Introducing 2 cats

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

You have good instincs sp lol..........slow slow slow is much better than rushing things and sounds like poor Eddie has had a horrible life till now.

Young Lupin is bold until Sasa swears at him and then he will creep round me to avoid her..........he is 3 and she is 15/16 and girl cats are always in charge I think 

[cathycat]

Thanks Paddysmum.We had another short meeting with the cats yesterday evening as Ellie was relaxed and Eddie hadn't been out of his room as much as usual.It went well again.Ellie "swore"quietly for a second but she did play with me briefly infront of Eddie and Eddie was about to play  but changed his mind.Eddie did tend to stare at Ellie probably as he was abit scared.Would Ellie perseve that as confrontational?I wasn't sure so I lured Eddie back to his room again after about 5 minutes.Im wondering if im being overcautious.

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

It's always a bit nerve wracking, and already very good advice given here on top of the information you've already garnered yourself and put into practice.  We also have had to do this within the last 6 months, although in our case it was between two relatively young cats, and we were blessed that the youngest cat has a wisdom beyond his years, and understood introductions needed to go slowly, with him on his very bestest behaviour.  (none of that bestest behaviour now  )

Your heart is bound to be in your mouth, but progress so far seems extremely encouraging.     The fact that they haven't been vocal and bristling is a real step in the right direction at the point when Eddie made his unscheduled appearance around Ellie.

How heartbreaking that he used to sit in his litter tray.  A sign of a very distressed cat.  His world must have undergone a spectacular about turn.  Am so pleased you've been able to offer him a home with you and Ellie. 

Hope Ellie's mouth is a lot more comfortable now.   

Just a thought - some of us have done very well with Pet remedy plug ins, as an alternative to feliway, but having said that, it sounds like the Feliway is working, so I think more of the same seems to be the order of the day.  Well done on your sensible instincts! 

[cathycat]

Thats very true Emmmy-Lou Im very aware of how Ellie is feeling and a couple of months after we got Eddie,Ellie was hospitalised for a week with a horrible mouth infection so when she came home we had to stop the preintroduction stuff for awhile while she settled back in,so basically had to start from the beginning again.Iwill have another go at having them in the same room again tomorrow for abit longer.I will just play it by ear.Last time Ellie was resting on a chair so will wait until shes relaxed again before attempting it.Thanks Emmmy-Lou

[emmmy_lou]

I think you would normally notice warning signs, and you can tell when one is getting agitated as well!

I know you can read about how to do it and it seems straight forward but slow... but when you actually have to do it it is quite stressful making sure the new one is feeling at home but the other(s) don't feel like they are being left out either!

[cathycat]

Thankyou for your replies both of you.My main worry isuppose is missing a warning sign and it results in chasing or worse.Eddie is so fearful of Ellie and I feel I really need to build up his confidence although he is so much better than when I first had him.At the sanctuary he shared a small room with 4 other cats and his way of avoiding them was to sleep in the litter tray :scared:He took to sleeping on a cat bed very quickly when he came to me!Before sanctuary life he live in a house with 24 other cats and so im hoping that although he isn't an only cat my elderly girl Ellie wont be impossible for him to get used to.Thanks again your input is really reassuring as this is all very new to me

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

It sounds good so far and agree with emmy 

Patience, yours , is at the centre of introductions

[emmmy_lou]

it sounds like it's going well, and their meeting went well!

Since there were no mishaps I would continue having longer supervised meetings. let us know how they get on and pics please??? 

I have had to do it recently introducing a nut job 1 year old to two 3.5 yr olds - I am sure two older cats would be a lot easier! good luck x

[cathycat]

Thankyou I will check out the thread link :)I adopted a 14 year old cat in October who I heard about was struggling with sanctuary/rescue life.He is adorable and very sweet and friendly.I did my research before having him as I already have an elderly cat and wanted to make sure I did the intro ductions properly but progress is slow.Eddie(new cat)is based in my spare room where he has all he needs-lots of comfy places to rest,toys,litter tray,food,water.Twice a day I let him have the run of the house for a couple of hours while Ellie(existing cat)goes in my bedroom and has a snooze on my bed.I do lots of scent swapping/food and bedding swapping and have afew food stations around the house as well as cat beds to show both cats that resourses are plentiful.Ive got Feliway plugged in in various places and I feed the cats either side of Eddies room door to associate each others scent with something nice-food!They are being shown lots of love and affection to help them feel secure.I should mention Eddie has settled in really well and loves people but is understandably wary of Ellie.
So far things are going ok.Im doing this very slowly as both cats are elderly and don't want to stress them too much.Today Eddie got out of his room while it was Ellies turn to have the run of the house.Ellie stayed on the chair she was sitting on and did alittle tail twitching but made no sound or other movement.Obviously she watched him very closely!After watching them for 15 minutes as all seemed ok, I lured Eddie back to his room.It was scarey but happily uneventful.
The thing is im not sure what to do next.Today was fairly calm and I want to build on this but not jeapodise anything.I don't want to make a mistake and put us back afew weeks.I aware of being lulled into a false sense of security.I love both cats and am commited to both of them.I don't expect them to be buddies-just to live in the same house as stress free as possible.How can I move things along?
Sorry for the long post

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Ask questions and we will try to help 

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

 

If you check out the basic     Cat Health & Behaviour »    Health & Behaviour General »    Basic Cat Care Guides there is loads of info.

This thread may be a good start :   http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,4789.0.html

[cathycat]

Hello.Im a newbie on here,please bear with me!Im just finding my way around and wondered if anyone could direct me to a thread or section about introducing 2 cats?Thankyou