Introducing outdoor cat to indoor cat

[Juicecharger]

I'm (vaguely) thinking of getting another car to keep my indoor cat company. I might be wrong but I think her life is quite boring and that she might be happier with a bit of feline company. My friend moved back to the area a couple of months ago with her outdoor cat. She's moved from rural(ish) Wales to central London and her cat isn't going out at all through choice - not even into her garden. The bottom line is that we want to introduce the two cats to each other to see how they get on i.e. she'll bring her cat to my flat. I know you're supposed to introduce cats gradually when taking them on permanently into a household that already has cats. I just want to see how she reacts to another cat not having met one before i.e. will it be curiosity, outright hostility etc. My friend's cat has flea treatment (which my cat doesn't have due to always haviing been indoors). Are there any other health risks to introducing an outdoor cat to an indoor cat?

Are both cats wormed and vaccinated? It's a terrible idea OP, cats don't do play dates and visiting cat won't have any territory in your house. They chances of them just getting on are virtually impossible

My cat's not had anything (I don't think) as she's been indoors all the time. I'm quite willing to abandon the whole idea - your post has put me right off. Would taking my cat ouf on a leash (which we've done before) and take her outside near the other cat be any better. Or is it just a terrible idea. If so, anything else you would recommend as I don't want to get another cat and then realise it's a total disaster - or do you just have to try and cross bridges when you get to them?

I'd still want to vaccinate an indoor cat, both ours are indoor and have yearly vaccinations and are flead and wormed. I'd worry about bringing something in on my shoes

I definitely wouldn't do a play date, if introducing a 2nd cat would need to be one I wanted to own. Cats won't appreciate play dates

Cats don't do social visits. Either get another indoor cat, or not one at all.

I have an outdoor cat (rescue) and then introduced an indoor kitten (now cat). They just about tolerate each other but my indoor cat despises the outdoor cat and it stresses them out. My indoor cat will try and fight the outdoor cat and will also mark his territory (indoor by spraying) which is not nice. My vet said this is because each time the outdoor cat goes out, he picks up new smells which the indoor cat does not recognise and therefore thinks he is an intruder. I later got another indoor cat and the two indoor cats get on really well together - but they both do not like the outdoor cat. Luckily my house is quite spacious, so the outdoor cat will retreat to a quiet area of the house well away from the indoor cats, and the two indoor cats hang out together like besties.

Cat needs vaccinating before meeting others or going outside to be honest. You could speak to a rescue about adopting another indoor kitten or something. But established cats don't generally want other cats, the new cat would be for you and if your lucky they'd learn to tolerate eachother. Are you just looking to enrich your cats life or are you desperate for another cat?

Also how old is your cat?

We've always had multiple cats and have never had any issues but it's not as easy as just bringing a new cat in and letting them get on with it - you're suppose to separate them for weeks at first so that they can get use to each other before doing any kind of face-to-face introduction.

I have an indoor cat who's life I thought would be enriched by a companion. We had no idea how he would get on with other cats and ultimately had to gamble.

We worked with a rescues to find another cat with a good nature with other cats but also who would be happy indoors (both have FIV so it's not a choice for them). It took about 4 months to find the right cat.

Ultimately the rescue were supportive of what we were doing and knew the new cat would be going back if it didn't work. But he was an older boy who'd had no other interest so they were keen to let us try.

We spent over a month doing gradual supervising introductions. Keeping lively new cat in one room was HARD during this process. He cried, I cried, we were all stressed.

But it paid off. They don't snuggle or cuddle but they don't hate each other. They have the odd fight but usually because they were playing together and someone got a bit rough. Our existing cat is MUCH more playful and fitter and has lost weight. New cat is an absolute joy and loves cuddles. They are both more confident for having each other around when we have visitors etc.