moving with cats we are still introducing

[katpersonkat]

hello catsite friends! I posted a thread previously about feeling hopeless introducing Legs and Coca when my girlfriend and I moved in together back in September. From that post, we are having much progress with them and are pretty much feeling like it's now a territorial issue as they can hang out together fine with no barrier between them but will not enter one another's areas, and if one does, a fight ensues. We know this is due to our mistake of not switching them frequently enough between the bedroom and rest of the house and so they have established territories here unfortunately.
So, good news! we are moving to a small one bedroom apartment in just under two weeks! We feel neutral territory will be good for them getting along and are seeking any additional advice or wisdom anyone might offer. Our plan as of now is to keep them separate and continue to do twice or more daily introduction quality hang out time and feeding sessions. We will be keeping one in the small bedroom and the other in the rest of the apartment, switching them every other day so they don't establish set territories this time around. I have a few questions regarding the switching:
1. do we need to switch their food/water bowls and litter boxes when we switch their spaces or can they share those? i.e. can the bedroom litter box remain in the bedroom the entire time or does each cat need their designated litterbox with them with each switch?
2. we had a pretty bad problem with them marking when we tried switching them here in our current space and we got anti-spraying spray which seemed to help. do you think this problem will arise again in a new space?
3. is switching them every other day a good frequency or should we give them a few days in between swapping?

Thank you for all advice and help!! This is pretty jumbled so I'd be happy to clarify if anyone has questions or needs more details about our situation! thank you!!!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
#1 i don't think you need to switch things, considering that when they're acclimated they will likely be using all the items anyway. (If, however you see some crankiness, hissing or whatever, you may need to move the items just at first). I realize that not swapping the items may help with them getting used to each other's scent more quickly, so you'll just need to see how things feel to you.

#2 if this does happen, it could be your biggest sign that they're not ready and the items from #1 still need to be swapped.

#3 it depends on them and what you see happening. I'm hoping that each one is reasonably relaxed in both spaces. It may be that they can handle/should only have a few hours, from your description above.

And also, try cat music for them, there's MusicForCats, RelaxMyCat or Cat in my Arms, on spotify or elsewhere.