Introducing a new cat in a small house

[BeccaT]

So there's a good chance that me and my husband will be financially ready to adopt a second cat within the coming month(s) and it's something I've been wanting us to do for a while now as I worry about our Annie being lonely and not satisfied with the amount of play she gets from us compared to what she could get from another cat.

I still have constant regret that we didn't adopt her sister at the same time, but we didn't really realise how important it was to adopt cats in pairs and were told we were okay to separate them at the time. Anyway, I have major anxiety when it comes to my cat so I'm constantly researching things to make sure we're doing everything right, so cat introductions is something I'm currently researching. I understand that you should separate the cats and then exchange scents etc. for the first few days/weeks but I'm concerned about how to do that in our small home.

We live in a 2 bedroom house but the 2 bedrooms are pretty much the only two "rooms" in the house, and one bedroom is used by a family member so we're not able to use it whatsoever. The second is our bedroom, of course. I'm not entirely sure how to separate the cats during the introduction phase.. As it stands now, Annie is only in our bedroom during the day when we're awake/working etc. which is a majority of the time. The living room expands out into the dining room and kitchen so there's no separation there, but the living room is basically her room. It's full of cat toys and cat furniture, she sleeps there at night (she keeps us awake in our room and also we're paranoid about her getting at the computer's wires and stuff) and is there when we leave the house, but all in all, she spends a majority of her time in our room with us.

When we first adopted Annie, she was very little and we bought a decently sized play-pen that we kept her in at night and when we left the house so that she was safe and didn't get hurt or stuck anywhere. But we plan on getting a cat that's closer to her age, which is currently 7 months, so they'd likely be too big for that play-pen so that's not really an option (unless it's just for them to see each other safely). The thing I have in mind is that the new cat would stay out in the living room area etc. of the house to get familiar with the bigger part of the house, and Annie would stay in our room with us so that she doesn't feel isolated/neglected or anxious when she knows there's a new cat in the home, but I'm not sure if this is ideal? Of course we'd spend equal amounts of time with both cats on their own and not leave one alone more than the other, but it's just the room situation that's stressing me out in anticipation for the eventual adoption. I'd appreciate any and all advice on this situation. Thank you!

 

[susanm9006]

The good news is that are dealing with two kittens which makes the whole introduction process much shorter and less complicated. They do need to be separated at first but you are more than likely not going to need more than a couple days. I would suggest keeping the kitten in your room during the day so that your resident kitten has as much of her normal territory as possible. Since they are so small you could keep the kitten in the bathroom overnight so that your other can still sleep with you and can also pick up the kitten scent. After day or two depending on how they each react you can do face to face intros and that may be all that is needed.

 

[BeccaT]

The good news is that are dealing with two kittens which makes the whole introduction process much shorter and less complicated. They do need to be separated at first but you are more than likely not going to need more than a couple days. I would suggest keeping the kitten in your room during the day so that your resident kitten has as much of her normal territory as possible. Since they are so small you could keep the kitten in the bathroom overnight so that your other can still sleep with you and can also pick up the kitten scent. After day or two depending on how they each react you can do face to face intros and that may be all that is needed.

Thank you! Sadly I'm not sure the bathroom is an option. It gets very cold in there as the heat doesn't really reach it and it consists only of a bath/shower and the toilet so it's VERY small (the one in our room, the other one is off limits too because of the family member), there's not really room for anything in there for the new cat. But I'm happy to hear the process should be easier, I'll do my best to keep the kitten in the other parts of the house and our resident cat in our room. I'm also looking into making a DIY cat gate to go between the bedroom and other parts of the house so they can look at each other without being able to get too close.

 

[ArtNJ]

Just putting them together is probably fine as long as the new cat is the same age or younger. With cats this young, friendship is basically guarrantied whatever the humans do or dont, although there might be some drama for a bit -- up to a week or so if you get unlucky. The only real worry is that if the cat is scared, it will find someplace bad to hide, like in your walls. Super rare of course, but we get a post like that every year or two. There are other types of places a cat can find to hide that are also problematic, and with your house being small, you may need to think about how to keep the cat away from the front door till it settles in and isn't scared enough to dart out in fear. Again, serious problems are *very* rare, but its nice to set the new cat up in a "safe room" for a couple days, usually a bedroom. That way, if they get scared, they go run and hide under the bed.

I wouldn't worry too much about it if its not realistic to use a safe room or intro process. Just don't wait too long. There is no hard and fast age where your likely to have problems, but at some point the chances of problems go from essentially zero (for introducing two kittens) and start to slowly tick up as cats get older. Introducing two cats under 1 year is very low risk, but not necessarily zero, especially without an introduction process. So aim for the next couple of months and you should be fine.

 

[vince]

Maybe making the square footage work better for your cats will help. Some places high up often provide some relief for cats, giving them a spot away from the others. A large cat tree, perhaps with a little cave hiding spot will give them the illusion of more space. You could also try a cat shelf or some boxes stacked up as well.

 

[BeccaT]

I wanted to post an update to this thread rather than starting a new one, so here it goes!

We brought a new cat home today, seemingly 1 month older than our resident cat. Things are not going great so far. Resident cat has hissed and growled, but we haven't let them get too close yet. They've seen each other but that's about it. New cat was extremely scared at the shelter but we're willing to work with her, our main concern when adopting was finding one closest in age.

Unfortunately, we still don't have ideal separate rooms but currently, our resident cat is in our bedroom where she seems content, and new cat is hidden away in a corner of the living room. We've made a concealed safe space for her as all she wants to do is hide and left some food, water and a new litter box in her area too. New cat hasn't hissed or growled once at our resident cat, only meowed a lot on the way home. We were informed that the new cat was found left outside near a fast food restaurant but was in a foster home with other cats, and was told she gets along with other cats. Our resident cat, we have no idea as we've had her since she was about 2 months old and has grown a solo cat.

We were honestly surprised and upset at the way our resident cat acted but I also wasn't that surprised. I was trying my best to prepare for the worst whereas my husband was expecting them to get along right away, despite me telling him to prepare for the worst as well. My concern right now is that the shelter gave us 2 weeks to decide if we want to bring the cat back for a refund and to look for another cat, and I'm worried it'll take longer than 2 weeks. I absolutely do not want to give a cat back to a shelter for any reason whatsoever, but I also don't want to traumatize either cat. But we're also a bit unsure about the age of this new cat, the name card claimed 9 months old which is only a month older than our resident cat, but the e-mail we received mentioned their birthday was after our resident cat's which would make her 6 months old which she definitely is not. This cat honestly looks about a year or older and I wonder if bringing a younger cat into the home would make our resident cat less scared and intimidated.

I know our resident cat would benefit from another high energy friend in the long run, but I fear this little scared lady would be happier in a quieter home. Any advice is welcome as our living situation makes it tough, but we're doing our best.

 

[ArtNJ]

Your too worried. They are on track to be besties automatically because of the ages. It just takes a little time sometimes. Sometimes even a week or so, although generally much less. A few days of growling is the most likely scenario.

Considering the new cat might be a year, and its background is unknown, a bit of an introduction process might have been better, but its just very very unlikely to matter. My advice is this: worry about building your own relationship with he new cat, and trust that the cats will build their own relationship. Even if the new cat is 1 year to your cats 8 months, thats just fine.

You wisely, and with our advice, picked easy mode. Its not impossible you'll run into a problem, but its easy mode -- its likely to be totally fine in a few days.

P.S. The shelter likely had a vet guess the age by looking at the teeth, which is a somewhat more accurate method than just looking at the size. So they might be correct that the cat is not that far off yours in age.

 

[BeccaT]

Your too worried. They are on track to be besties automatically because of the ages. It just takes a little time sometimes. Sometimes even a week or so, although generally much less. A few days of growling is the most likely scenario.

Considering the new cat might be a year, and its background is unknown, a bit of an introduction process might have been better, but its just very very unlikely to matter. My advice is this: worry about building your own relationship with he new cat, and trust that the cats will build their own relationship. Even if the new cat is 1 year to your cats 8 months, thats just fine.

You wisely, and with our advice, picked easy mode. Its not impossible you'll run into a problem, but its easy mode -- its likely to be totally fine in a few days.

P.S. The shelter likely had a vet guess the age by looking at the teeth, which is a somewhat more accurate method than just looking at the size. So they might be correct that the cat is not that far off yours in age.

Thank you!

I think I maybe am worrying too much. In the past 2 or so hours, we’ve managed to coax the new cat out of their hiding space. I placed a few bits of kibble in front of where she was hiding and she ate it all up. After that, she was a completely different cat. She started to roam the room on her own and became incredibly affectionate. Thankfully it seems the trust has been built with her.

Next is the resident cat. She still resides in the bedroom, and we’re trying our best to divide our attention between the two. She went from hissing at the smell of the new cats fur on the grooming brush to sniffing and licking our fingers that (should) smell like the new cat. She only did the occasional hiss and growl. Resident cat is also being more cutesy and a bit clingy despite her never being an affectionate cat. We want to take another step tomorrow morning but we’re unsure what as we don’t want to regress the progress we’ve made, so I’m open to suggestions!

 

[meowpassion]

Do not force the situation. Some cats like each other within first few days, others need some weeks. Stay positive, I am sure your cat will find their own way to the harmony.

 

[BeccaT]

Since my last post, we've gone out and made our own DIY cat gate to put in the awkward doorway between the living room and dining/kitchen room. The new cat has the whole living room to herself which is a nice large space, and resident cat has access to our room and the dining/kitchen. We occasionally lift the blanket covering the gate so that they can both see each other. New cat clearly is interested in resident cat and just wants to play, but resident cat is still hissing and growling at the sight of her, but not the smell of her on things anymore.

The gate has been a big help and I feel much safer this way, but I don't leave them unsupervised. I've been trying the method of feeding them on either side of the covered gate, but this is tough. New cat seems to eat whenever she wants (despite trying to put her on resident cat's schedule) and resident cat is often too scared to get close enough to the gate to eat her food there.

I know we're only on day 2, but I'm very curious how long this could last. I feel very guilty keeping either of them restricted, although I do plan on swapping their locations eventually when we can figure out how to do it safely. I just worry we may have made a mistake by adopting a cat that's potentially 1 or more months older than our resident cat, and maybe should've looked for a younger cat instead. New cat is very visibly bigger than our resident cat, but the new cat has the energy and personality of young cat.

 

[BeccaT]

I apologise that I keep bumping this thread, but I feel like my next question doesn’t really need a whole new topic!

We bought a feliway multicat diffuser to hopefully help with the introduction process. My concern is I don’t know where the best place is to put it. It’s the resident cat that’s having problems adjusting, and she spends a majority of her time in our bedroom while the new cat is in the living room. Currently, the diffuser is next to the gate where the new cats room is and where the conflict happens. Resident cat spends some time at the gate throughout the day but maybe only 1-2 hours a day overall. I’m wondering if we should move the diffuser to our room where the resident cat is but the new cat is never there. If so, is it ok to plug it into an extension? Our bedroom outlet situation isn’t ideal.

 

[vansX2]

So there's a good chance that me and my husband will be financially ready to adopt a second cat within the coming month(s) and it's something I've been wanting us to do for a while now as I worry about our Annie being lonely and not satisfied with the amount of play she gets from us compared to what she could get from another cat.

I still have constant regret that we didn't adopt her sister at the same time, but we didn't really realise how important it was to adopt cats in pairs and were told we were okay to separate them at the time. Anyway, I have major anxiety when it comes to my cat so I'm constantly researching things to make sure we're doing everything right, so cat introductions is something I'm currently researching. I understand that you should separate the cats and then exchange scents etc. for the first few days/weeks but I'm concerned about how to do that in our small home.

We live in a 2 bedroom house but the 2 bedrooms are pretty much the only two "rooms" in the house, and one bedroom is used by a family member so we're not able to use it whatsoever. The second is our bedroom, of course. I'm not entirely sure how to separate the cats during the introduction phase.. As it stands now, Annie is only in our bedroom during the day when we're awake/working etc. which is a majority of the time. The living room expands out into the dining room and kitchen so there's no separation there, but the living room is basically her room. It's full of cat toys and cat furniture, she sleeps there at night (she keeps us awake in our room and also we're paranoid about her getting at the computer's wires and stuff) and is there when we leave the house, but all in all, she spends a majority of her time in our room with us.

When we first adopted Annie, she was very little and we bought a decently sized play-pen that we kept her in at night and when we left the house so that she was safe and didn't get hurt or stuck anywhere. But we plan on getting a cat that's closer to her age, which is currently 7 months, so they'd likely be too big for that play-pen so that's not really an option (unless it's just for them to see each other safely). The thing I have in mind is that the new cat would stay out in the living room area etc. of the house to get familiar with the bigger part of the house, and Annie would stay in our room with us so that she doesn't feel isolated/neglected or anxious when she knows there's a new cat in the home, but I'm not sure if this is ideal? Of course we'd spend equal amounts of time with both cats on their own and not leave one alone more than the other, but it's just the room situation that's stressing me out in anticipation for the eventual adoption. I'd appreciate any and all advice on this situation. Thank you!

Would you happen to have a basement in your house? If so, then ulitize it as a additional play space for your Cat.

 

[BeccaT]

Would you happen to have a basement in your house? If so, then ulitize it as a additional play space for your Cat.

I'm afraid not, but our current setup seems to be working out fine (I hope). As I stated in another response, we made a DIY cat gate that's in the doorway between our living room and dining/kitchen area. The living room is large enough for new cat to have plenty of space, we're just concerned about limiting the cats contact to between the gate currently.