Introducing Older Cats?

[Vickyr1804]

Hello,

I've done some reading on introducing cats but what I wanted to ask is about introducing older cats. This is a long post but wanted to provide background details.

We have a neutered 11yo male who's ruled us for 7 years.

2 years ago my husband's uncle passed and my husband's mam decided to keep his cat.

His mam already had a spayed female(nearly 6yo((very shy) at home( actually from the same litter)

No introduction was done. His mam lives in a small 1 bed bungalow.

Needless to say 2 years later she is still hissing and swiping at the boy cat his mam bought into the house, so much so that she spends most of her day shut in a small hallway.

This really upsets me and hubby. We have just moved to a large house over 3 floors and are considering bringing her to live with us.

However we don't want to upset our current cat,... Which leads to my question on intros.

Thank you

 

[Lauren4883]

You can try introduce them by keeping the new one in a seperate room for a few days and once a day swap them around so they can smell each other’s environment and get used to each other that way. Then introduce them and I guess see how they go. I have an old grandma and grandad cat who although they don’t want anything to do with all the others they have gotten used to it and just do their own thing. You never know until you try. And then if you do have problems you can always ask us again

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I'm going to give you the links to a couple of articles on introducing two cats. The re-introduction is exactly the same. I'll also give you some about stress in cats, and jealousy, just in case!

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide
Introducing Cats To Cats
Potential Stressors In Cats - The Ultimate Checklist
Is Your Cat Stressed Out?
Do Cats Get Jealous? (and What To Do About It When They Do)

Let us know how it goes!

 

[Vickyr1804]

Thank you.

My main concern is our cat. He's a people cat and enjoys lots of attention and I don't want him too upset or stressed.

However we feel awful about mother in law's cat been stuck in that tiny space.

I'm sure with time she would become much for friendly and happy if we can get the introductions correct.

 

[Lauren4883]

Yea I would feel sorry for her as well. Give it a try you never know they might love each other! And it’s just 2 cats, your baby will still get just as much attention as he usually does

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Just take it slowly, and be patient. You should certainly at least be able to get to a place of truce between them, even if they never become "besties".

 

[Elfilou]

I agree. Especially if your house is much bigger, the possibility of them living peacefully alongside eachother (given there was proper introductions) is much higher. I hope you do it, she'll be very grateful to you and it'll surely earn you a bunch of karma points.