Cat Introduction And Integrating

[Kevinkdudeguyperson]

So, about three weeks ago me and my wife were going to see Craig Ferguson perform and we saw a stray cat sprinting out of a grocery store heading toward the highway. Being who we are we immediately sprung into action and called to her and she came to my wife.We left our names there in case anyone lost her, but got no calls. The people at the market she ran out of said she was digging in the garbage can for food for a couple months. We own a cat already and have been trying to integrate her into the home doing all of the techniques taught and said to work like; keeping them separated behind doors, rubbing scents, minimal face time grown into more regular face time, to setting up cat carries from a distance so they face each other then growing the faces of the cat carriers closer together, letting them explore the rooms that each other has been living in, and nothing seems to be taking that well. However my wife and I's resident cat is very shy and skittish and has trouble even facing the newcomer direct on for long periods of time, if even really brief periods and starts to panic and freak out. Also, it probably doesn't help that one day our resident cat was exploring the room the newcomer is in and the newcomer in the resident's area, the door didn't shut, she got out, and bolted right into the newcomer, surprised her and got viciously attacked. Resident cat has shown interest in her but still mortified. We have also made our share of mistakes in the process and have gone back to beginning of as if we just got her (the newcomer). Her in her own room resident in her own living space. We are really stressed out and the newcomer could be anywhere from 5-8 months old we speculate. She obviously is defensive to the resident cat hissing and acting upset because coming from where she was obviously attacked and etc. Our resident cat is intensely shy and skittish and years ago had a bad experience with my wife's deceased grandpa's who we tried to take in when he passed. The cat who was a brute and the lady we gave her to said she would even attack small kittens. So we handed her over to the neighbor who kept her inside. We just need help and any suggestions to possibly speed up integration process or after time ensure that it isn't just straight failure right away. It also is super difficult because we live in a one bedroom condo and there is limited space so she is already impeding quite much on resident cats territory. We just need it to work so they can be around each other. It's very difficult and the newcomer doesn't fully have developed litter habits so there is constant cleaning, and she is a mischief maker so we're constantly checking on her, she is in our room and she HOWLS in the middle of the so we have to put her in the bathroom with food water and towels, she requires a lot of feeding as she is RAVENOUS and doesn't eat hard food, we have to change her litter boxes immediately because her poops are rancid, it would just be so much easier if they could coincide. Please we need lots of tips and help. We have never done this and all the cats we have had together previously required no integration because they just got along from the start. The newcomer is a SWEETHEART. She just wants attention and to be with us. We need this to work

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS. Thank you to you and your wife for your compassion and kindness in taking in the stray cat. Hopefully in time she and your resident cat will be friends.

Have you had the newcomer vet checked yet? Is she spayed?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
There have been people with a similar situation, where one of the things they suggest is to work to increase the shy kitty's confidence with more attention and play.

Also, for the litterbox issues, try a litter called Cat Attract, and also try adding some unfertilized potting soil to it.

For food, give the new kitty a couple of meals if 50:50 boiled unseasoned chicken and a little white rice. Hopefully this resets her tummy and you can introduce a different brand of wet food. Being she's under a year, she'll need to eat a lot.

For all of you but especially the cats, try low volume classical harp music, there's an app called Relax My Cat, and there's also MusicForCats.com.
In addition there are calming products available such as feliway, and other diffusers, treats, and even collars.

I'm sending you a lot of good thoughts!!

 

[Kevinkdudeguyperson]

Hello and welcome to TCS. Thank you to you and your wife for your compassion and kindness in taking in the stray cat. Hopefully in time she and your resident cat will be friends.

Have you had the newcomer vet checked yet? Is she spayed?

Hello thank you for replying! We took her to the vet and had her checked out already(and she is free of disease) we just dewormed her, but the vet advised us to wait until a couple weeks to have her shots and spayed just in case someone called us about her belonging to them. Also she went through heat and was having something happen to her nipples and they were very large and inflamed and sore and hurt her so we nursed them by putting cold cabbage leaves on them. So the vet said to wait longer to have her spayed then to get the shots. We ran into some financial problems and now had to put off the spaying and shots but are set to have it done now in the next couple of weeks.

 

[Kevinkdudeguyperson]

Hi!
There have been people with a similar situation, where one of the things they suggest is to work to increase the shy kitty's confidence with more attention and play.

Also, for the litterbox issues, try a litter called Cat Attract, and also try adding some unfertilized potting soil to it.

For food, give the new kitty a couple of meals if 50:50 boiled unseasoned chicken and a little white rice. Hopefully this resets her tummy and you can introduce a different brand of wet food. Being she's under a year, she'll need to eat a lot.

For all of you but especially the cats, try low volume classical harp music, there's an app called Relax My Cat, and there's also MusicForCats.com.
In addition there are calming products available such as feliway, and other diffusers, treats, and even collars.

I'm sending you a lot of good thoughts!!

Wow thank you so much for the information! That is very helpful and we will try everything you suggested. Resident cat vibes to music hard too so excited to try the music. I'm excited to see what happens with all of it. Thank you again for the thoughts and good vibes. We need them for all of us.

 

[rubysmama]

When you mentioned her nipples, my first thought was pregnancy, but since she had a heat cycle, guess not.

How old is your resident cat? Here's a TCS article on https://thecatsite.com/ams/how-to-introduce-a-kitten-to-an-older-cat.33911/ which may be helpful. Since the kitten is getting spayed soon, you can probably wait till she comes back from the vet, and heals a bit, to restart introductions. Here's another article How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction and The Multi-cat Household

Since the kitten was a stray, that is probably why she has "stray cat food obsession". Hopefully once she learns that there will always be more food, she'll be less food obsessed. Though growing kittens do eat a lot. Have you tried putting out some Kitten Chow?

About the rancid poop, it could be from worms. Hopefully once the dewormer works, things will get better. Changing a cats food, though, can also cause digestive upset. Maybe try sticking to one flavour canned food for a couple days and see if things settle down/firm up.

If she's not using the litter box regularly, here's another article that might have some tips for you: How To Train Kittens To Use The Litter Box

 

[Kevinkdudeguyperson]

When you mentioned her nipples, my first thought was pregnancy, but since she had a heat cycle, guess not.

How old is your resident cat? Here's a TCS article on How To Introduce A Kitten To An Older Cat which may be helpful. Since the kitten is getting spayed soon, you can probably wait till she comes back from the vet, and heals a bit, to restart introductions. Here's another article How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction and The Multi-cat Household

Since the kitten was a stray, that is probably why she has "stray cat food obsession". Hopefully once she learns that there will always be more food, she'll be less food obsessed. Though growing kittens do eat a lot. Have you tried putting out some Kitten Chow?

About the rancid poop, it could be from worms. Hopefully once the dewormer works, things will get better. Changing a cats food, though, can also cause digestive upset. Maybe try sticking to one flavour canned food for a couple days and see if things settle down/firm up.

If she's not using the litter box regularly, here's another article that might have some tips for you: How To Train Kittens To Use The Litter Box

Ok that is really interesting. She definitely has stray cat food obsession, and I will try sticking to one food for a couple days. She seems to get bored of and stops eating one food if I've gave it to her too many times in a row. Also need to try yet still boiling some chicken and feeding her chicken with wild rice. I read the articles and am sticking to the process. The more information the merrier. Thank you for all the provisions. Have you ever had to acclimate two cats to one another?

 

[rubysmama]

My family, and now myself, only ever had 1 cat at a time, so I've never experienced the process of acclimating 2 cat to one another. But lots of members here on TCS have. Here's one current thread: Introductions With Two Scaredy Cats

About food, here's a couple TCS articles:
What Do I Need To Know About Feeding My Cat?
Transitioning Your Cat From Kibble To A New Type Of Food (canned, Raw, Or Homemade)
How Much Food Should I Feed My Cat?