Do people have pictures of how they did the visual step of the introduction process? Live in an apartment so need ideas

saharahoshi

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Ok, so we are close to the visual portion of the introduction process. I'm wondering if people have pictures or links to what they might have used? A baby gate is not going to cut it for us because our boy can jump (really jump). We can't really install a screen door so I thinking of using one of the temporary ones on Amazon or just doing what Jackson Galaxy suggested and getting two door jambs? Does anyone have any pictures of these sort of modifications?
 

FeebysOwner

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There are a couple of pics in the TCS article regarding introductions: How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles. Maybe they might help?

There is also another DIY technique used by many members that involves buying wire shelving from a home improvement store, which can be a long/tall as the door itself to prevent access even if the cats should try to climb it. The shelving pieces can be zip tied together to create 'hinges' so the gate can be opened and closed pretty easily. The sides of the shelving can be temporarily affixed to the walls (for extra re-enforcement) with Command Strips that don't cause damage when removed. The strips will allow you to un-hook them for opening/closing/removal. I have also included a pic below of an example of this type of blockade.


Shelving blockade.png
 

rubysmama

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Hello and welcome to TCS. As FeebysOwner FeebysOwner mentioned, there's some pics in the article link she posted. As you'll see in one of the pics, it's stacked baby gates, so it completely blocks the doorway, so climbing them doesn't give access to the room.

How old are the cats you're introducing?
 
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saharahoshi

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Thanks for your reply, one is 9 years old, female spayed, she is the resident cat, and the other is a kitten, he'll be 1 years old this month, fixed.
 

rubysmama

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Oh, ok. One year, is almost an adult cat. If it was just a kitten, you could have tried using a cat carrier or kennel for the kitten so that the older cat could see it, without being able to touch.

Do you have a room with a door? If so, you can use something to hold the door open just a jar, so that they could touch paws but not really touch each other.

How is the introduction going? Any hissing / growling? How long have you had the new cat?
 

GreyLady

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When I did this, also in an apartment, I just cracked the door. Later I used the method of playing with the new kitty far away with the door open so resident kitty could see what was going on. The kitten (Noodle) was so obsessed with playing the older kitty could just sit and look at her.
 
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saharahoshi

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Oh, ok. One year, is almost an adult cat. If it was just a kitten, you could have tried using a cat carrier or kennel for the kitten so that the older cat could see it, without being able to touch.

Do you have a room with a door? If so, you can use something to hold the door open just a jar, so that they could touch paws but not really touch each other.

How is the introduction going? Any hissing / growling? How long have you had the new cat?
I'm less than proud to say that when we picked up the new cat in August (his name is Jellybean), he did a runner twice on my husband and I (we had locked down kitty base camp but apparently had some design flaws), both times I think he wanted to play and then our resident cat (her name is Ruthie) ran, they got into it and we separated them ASAP. So we started back at step one. We talked to a behaviorist referred by our vet and she said if we start over and take it slow we should be ok. We are still scent swapping and letting him explore and letting her sneak into base camp when she feels brave enough. She's still hissing and growling a bit when we feed them near the door (not 100%). He just backs off when she does it. I'm hoping if we keep up the positive associations and knock down the hissing and growling we can move on to Stage 3 at some point, but I'm asking about getting things set up as work is going to ramp up pretty soon. We are using feliway diffusers, rescue remedies, all the treats - I've read Cat vs. Cat and Cat Mojo, he is in a master bathroom with a window, attached bath, cat tower, at least 3 Da Bird toys, a Ripple Rug, litter box etc.

We've been letting him out a bit each day and playing with him like crazy while the other one sits with her and she gets played with brushed etc.

So it's been about a month, we are still scent swapping and I don't want to rush anything but move too slowly either? This is the first time we are doing this and he got out twice due to two complete accidents. :(
 

rubysmama

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Some hissing and growling is be be expected. It's when you have fur flying or blood that you have to be concerned. Also if one of the cats is acting stressed, i.e. not eating or having litter box accidents, or if one seems really scared of the other.

When she got loose and they "got into it" was it a fight, or just some growling / hissing?
 
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saharahoshi

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It was a legitimate fight blow times as there was fur and sweat on the ground. Its been about 3 weeks since then and we have gone back to scent swapping and feeding with the closed door between them for now. She still eats and vocalize but isn't too thrilled about the new frenemy that moved in.
 
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saharahoshi

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Sorry for the spelling errors by the way, I am on mobile. I just want to do this right and the two jailbreaks plus the fights have not made things easier. Our resident cat actually lost her buddy a few months back and we noticed she has not been doing great as an only cat. We picked Jellybean because he was actually in the shelter with two bonded females (7 and 8 yrs old both declaws, he is not a declaw) and when they postured over food he backed down immediately. Same thing happens when our girl hisses or growls, he backs down....i have been doing the sock method and room swapping since the second jailbreak I know he wants more time out of the safe space and I'm trying to accommodate while also respecting our resident cats temperament. Don't want to go too fast or slow.
 

Lulu&Finn

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Ok, so we are close to the visual portion of the introduction process. I'm wondering if people have pictures or links to what they might have used? A baby gate is not going to cut it for us because our boy can jump (really jump). We can't really install a screen door so I thinking of using one of the temporary ones on Amazon or just doing what Jackson Galaxy suggested and getting two door jambs? Does anyone have any pictures of these sort of modifications?
I used these child locks on the bedroom door. I attached it so it was open a tad.
A69C8CF1-31AB-4B69-8F58-732296191910.jpeg
 

Lulu&Finn

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I used these child locks on the bedroom door. I attached it so it was open a tad.
View attachment 350904
I also put a little three lb weight on each side of the door when they were ready for footsies. One in between the door and one on the other side to hold it.
We are still in the process and the kitten still sleeps in his room. The big cat is a bit rough so we haven’t left them alone.
 

littlecatt

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Can you stack multiple baby gates? I used two stacked in my apartment and none of my cats attempted to jump over it, you could consider 3 if your boy's really a jumper? I like them also because you can put a towel over them and drape it so the cats can't see each other completely if you aren't at that step yet. It sounds like the child locks are working well though and that's a great sign that they're playing footsie!
 

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saharahoshi

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So far we've had some mild hissing from Ruthie but Jellybean just wants the heck out of his base camp. We've been giving him "yard time" (it's a personal joke) for at least about an hour and maybe 20/30 minutes a day? Ruthie is almost/is? a senior and loses her goshdarned mind. It's all she can handle right now but are we being unfair to Jellybean? She's just very vocal when's she in another room.
 

littlecatt

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So far we've had some mild hissing from Ruthie but Jellybean just wants the heck out of his base camp. We've been giving him "yard time" (it's a personal joke) for at least about an hour and maybe 20/30 minutes a day? Ruthie is almost/is? a senior and loses her goshdarned mind. It's all she can handle right now but are we being unfair to Jellybean? She's just very vocal when's she in another room.
Okay first of all Jellybean is the CUTEST name for a kitten, my heart is melting.

And I completely understand what you mean, there's nothing more heartbreaking than a kitten meowing and wanting out! He'll be okay, this is just a week or two of Jellybean's entire life, and the priority is making sure Ruthie is getting comfortable with him. Playing with him hard in his base camp and during his yard time ( :lol: ) will help but kittens overall are just energetic and attention sponges! So in my opinion no you're not being unfair, I would definitely prioritize Ruthie's comfort and not making her feel like she's "losing territory". She's a senior and has her routine! This is a big change for her.

How is she after the kitten is put away and she comes back out? Does she seem alright with the kitten's scent everywhere?

Is the mild hissing through the gap in the door? Have they seen each other yet?
 
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saharahoshi

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So Jellybean is almost 1 so almost an adult =) but she seems to do ok she's not thrilled but she is coping. We were thinking about testing out visuals this weekend and if it goes to ship going back a step. Almost 0 hissing from her. I hope if we make them smell the same it will be cool.

They did get into 2 fights when he escaped base camp so we had to start from square one a couple weeks ago.
 

KittyCatCove

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There are a couple of pics in the TCS article regarding introductions: How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles. Maybe they might help?

There is also another DIY technique used by many members that involves buying wire shelving from a home improvement store, which can be a long/tall as the door itself to prevent access even if the cats should try to climb it. The shelving pieces can be zip tied together to create 'hinges' so the gate can be opened and closed pretty easily. The sides of the shelving can be temporarily affixed to the walls (for extra re-enforcement) with Command Strips that don't cause damage when removed. The strips will allow you to un-hook them for opening/closing/removal. I have also included a pic below of an example of this type of blockade.


View attachment 350618
I've made several of these and they are great (and cheap). If you have rugs the weight of the shelving wire can be heavy enough to keep it from being pushed open by your cats. You can also wedge it between the door jams. These wire shelves are typically 6' long, however I have seen longer ones in Loews and Home Depot. I use the finest mesh shelving because my one boy Teddy can climb it all the way up. Cats can perform some pretty amazing feats when they put their minds to it.
 
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