So, a few weeks ago (August 30), I adopted two new guys to round out the kitty crew here at the house. I've done the intros fairly "by-the-book" (scent exchange, meeting through a screen door, Feliway) and we're up to the short interaction periods now.
Essentially, things are going fairly well, but with TWO new guys instead of just one (and considering a few of the things I've seen both the new guys, and my resident cats, doing), I want to be proactive and make sure I've got all my bases covered here. Most of the guides I've read (and posts here on TCS) don't deal specifically with introducing multiple cats at the same time - they always seem to focus on a single newcomer.
A little background...
The New Guys: Remy and Phineas (Finn for short) are neutered adult males (shelter vet approximates age at 5 years) in good health. Phineas is a bit "environment-shy" (took him awhile to feel comfortable leaving the safe room, and he's still jumpy at loud sounds, etc), but both cats are very people friendly and very outgoing. They are both slightly larger than my resident cats. Also of note, they were surrendered as a pair - they were lifelong housemates (and possible littermates), and they share a very close bond.
The Resident Cats: TCS vets will remember Sophie-Ann and Jack, and I believe I've posted once or twice about Kiri.
*Soph is a 2-year-old black female who I raised from a small kitten. She is mostly a one-person cat (that'd be me!), although she's more receptive to attention from the rest of the family since I've gone back to work during the week. She generally seems to prefer my company to the other cats', and while they're off playing or sleeping in other parts of the house, she is nearly always in whatever room I'm in. She likes Jack - although they're not the cuddly pair they used to be - and is not a big fan of Kiri, and mostly avoids her.
*Jack is a 2-year-old male, who I adopted as a 9-month-old kitten. He's got a very quirky personality - he's very talkative, and takes a VERY long time to warm up to people, but very sweet and affectionate once that bridge has been crossed. He ALWAYS wants to play. With Sophie, he acted very much the submissive cat, and they became good buddies after a slightly rocky introduction period. They have grown apart a bit since Kiri was adopted last November - they play a little rougher, and are more likely to irritate one another while playing.
*Kiri is a roughly 5-year-old female that I adopted in November 2010. She had not been around other cats or dogs, so we did a very, VERY slow, gradual introduction process. She hated both Sophie and Jack at first, as well as the dog, but she has now bonded very closely with Jack, and surprisingly to us, with the dog, with whom she loves to snuggle. She and Soph still don't like each other (I chalk it up to the territorial nature of females), although they have never actually fought - just the occasional swat or hiss when one gets too far into the other's personal space.
The situation:
*Jack HATES the new guys. He really shocked me, because he was so sweet with Kiri, and seemed so determined to make friends (and was successful, though it took awhile!). He hisses whenever they get within a few feet, and will swat at them as well, lots of posturing involved. Remy will actually back off and act submissive if Jack calls him out, but Finn has swatted back a few times. Kiri is in more or less the same boat, but she tends to simply retreat to her personal space if they get too close.
*Sophie is an odd combination of wary and fascinated with the two (also surprising, because she responded fairly negatively to both Jack and Kiri at first). She only hisses if they REALLY get up in her face, and she and Finn will chase each other up and down the stairs and appear to be having a blast, with neither one acting aggressive or scared.
*The new guys just seem like they want to take over the place. They act pretty sedate when they're downstairs, which is sort of "unclaimed territory"... my bedroom is Jack/Sophie's domain, and Kiri has sort of adopted my mother and taken over her bedroom. But in my room, they act pretty much like they want to move in, and kick the other two out. Earlier this evening, I watched them both herd Sophie under the bed, and then position themselves so that she was sort of hemmed in. When she slipped out, Remy walked over very casually and bopped her on the nose, earning himself a hiss and a return smack from Sophie. I can only describe it as a kind of "herding" behavior. And Remy's behavior towards Soph is very odd to me as well... sometimes he acts sort of respectful, other times he acts like she's one of his toys (the butt-wiggle and pounce), and the very casual swatting (which reminds me of my granny giving us a little swat on the shoulder and saying "oh, YOU")... I'm just not sure how to categorize that one.
So, any tips for integrating this little tag-team into my crew? Anything I'm missing here?
Essentially, things are going fairly well, but with TWO new guys instead of just one (and considering a few of the things I've seen both the new guys, and my resident cats, doing), I want to be proactive and make sure I've got all my bases covered here. Most of the guides I've read (and posts here on TCS) don't deal specifically with introducing multiple cats at the same time - they always seem to focus on a single newcomer.
A little background...
The New Guys: Remy and Phineas (Finn for short) are neutered adult males (shelter vet approximates age at 5 years) in good health. Phineas is a bit "environment-shy" (took him awhile to feel comfortable leaving the safe room, and he's still jumpy at loud sounds, etc), but both cats are very people friendly and very outgoing. They are both slightly larger than my resident cats. Also of note, they were surrendered as a pair - they were lifelong housemates (and possible littermates), and they share a very close bond.
The Resident Cats: TCS vets will remember Sophie-Ann and Jack, and I believe I've posted once or twice about Kiri.
*Soph is a 2-year-old black female who I raised from a small kitten. She is mostly a one-person cat (that'd be me!), although she's more receptive to attention from the rest of the family since I've gone back to work during the week. She generally seems to prefer my company to the other cats', and while they're off playing or sleeping in other parts of the house, she is nearly always in whatever room I'm in. She likes Jack - although they're not the cuddly pair they used to be - and is not a big fan of Kiri, and mostly avoids her.
*Jack is a 2-year-old male, who I adopted as a 9-month-old kitten. He's got a very quirky personality - he's very talkative, and takes a VERY long time to warm up to people, but very sweet and affectionate once that bridge has been crossed. He ALWAYS wants to play. With Sophie, he acted very much the submissive cat, and they became good buddies after a slightly rocky introduction period. They have grown apart a bit since Kiri was adopted last November - they play a little rougher, and are more likely to irritate one another while playing.
*Kiri is a roughly 5-year-old female that I adopted in November 2010. She had not been around other cats or dogs, so we did a very, VERY slow, gradual introduction process. She hated both Sophie and Jack at first, as well as the dog, but she has now bonded very closely with Jack, and surprisingly to us, with the dog, with whom she loves to snuggle. She and Soph still don't like each other (I chalk it up to the territorial nature of females), although they have never actually fought - just the occasional swat or hiss when one gets too far into the other's personal space.
The situation:
*Jack HATES the new guys. He really shocked me, because he was so sweet with Kiri, and seemed so determined to make friends (and was successful, though it took awhile!). He hisses whenever they get within a few feet, and will swat at them as well, lots of posturing involved. Remy will actually back off and act submissive if Jack calls him out, but Finn has swatted back a few times. Kiri is in more or less the same boat, but she tends to simply retreat to her personal space if they get too close.
*Sophie is an odd combination of wary and fascinated with the two (also surprising, because she responded fairly negatively to both Jack and Kiri at first). She only hisses if they REALLY get up in her face, and she and Finn will chase each other up and down the stairs and appear to be having a blast, with neither one acting aggressive or scared.
*The new guys just seem like they want to take over the place. They act pretty sedate when they're downstairs, which is sort of "unclaimed territory"... my bedroom is Jack/Sophie's domain, and Kiri has sort of adopted my mother and taken over her bedroom. But in my room, they act pretty much like they want to move in, and kick the other two out. Earlier this evening, I watched them both herd Sophie under the bed, and then position themselves so that she was sort of hemmed in. When she slipped out, Remy walked over very casually and bopped her on the nose, earning himself a hiss and a return smack from Sophie. I can only describe it as a kind of "herding" behavior. And Remy's behavior towards Soph is very odd to me as well... sometimes he acts sort of respectful, other times he acts like she's one of his toys (the butt-wiggle and pounce), and the very casual swatting (which reminds me of my granny giving us a little swat on the shoulder and saying "oh, YOU")... I'm just not sure how to categorize that one.
So, any tips for integrating this little tag-team into my crew? Anything I'm missing here?
