Introducing new cats together

[HarlequinSeren]

Some of you may have read my thread about my little cat that died last month. I still have my other cat who was with her, and I was umming and ahhing about whether to get her a new friend or not, and I hadn't really made a decision.
A stray appeared a couple of weeks ago at a friends house, and she didn't want to keep it so my OH went and collected it 2 days ago, and brought it to the yard to live with our other cat.
She is currently in a large cage approx 2 metres by 1.5. She's very shy and I haven't been able to really get near her (assuming its a she!!). She doesn't look full grown and my other cat doesn't seem to like her very much, my original cat hissed at the newie today through the bars of the cage when I showed her her today, but until then she had just been ignoring her.
My question is what is the best way to introduce the 2? Once she is out of the big cage there will be no way to get her back in as she seems pretty feral, doesn't appear to have had a lot of human contact and will have free roaming of the barn, there's loads of places she could hide etc. Also I don't really want her to run away!
Any advice? I don't want to leave her in the cage much longer as I don't think it's very fair on her

 

[thewonderhorse]

HI

Has she been speyed? That would be my first priority.

If you leave the newbie in the cage for a couple of weeks the two cats can sniff each other and get used to each other being about.

Do you have a barn or tack room that is secure so she can have some more space?

 

[HarlequinSeren]

Hi thanks for the reply.
No idea if she's speyed, OH is meant to be booking the vet and we were planning getting that done before letting her out as we probably wouldn't be able to catch her again!
There isn't really anywhere more secure, the barn if fairly open plan but when the doors are shut she won't be able to get out so they'll be locked in that way.

 

[thewonderhorse]

Hi

I would keep the newbie in the pen for a week or so after shes speyed, feed her every day and let your original cat have access so they can sniff each other and get used to each other and then one morning whilst your about leave the door open.

If she has somewhere quiet to go and hide she will probably stay nearby, especially as she has been getting food. They do remember.

Hopefully she will stay about but it is always a risk that you take.


The cats will either become friends or tolerate each other

 

[Star_Chaser]

she'll need more than a week. If they were house cats then you can tape the front feet with tacky electrical tape to block any claws and pop them into a corridor to sort themselves out, they spend so much time shaking their paws that they forget to fight and usually the handbags at dawn are avoided. The tape is tacky so although sticks when you remove it it does no harm to the cat.

Did you check if she was microchipped before assuming she was a stray?? One of mine was pinched and I got it back years later thanks to the chip.

 

[HarlequinSeren]

She will be going to the vet hopefully tomorrow, or Friday if not, so they can check her over to see if she's already been spayed, and I'll ask them to scan her for a chip then too.
So I'll keep her in the cage for a while then. There's plenty of places she can hide when she's out, it's a fairly large shed with a lot of stuff in it! Original cat has found loads of places to hide in there so I'm sure the new one will manage!
Original cat has access right up to the cage on 2 sides (it's in a corner so she doesn't feel exposed) but she doesn't seem to want to go upto it much, and when I carried her over there to show her yesterday she hissed at the new cat.

 

[thewonderhorse]

Yes, Three or so weeks...which is why i asked if the OP had a secure barn or tack room they could put the cat in so she has more space....

 

[HarlequinSeren]

Unfortunately not, like I said its a fairly open plan barn, there isn't really anywhere secure like that she can go.. Even if I put her in one of the stables the walls are a bit less than 6ft high, and the doors more like 4ft, and original cat has no problems springing up onto the doors and then onto the walls to walk around.

 

[thewonderhorse]

Hi OP,

That sounds like your doing exactly the right thing. They may never like each other but they will learn to tolerate each other. They may have a little spat but generally in my experience there will be a top cat in the end and the other cat will just stay out of the top cats way.

I have 5, a mixture between ferals and house cats of ages from 1 year to 16 years and some get on and some dont. But, there are never any fights so they must be quite settled in their 'pack'.

Im sure she will be fine

 

[FinnishLapphund]

I agree with Thewonderhorse, checking sex and either spay or castrate would be my first priority. It can be a good idea to also make sure that the newbie doesn't have worms or something else that is infectious, perhaps even do a blood test.

I wouldn't let the newbie out either, not until she(/he?) had gotten more used to you. Even if the area isn't that big, if a cat is warm and have access to food, they spend most of the day sleeping (averagely between 16 - 20 hours, but sometimes they can sleep for more than 23 hours!), so as a temporary solution it maybe can be okayish. If you, as Thewonderhorse suggested, have a tack room or something else a little bit larger than the cage, that would of course be better, but besides getting the newbie used to you, you also should give the newbie at least 2 weeks to a month to learn that this is hers/his new home, before letting them out.

Introducing two cats to each other isn't always easy and it does not always end with acceptance, old cat + kitten is usually easiest, but even then, there can often be a few hisses or more, so I would view that as a quite normal reaction, and wouldn't be too concerned about that.
It can help if the newbie also smells of you, it will be a signal to the first cat that the newbie also belongs to your territory.
If you're holding your first cat in your arms the whole time while you're trying to introduce the newbie, then that can actually make the situation more tense, it could be better if you're just holding her when you take her to the newbie's cage, and then either put her down on the ground so that she is loose, on a leash, or in a large adjacent enclosure, so that they feel that they can retreat if they want to, feel that they're in control of the situation.

Have you tried feeding the first cat yummy treats near the newbie? In Sweden there is these small cans that you can buy and eat yourself, with anchovies, sardines or small mackerel in tomato sauce that my cats loves (I usually wash off the tomato sauce, but some of my cats eats the mackerel with the sauce).

About the fairness, you've decided to try and take responsibility of this new cat, so you need to do what is best for the cat in the long run, even if that might be a little unfair here and now, you have to focus on the goal.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Personally I would contact the CPL to get her / him neutered.


Then leave in the cage for at least 3 weeks and so other cats can wander about him. I do not think its an issue with ferrals too much as they will have plenty of pace to find to call their own.

 

[Bubbles]

she'll need more than a week. If they were house cats then you can tape the front feet with tacky electrical tape to block any claws and pop them into a corridor to sort themselves out, they spend so much time shaking their paws that they forget to fight and usually the handbags at dawn are avoided. The tape is tacky so although sticks when you remove it it does no harm to the cat.

Please don't do this.
Once they're comfortable with each other's scent, introduce them very gradually. Pam Bennett-Johnson and Sarah Halls have excellent books on this kind of thing. Good luck