Trouble introducing cats

[dwengier]

I wanted to adopt a second cat to give some company to my 3.5yo female cat. Ten days ago, I adopted a 3yo male cat. He is the sweetest and had no problem warming up to me or walking around my apt when I let him.

My female cat is not happy. The cats haven't seen each other yet (maybe thought the gap under the door), but they can hear and smell each other. She is constantly hissing and growling at the door where he is. Today she attacked the door and really scared him. I have two feliway plugs running, but they don't seem to affect her.

I read that the process can last different lengths of times depending on the cats. So far, 10 days with almost no changes from my female cat is really discouraging. I have tried feeding her close to the door to the bathroom where he is, but she won't touch the food. I decided to start using the "scented plate" technique and see what happens.

I really don't know what to do and need some encouragement and advice to make this introduction smooth and successful, without going crazy. Thx in advance for your help.

 

[LEGENDofBEVERLY]

Howdy! Just from my personal perspective, I think you are doing just fine. The whole thing can take months and it 1000% up to the cats to make it work. You gotta go at both of their paces for the best results.

Are you feeding them on a schedule (small portions a few times a day) or are they free feeding (a bowl they can eat out of whenever they feel like)?

I would suggest feeding them on a schedule and then keep moving the older cat's bowl away from the door until you find a place she will eat. That is your starting point. Then every day or every couple of days move the bowl closer to the door. Keep going until you find the point where the older cat wont eat again, then back up a little. Moving a inch at a time or so and checking has worked really well for me.

Best of luck!

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS. No two cat introductions are the same, and some can take longer than others. It really depends on the cats.

Is the new cat in a spare room, meaning the resident cat has access to the rest of the house. Have you been able to put her in a room for a bit, and let the new cat have run of the entire home, so his scent gets everywhere.

TCS has an article on How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles which might have some tips for you.

I've never used it myself, but about the Feliway, some people find it helpful, others not so much. There's 2 different types, as well. Here's a thread where it's discussed: Feliway Multicat VS. Optimum: Thoughts?

 

[Alldara]

Hi D dwengier !
Have you started scent swapping? Giving your RC (resident cat) high reward treats by his smell will start to associate his smell with good things.

Personally I keep my RCs mealtimes regular and not near the NC. I believe there's a lot of comfort in keeping parts of RC's schedule consistent.

It can take just the first week to have NC smell like your home. When we bring a new cat home they have their own smell, but they also have smells related to where they were living.

It's good practice to quarentine NC for 14 days anyway. It can take that long for cat cold symptoms to develop and you'd want to keep them separate if that happens.

Another tip would be to take a shirt you've worn that day. Or put a dry cloth under your shirt for much of the day. Then, use that cloth to pet your RC, then your NC, then your RC again. Then wipe that along the baseboards of your home. Do this daily while doing intros to build the family smell in your home.

 

[dwengier]

Thanks so much for everyone replying to my post! I'm a first time cat owner and all this experience has been challenging. I appreciate all your words of wisdom.

I keep RC and NC completely segregated. NC sleeps and hangs out in the bathroom most of the day, while RC roams free in the apt. When I'm back from work, I take NC to my bedroom and let him play and explore. I also leave the door open to the bathroom so RC can see and smell what's going on there. RC has been getting more and more brave getting in the bathroom and smelling everything. Most of the time she hisses and growls at things, but I hope I am not making it up, it's getting better. When it's time to sleep, RC usually sleeps in the corner of my bed. Sometimes when she is asleep, I let NC wander in the living room to explore.

I've been doing the scent trading and RC is hesitant to eat from a plate where she can smell him. Today there was a little advance though. NC is chill and he doesn't mind her smell at all.

I hope that RC is coming to terms to the new member of the family. She is letting me pet her after I petted him with minimal hissing. She looks at me as anyone would look at a cheater and traitor, but she is still coming back for affection. The only hiccup last night was RC seeing NC's feet under the door and attack the door to my bedroom. After that NC run to his litter box and had diarrhea. I'm keeping an eye on him to see if it's a one off or I have to take him to the vet. He acts fine and eats like sailor.

Thanks so much for your advice! Please keep them coming.

 

[Alldara]

Is there howling/screaming/yowling during these door attacks? Or just furious swatting and scratching the door?

 

[dwengier]

Is there howling/screaming/yowling during these door attacks? Or just furious swatting and scratching the door?

There's hissing and some growling, but nothing else. So I think it's more along the lines of furious swatting.

Is it normal that cats (NC) have diarrhea if they get scared or should I worry about that too? NC is still wolfing down food, energetic and playful.

 

[Alldara]

There's hissing and some growling, but nothing else. So I think it's more along the lines of furious swatting.

Is it normal that cats (NC) have diarrhea if they get scared or should I worry about that too? NC is still wolfing down food, energetic and playful.

Is NC on the same food as at the shelter?

 

[dwengier]

I think one of the wet foods is the same (I rotate them on three and I know one that he doesn't like already) and the kibble is different. He has been polishing the food ravenously with the exception of the one he doesn't like.

There's been some advanced since last night. The hissing from RC has toned down some and I was able to feed her a churu right next to the open door to the NC temporary safe zone. RC ate all in one go and blew air through her nose as a "let's pretend I'm still hissing" way. She has been eating from her scented plate also.

 

[Alldara]

The poops are probably from the food change, not from the interactions then.

Ghost has some diahreah when he first came home..he wouldn't eat the shelter dry food. They sent us with a small bag of Royal Canin appetite control. So he switched to our dry food abruptly.

 

[ArtNJ]

You've gotten some good advice, everything said above is true.

However, in the interest of setting expectations, I do think its clear that this is going to be a more difficult than average introduction. I would certainly plan on a multi-week visual access step involving a gate, (pictures in the guide linked above) and I would be extremely careful to prevent escapes which could lead to violent interactions which would really set you back. That doesn't necessarily mean that full friendship is impossible; it just might be lengthier and more stressful to get there.

 

[dwengier]

Thanks everyone again. The very little developments and your words of encouragement help me staying positive. (RC started adding new sounds to her communication with me: she added some chirps and little meows looking into NC's direction when he is being particularly loud. That feels better than hissing, growling or acting nervous as before).

I accepted that is going to be slow and I'm not willing to force the interaction because of my frustrations. I'm trying to set up a schedule where they know what to expect in terms of my visits and their play time. Especially in RC's explorations to NC's space.

 

[dwengier]

Some updates. Cats haven't seen each other yet. RC is getting more relaxed, but still hissing and growling at NC on the other side of the door when he is being loud (meowing or chirping). Most of the time, RC manages to ignore him. Even sleeping through his sounds. RC is sleeping on the covers of my bed even after he's been rubbing all over.

They managed to eat on either side of the door without attacking each other, though. RC feels comfortable exploring NC room and makes no sounds while doing it. NC is scared of RC. When I open the door to where he is at, he always looks behind me to check or hides until he knows I'm by myself. He is scared of exploring the living room after last time when he toppled over a side table I have (I have a Jackson Pollock on my carpet using wine as medium of expression).

I see some improvements but I never thought it was going to be this slow. Today is two weeks after adoption.

 

[dwengier]

This is NC = Antonio. He loves hiding under the covers.

This is RC = Abba, not happy with all the noises coming from Antonio (he is behind that door in the bathroom).

 

[rubysmama]

Awww... Antonio is adorable.

And Abba looks like a cutie pie too, albeit a grumpy one in that picture.

 

[Alldara]

Some updates. Cats haven't seen each other yet. RC is getting more relaxed, but still hissing and growling at NC on the other side of the door when he is being loud (meowing or chirping). Most of the time, RC manages to ignore him. Even sleeping through his sounds. RC is sleeping on the covers of my bed even after he's been rubbing all over.

They managed to eat on either side of the door without attacking each other, though. RC feels comfortable exploring NC room and makes no sounds while doing it. NC is scared of RC. When I open the door to where he is at, he always looks behind me to check or hides until he knows I'm by myself. He is scared of exploring the living room after last time when he toppled over a side table I have (I have a Jackson Pollock on my carpet using wine as medium of expression).

I see some improvements but I never thought it was going to be this slow. Today is two weeks after adoption.

Two weeks post adoption is really just the standard post-adoption quarentine period

It's really not slow progress at all. Unfortunately, many people are given wrong impressions about how swift it can be from the previous "throw them together" additiude that many people have.

 

[dwengier]

Thanks for your words.

Antonio (NC) discovered that sleeping under the covers of my bed is nice. He spent 3 hours napping today, coming out every once in a while to take a breath. When I was going to check on him, he would grab my hand with his paw or rest his head on my hand. I think he really realized he can relax now. Abba (RC) also slept most of the day today.

When they woke up, they were back to Abba hissing and growling, but it's less now. She ate a full churu outside of his door while he was meowing to get out. Minimal negative attitude. I also tried to get him out of the bathroom and explore the living room, but he is still too scared for that. He was sitting next to my bedroom door with his tail all the way under the door. Abba was in my bedroom and did not attack the tail and she was awake all the time.

My plan is to get them to eat on both sides of the door as frequently as possible. After that I'll get a screen between them and slowly introduce them visually.

Thanks everyone for teaching me patience.

 

[dwengier]

No major updates to report. Abba (RC) still hissing and growling at Antonio (NC) when he is being loud. Antonio seems to really want to meet her. He approaches the door to the room where she is at an meows to her, puts his paw under the door and lays his head on the floor to look at her. I can see all these while being with Antonio in the same room. Abba seems to be interested in what's going on, specially when Antonio plays by himself with little toys that make noise.

From what I read, I have to wait until RC stops hissing and growling to start visual contact. Is that so? Should I let Abba and Antonio see each other?

 

[Alldara]

No major updates to report. Abba (RC) still hissing and growling at Antonio (NC) when he is being loud. Antonio seems to really want to meet her. He approaches the door to the room where she is at an meows to her, puts his paw under the door and lays his head on the floor to look at her. I can see all these while being with Antonio in the same room. Abba seems to be interested in what's going on, specially when Antonio plays by himself with little toys that make noise.

From what I read, I have to wait until RC stops hissing and growling to start visual contact. Is that so? Should I let Abba and Antonio see each other?

I move straight to visual with a gate. In my mind, the cats can have the under the door contact at any time and will choose to if they want. So after the NC decompresses, I begin by the following:

Set up a gate by the closed door. Grab some treats and toys. Turn on some calm music, specifically with purring in it if I can do this. Then I grab a pillow and a book and settle in so that I am next to the gate, on the same side as RC. Then I open the door.

RC can access me and can approach me but if gets too focused on NC I can get them to turn their head by tossing a treat or toy or wiggling a wand toy.

I can also lower the risk of gate jumping by setting myself up this way.

You can also bring catnip or an electronic toy for your cats to play with. Anything to provide distraction. I do this as much as possible until both cats are comfortable approaching the gate.



Some cats will not stop hissing or growling at the closed door. Not being able to read that body language makes them nervous. Cal growled at the door even when he was fine gate hopping and watching Ghost play.

 

[dwengier]

Last night, I put a gate and they were able to see each other for the first time. Abba (RC) hissed and growled at Antonio (NC), even yowled a little, but did not attack the fence. I managed to feed them some churus throughout the interaction. She will not eat from her food dish though. She just smells and licks it a bit. Antonio doesn't seem to mind her and eats no problem. When she is more aggressive, he hides from the door.

I think she is afraid and goes into 'attacker' mode, but doesn't show any physicality. She walks by the fence and looks in, or stops by and hisses a little. I think there might be some jealousy too.