Introducing 2 new cats into the house with my 2 - how best to do it, please?

[TheOneWithTheNicestSmile]

My DD has just broken up with her BF, & his mum is looking after their 2 cats temporarily, but she lives in a tiny flat & they are wrecking it (boisterous 9-month-old boys)

DD is going to be able to move in with a friend & take the cats with her but not until after Christmas.

DH has agreed that they can come here in the meantime. The plan is that initially she will keep them in her room with the door closed, with litter tray, dishes etc also in there.

I was assuming we could also occasionally shut my 2 (fond of each other, but not really acquainted with other cats, apart from a hissing session at a strange cat outside our yard once) into another room for short periods & let her boys run around a bit?

How long should we keep them apart for & how should we introduce them, please?

It's such a short period that I'm not sure I'd try for introductions, TheOne. They'll all know there are others around but to go for healthy containment only might be better on all their nerves as introductions can sometimes be a lengthy and fraught process.

Maybe I'm being too pessimistic though.

it's probably going to be at least 6 weeks, cozie - do you think alternate shutting up will be ok for that long?

tbf my 2 are for some of the time, & always overnight, confined to back room/kitchen (it's a fairly large area - over 300 sq ft) so they're used to that, & it's where their litter tray & food are.

it'll be over Christmas though, when there will be 6 people in the house most of the time, & more occasionally - there is a risk that the visitors will be let out by accident - would fur fly do you think?

I don't know. Are the boys neutered? I just have this vision of them dashing out, peeing over the new territory and finding hiding places. Effectively, what you just might get are two 'gangs' - two sets of two cats who know each other and back each other up.

On the other hand, it might all go swimmingly and they might all ignore each other and find places to go quietly. It's just that you won't have a whole load of time to turn things around if it goes wrong.

I think you need other views, TheOne. I may be feeling too negative about it.

i may be lucky but i have four resident cats who all get on with each other despite different ages and times coming into the house, and i foster kittens for a rescue, and every time i have brought a new cat or kittens into the house i just plonk them in the middle of the front room and initially yes get a bit of hissing or a bat on the head from the main girl cat, and always make sure the door to the hall and the bathroom door are open so anyone wanting away can go upstairs and esconce themselves in there if they want to, and i havent had any major scraps in seven years of the ones i have now being in the house

boys are neutered, yes, cozie afaik they are not peeing indiscriminately atm (though they are scratching furniture, but then their scratching post didn't go with them initially)

Thanks for your thoughts though - obv all cat personalities aree different & nobody can actually predict how things might go...

issey, I'd be interested to hear if you can remember details of how your very first introduction of new adult cats to resident cats went? (& how long it was after resident cats first moved in?)

hi wrote a lovely long answer and mumsnet took so long to post it went lol, right the old ginger girl who died last year at 13 yrs old was the boss ,

newbies into the house learned very quickly not to go near her as she hated everyone who had fur even the dog was scared of her, her tactic was to swipe newbies, then if that didnt see them off she would steal their food and when they still didnt leave home she would leave home in a sulk for three days, always three days and then when that didnt work a truce was held and she tolerated newbies presence but was queen of the hill, she also terrorised all cats outside the house too,

the ones i have now the two new ones are both girls around 5 months old have only had them a week or so, the first two days they encamped to the bathroom so fed them up there , then the next two days they made small forays into resi territory but ran at the slightest movement, now a week later they are quite happy with the other cats, as i said im lucky mine are tolerant and when newbies come in they just give that look here we go again lol,

Thanks, issey - we're still dithering over how to handle it

We might try initially presenting resident cats with visiting cats in carriers, just to see how they react. If fireworks then we'll keep them strictly apart; if more curiosity we could think about integration...

It'll be interesting

Best of luck. When do they arrive?

Thanks, cozie

Thursday

Eep

It helps to feed them together and gradually move the bowls closer as they get more familiar. That way they are reassured there is enough food for all cats and are less aggressive to newcomers.

Thanks, lovethesea

Food is not a big issue for my girls - they always have biscuits available & never scoff all the wet food right away

Will ask DD how her boys are over food

They are coming tomorrow afternoon

im sure it will be fine

That went well. Not.

My 2 seemed merely curious to begin with but then one started hissing so we took the newcomers away (still in their carriers)

Then my 2 started treating each other as intruders - hissing & swiping & fluffed up. Separated them for a bit & I think they're ok now...

So. Do we just try to keep the pairs apart as in plan A (may be until Feb)? Not sure we can manage that though - newcomers already desperate to get out of DD's bedroom.

Would a Feliway (sp?) thing help?

Can I ask - is DD definitely going to take them with her next year or is this the start of an 'Oh they'll be OK with Mum and Dad' process ? (Lots of examples in our family of enthusiasms for young pets (eg puppies and kittens) which didn't survive the practicalities and parents had to pick up the pieces.)

I only mention this because it might affect your possible actions if they're likely, in truth, to become permanent residents.

Hi cozie

Oh no, none of that here she was more upset at leaving the cats behind than breaking up with the BF. So it really is a temp thing (she's 28, grown up, has Proper Job etc)

So we do need strategies for coping temporarily