Right approach to make the cat get used to..
A. The new home
The cat is purchased and is taken home. Of course each family member immediately wants to stroke, cuddle the cat. This is a wrong approach in the cat’s education. After all, a cat, despite of his calm and serene appearance, is a very stress-sensitive animal which must be supported calmly in new situations. Only leave the new cat during his first few days in one room of the house, the room with the cat’s box and the food/drink. The animal might crawl away panicky and might not be able, due to fear or ignorance, to find the room again, which might cause uncleanliness. Make sure that everyone leaves the cat alone: The cat may explore himself. He will sniff at many things, will nuzzle against you (the cheeks have smelling glands which exude an own smell during “nuzzling” so that everything gets personalized. Avoid fixating your cat.: Of course you are very proud and you want to look at your cat but the cat considers this fixating as a threat. Have the cat come close to you himself for a cuddle even it this lasts a couple of days. If the cat feels at ease in the room, you leave the door open so that he can explore the house if he wants to. Keep the cat in the house at least 3 weeks, before you open the door and windows to your garden. The animal should first have marked his territory, should know that he will get food and attention there and will recognize the house as his house.
B. ) Children
Children tend to hold everything very firmly, It is their way of cuddling and they also tend to make a lot of noise and movements. A cat hates such things and will react by floundering, scratching and a lifelong fear for children. Method: Leave the child on the couch and place the cat next to him or on his lap. Let the child stroke the cat. The cat will show that he feels at ease with the child by purring, nuzzling at him and by licking (signs that the cat feels at ease with the person). As soon as the cat shows any signs of fear or agitation, the child must let the cat go. When the child learns to don’t make any unexpected movements or noises, a nice child-cat relation can arise.
C. ) Another cat
As mentioned, a cat isn’t a group animal and will react furiously on a new cat in his territory. The newcomer will not even want to challenge the old cat since he is busy adapting to his new surroundings. Right support: Lock the old cat up in one room of the house (during a couple of days) with his cat’s box, drink and food and with attention of his owner. In the meantime the newcomer can get used to his new surroundings and can mark his territory. Then, the old cat may walk in the house. Because of the fact that the new cat has spread his smells everywhere in the house, the old cat will no longer consider the new cat as an intruder. Of course spectacular fights might take place: a lot of noise (growling, crying and spitting). As an owner you must not interfere in these fights: The animals will learn to acknowledge and know their superior and external interferences might turn everything topsy-turvy. After about two weeks most cats have accepted each other. You still must make sure that you have at least two cat’s boxes and separate troughs and water bowls. The superior cat might plague the other cat by not letting him on the box. Once the animals have made a pact with each other they may not be separated again. For example, they must be placed in the same cage in the kennel during the holiday period etc. Even if one cat has to go to the veterinarian you better take the other cat with you or a blanket with the smells of both cats. Cats recognize each other by their smell: If they are separated from each other, the familiar smell will fade away and they will become strangers for each other.
If both cats are really irreconcilable, it might be a good solution to place both cats on neutral territory during two weeks, for example in the same pen in the kennel.
That territory neither has the smell of the old cat nor the smell of the new cat so that they can both exude smells at the same time and will accept that they live together in that territory. In the meantime the smells of the old cat fade away in the house so that, when they come back in the house after two weeks, they will find themselves on a neutral odorless territory. They will have to exude smells again together and they will accept each others presence.
D.) A dog
Situation: Cat = First animal, the pup is the newcomer
This situation is the easiest. The cat will react furiously: blowing and spitting when the pup approaches him, but will seldom attack himself. He will keep on trying to avoid the pup. The pup will take a swipe across the nose from the cat when he is too nosy; the cat learns the pup to be respectful, which is not bad. Don’t interfere in it: let the animals get used to each other at their own pace.
Give the cat an extra hug: Although she will mostly refuse your attention. Place an extra cat’s box in order to avoid uncleanliness problems during stress situations and make sure that cats which go outside must stay in the house until the situation is normal. After all, cats with stress can stay away from home a long time, with all its consequences.
Situation: Dog = First animal, the cat is the newcomer
This situation is harder, especially if the dog doesn’t know any cats. The adult dog loudly chases the cat; a real nightmare for the cat. When the cat comes in, you better take the dog for a walk. During this period the cat can learn where his cat’s box is located, which are perfect hiding-places and he can leave her smell everywhere. Make sure that the confrontation between dog and cat takes place in a room which has good hiding places for the cat and which isn’t filled with breakable things. Let the dog in and keep him on the leash until both cat and dog are calm. Let the dog go then but count on it that he will chase the cat. Correct the dog effectively and try to make as less noise as possible. The cat will closely observe everything from his hiding place. If you observe that the dog isn’t really aggressive you can easily bring them together. At a certain moment the cat will get more guts, will not escape anymore and will hit the dog on his nose. The stunned dog will learn to leave the cat alone.
A good tip: If you know that your dog is aggressive, don’t take a kitten then but a young adult cat which has better developed reflexes and is more able to jump, escape or defend himself.
Never keep the cat in your arms (unless you are a real cat authority and know how to fixate your cat correctly) when the first dog-cat confrontation takes place. A scary cat might bite and scratch firmly in order to escape.