A new additional cat
A slow introduction of the new cat in the house always works best. This can be achieved by maintaining the new cat in a separate room and to monitor all interactions between the cats. If both cats are well socialized with other cats and aren’t timid or anxious, it is usually a matter of time before the cats get used to one another and after some time they are able to share their territory with little to no aggression.
Put stuff separately
Put all the stuff for the new cat in a room of your house, which other animals don’t use or make little use of. Not the bathroom because the sounds in this space are generally much strengthened, and there are a lot of scary sounds for the cat, such as the shower faucet and flushing a toilet.
Make the cat room as comfortable as possible Make this room as comfortable as possible to let the new cat adapt in all peace and quite. Check the room for things in which the cat can become entangled, or can chew on or can squeeze into. You wouldn’t be the first one with a cat, who squeezes itself through a hole, to then walk between the floor of one floor and the ceiling of the floor below! The room should of course be able to be sealed with a cat resistant door, if necessary with an upturned heck if you have a dog or cat that has the skill to open doors.
The corridor or hallway that leads to this room, will then become the neutral ground, that could be closed for all cats. The cat who’s already there, holds access to the rest of the house, except the hall / corridor. Another litter box can be placed in the hall / corridor, which encourages the exchange of odors.
Very simply put, it looks like this:
- Room with new cat, with cat litter box, food and water bowl and sleeping area
- Hall / corridor: space to adapt, preferably with litter
- Rest of the house: other cat (s) with cat litter box(es), food, water and sleeping area (s)
The door to the hallway / corridor is then put open, in turn for the new cat and then for the other cats. This way you supply both cats of a separate territory in your house so they have the ability to smell and hear each other, but there is no possibility for a physical confrontation. If the new cat is housed in a room with a glass door, it also gives the cats the possibility to see each other, with a secure barrier inbetween, but you can best tape the lower part of the glass in the door the first day until the cats are already quite accustomed to one another.
At no time, the cats should be together in the adapt space in the first few days. Either the new cat has his room with the hall / corridor or the other cats have a part of the house with the hall / corridor.
Stick to a scheduleA schedule of changing three times per day works the easiest; once in the morning when getting up, sometime during the afternoon and in the evening before going to bed. Another scheme is also possible, but do it at least twice a day to make sure that none of the cats will look at the hall / corridor too much as its own territory.
During this time, you especially take care of rest and attention for all cats and by patting them all a lot, there will automatically occur an exchange of odors. Remember that it generally takes about two days before a new cat doesn’t smell strange anymore.
Only after the cats don’t show fear, excitement or threat and are well at ease, you can go to the next phase: this is getting used to each other under supervision. This training must take place if the cats are kept busy with activities that are very attractive to both cats; like food, play or cat treats. If you make sure that the cats are far enough apart to minimize the possibility of aggression and the reward is big enough in the eyes of the cats, they will concentrate on the reward instead of on each other.
Note: If the rewards are only used in the adapt space during the introductory period and not during other times, the cats will soon learn that good things happen when they are together.