A successfull introduction! Chiquita may fit in!

[temperpolk]

WOW! I think I did it! I followed all the instructions and so far so good. Here's the story... I have a very skittish 4 yr old female that I rescued from the park beside my house when she was 5 months old and pregnant. After much agonizing I decided to end her pregnancy when I spayed her. After an anxious intro to my then senior resident neutered males Polkie and Temper (who accepted her with the patience of Job), I relaxed even as I cringed.... 3 cats now. Then a year later, Temper went to kitty heaven and a year after that Polkie followed him. Dusky was now alone, so I decided to adopt a little itty bitty male black - Mojo. There was no introduction necessary. She took him as her baby from the second I brought him in the house. that was almost 2 years ago. On Friday, as I was walking outside, I found another kitten roaming in my front yard crying, about 2 feet away from where I found Dusky 4 years ago. I live beside a park and it seems to be a dumping ground. I took her to the vet the next day. Seems she is about 6 mths (probably got dumped because the owner didn't want the expense of spaying her). After days of gradual introduction, as dictated on this site, I am supervising visits. Mojo has no problem with her, except he may have to put her in her place. All she wants to do is play and play with him. Dusky is more reserved and will hiss at her sometimes, but in warning. I'm still cautious and will only allow contact for about 15 minutes before putting her back in her "safe" room. But I'm guessing in another couple of days I will have no problem leaving them 3 alone for a while. This is a testament that following proper introduction methods works! No need to stress!

 

[yayi]

Cool! Dusky, Mojo and Chiquita!

 

[temperpolk]

It's been now a week since I found Chiquita in my driveway. I spent a small fortune the next day that I found her to get the all clear from the vet that she has no signs of "nasties", and for these few days I have followed all introduction rules even though I was tempted at times to skip some steps as things seemed p be going well. I didn't skip any steps and it's paying off. In 2 more weeks Chica (her nickname) goes for the big "spay". She is worth it! Today she will be fully integrated with Mojo and Dusky (meaning she gets to spend the whole night "unsupervised" as I will hopefully will sleep through it all

I just want to let all you wonderful people here who are struggling with integrating another kitty into your household that it can really be done with minimum stress for everyone. But you do really need to be patient.

 

[just mike]

Way to GO!!!

 

[temperpolk]

Dusky is still testy with Chiquita because she doesn't stop the playing... but today, for the first time, they actually licked each other for a few seconds, but it happened right after the afternoon naps. Can someone enlighten me about females vs females? Is the fact that Chiquita is still intact a factor? Mojo, my neutered male is a big pushover for Chiquita. She acts like the alpha in their play sessions. This pic is from this morning...all 3.