They'll be calmer around each other that way.
My wife and I have 6 cats (was 9 at one point). Some get along. Some don't. Some get on each other's nerves every now and then. That's just the way it is. Don't try forcing them together because they won't like it.
Again, unless they are fighting to the point of drawing blood, simply introduce them to each other slowly and let the cats work it out.
One last thing is to have at least one litter box per cat and get a container of enzyme-based cleaner in case they have a urine accident or try to mark territory.
If you have any specific questions, please let me know.
The Hapster and Bacon can tell you what to do.
I've had cats not quite as many years as you, but almost!
What I do when introducing a new cat (or kitten) is to toss the newbie in the bathroom with the door shut. That way they (the cats) get to sniff each other out for a while. Five minutes? Ten minutes? About that.
Then I open the bathroom door. The newbie runs for cover, hiding somewhere and well... I just let nature take it's course. You might hear some hissing and howling, but w/i a couple hours things will have settled down.
I tried the gradual introduction thing. Again, it might have helped a bit.
Mine, unfortunately, still fight regularly. Sometimes they get along and sometimes they don't.
Is that you, Stimpy?
ping
I was going to suggest that you overfeed them and hope for the best. How can you be sure that they won't get along?
No problem. . .have a laser pointer handy and when they decide to go after each other, point the laser at a nearby spot on the floor or wall and they immediately forget about each other and go "hunting" the light.
Works in this house.
Otherwise a fews days of separation should work. Let them meet at the crack under the door to the "quarantine" area..
Thanks.
Darn. . .found out!
("Happy happy, joy, joy. . . ")
In our case, everybody adjusted fine. But it does take some time.
Separate litter boxes and food dishes.
If possible, keep the new cats in a separate room, with door closed. Allow your cats to sniff around the door for a few days before you very carefully introduce the new cats to your cats one at a time.
The important thing is for them to have the chance to see and smell each other without being able to do more than touch noses through the baby gate or the screen door. Once they get settled a bit, they'll hiss at each other a lot but get along o.k.
We introduced a new Siamese baby to our two older cats (then 10 and 12). We kept the new baby in a dog crate with a tunnel inside for her to hide in, a little litter box and a water bowl. That let the other cats come up and sniff (and hiss - a lot.) She slept in my daughter's bedroom with the door closed for awhile.
She is now 7 and they are all best buddies, sleep together in a sheepskin heated cat bed that was meant for one . . . They kept on pretending to hiss at each other for a long time - - I walked in our bedroom and found the new baby and my big 14 pound male attack Siamese sleeping cheek to cheek with their front paws around each other. Their eyes snapped open and they looked a bit sheepish - I told them, "You are both SO busted . . . "
Probably not until some fur flies, though. If there is a scuffle, check each cat for open wounds(bites) that may become abscessed. As long as each pair of cats has a safe place to retreat to, they will work it out.
Any wisdom would be appreciated on this four cat matter...... or should I just take gas beforehand........... and die?
You're an angel to take in two needy cats.
Suggest you keep them separated from yours for at least a week, maybe two. It's good if they're in a room with a door hung high enough so they can work a paw under it. That way, your kitties can check them out at their leisure. Then after two weeks, you can try opening the door. Hopefully there will be only a brief period of pretend hostility, back raising, hissing and fur poofing before they become bored with it and settle in. You WANT them to be bored with one another.
On the other hand, a neighbor of mine just took in his 16th needy kittie. He just brings them in and puts them on the floor, and none have had too hard a time fitting into the enoromous herd except an aged Siamese who now has his own room.
It ain't gonna work. Cats, unless they are from the same litter do NOT get along. You are going to have territory fights until your friends return.
Great advice here through the posts: Give the new ones their own space, own food bowls, and "toilet"; separate from the older ones. Do the introductions gradually. It's basically the same advice as for when you are moving to a new place with pets. Gradually, bit by bit, is the ticket. Keep iodine handy. :)
You never know you might get lucky. But within a few months at the longest they will be best friends .
As a former Light Infantry Guy, the idea of Stimpy providing CAS frightens me.... :)
I would introduce them first through some kind of barrier they can see through but not reach each other through... and that's hard to arrange... Do they make kiddie gates that are tall? Let them be that way, or see each other only in short controlled doses for a few days. They may or may not get along... some do, some don't, when introduced as adults.
They may fight badly, or they may just spar back and forth without causing real injury... (be careful, cat scratches almost always get infected) time will tell, and don't let them get overly involved and don't leave them unattended alone together for awhile... You may be able to discourage an outright aggressor with a water spray bottle.
Isn't it hard to put Depends on the cats?
WoooWOOO~
If want to feel all fresh and fitter
Lace your Joe with Kitty Litter
BURMA SHAVE
Thanks... everything you say seems to be true. It's always worse though, I guess, when the new cats are not kittens.
I know cats ALWAYS cop an attitude. What would they be if they didn't cop an attitude!
I'm not looking forward to this. I'm going to put the newbies in the finished basement and hope that the "oldies" can tolerate them after some time.
I have no illusions about this. (this is going to be like getting used to John Kerry lecturing about my time in the Army Security Agency!!!)
I KNOW cats, and I love them........... but they can be a pain in the *ss with this kind of thing!
We had our first cat for about three years and then decided to get another one. It was BRUTAL at first, but then we were given a few helpful hints:
First, keep the "regular" two separated from the "new" cats for a while. The best thing to do is keep them separated by a door that has a decent size crack underneath and let them smell each other that way for a time (days?/weeks?/months?), then let them spend a few minutes near each other without the door as a separator. Alternate between these two situations as often as makes you comfortable.
Of course, this will be a bit more difficult for you than it was for us because you have two groups of two to keep an eye on at these times. A fight can erupt rather quickly. But once they get used to each each other's smells, things will be fine.
It might take a while, though.
Is this for good or just a temporary situation? Contact me again if you need to. I've written this rather quickly, as I need to get back into the kitchen!
I have 2 and they still fight, but it's mostly playful. They get very bored if the other isn't around. We have a small cat tree with a round cubby hole part topped by a platform. Their new routine is that one stands on the platform and the other lays in the round part and they swat at each other. They will do this for a solid 15 minutes once or twice a night. They never actualy hit each other is the funny part.
They do chase each other and get rough once in a while, but nothing too crazy. One time the younger one attacked the older one for no good reason. I clapped my hands loud for them to stop and I swear it was like that scene out of Shrek 2 where Puss in Boots does the big doe eyes like, "Are you mad at me? But I'm so cute!"
"taxis" -- do you mean carriers..... the things you take them to the vets in??
I would call PetSmart and/or the vet and ask them for advice. Good Luck!
Yes, they all are "fixed", but they're still cats!
Thanks!
Are they male, female, neutered or not? Are your cats normally aggressive, good with each other, good with people, adaptable to change? Every cat is different of course, but if OUR older cat can adapt to a new kitten, any cat can I think.
About 15 months ago, a stray, starving, flea-infested kitten made its way onto our property and we took her in. We have a 10-year-old, somewhat ornery, only-loves-one-person (me), hisses-at-everyone-else cat and were a little concerned about the interaction.
We kept the kitten (who was extremely skittish and fearful of humans) isolated for a couple weeks - first to eliminate the possibility of distemper after her shots, then to acclimate them both. We first set her up in our son's walk-in closet for a few days, then opened the door and she gradually crept out and hid mostly under our bed, where we fed her and tried to coax her out slowly.
Meanwhile, our older cat imposed a self-banishment to mostly the downstairs, which was kind of a shame since she had always slept on our bed previously, but we didn't discourage it because anytime she got a glimpse of the kitten, she freaked - hissing and growling and taking an aggressive posture - we thought she would seriously hurt the kitten if she felt threatened enough. The kitten was mostly curious and actually much more eager to get to know our cat than any of us humans! But she was very wary and very obviously deferred to the alpha cat. And in the meantime, I tried my best to make our older cat sure she had favored status with me.
We put a child gate at the top of the steps to keep them separate - not that they couldn't get over it but it seemed to allow them to observe each other more comfortably. Made me feel better too.
So this went on for several weeks, with the older one getting more and more curious, and eventually there was an established tolerance - the older cat would let the kitten come around but would hiss and warn her away if she got too close. We kept separate litter boxes (in different rooms) and separate feeding locations for a long time as well.
Now, they're reasonably good friends. Months later, my older cat is back to sleeping on our bed, often in close proximity to the kitten. They play, and their food is at the same location, but they have different dishes. I think the kitten is actually helping her to stay more active than she would have been otherwise.
My advice - establish them in separate locations, maybe separate them behind closed doors at night for a few days. Make your cats feel extra loved. Let them adjust at their own pace, even if it takes months. It should happen eventually, and probably quicker for you since you have 2 cats who are used to being with other cats and are getting 2 who are the same.
I have had cats for 46 years, and have had no luck with different litter cats unless you get them as babies.
I'm glad you have done better with yours.
Not sure either way. I have two cats, then recently had two additional cats dumped on me. Some get along, some dont. They all have their individual personalities.
I haven't had a cat that was young enough to be a kitten for years. We live out in the country, and I'm afraid these are all "throwaways." So they're all adults, some younger, some maybe a little older, we're not sure. The finished basement sounds ideal. I see someone else mentioned the 1 litter box per kittycat thing--we do that, too, and it helps a lot with the odor thing.
These are also all neutered/spayed. When we take in a new cat, we first stick him/her in a carrying case and take them to the vet for shots and neutering or spaying and other medical needs. Then they get to come home and meet the "gang." ;)
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