Logistics of second rescue cat- how have you managed?

[onecatortwo]

Hello,

We adopted a lovely adult male cat from our local rescue about 4 years ago. He's gorgeous and we have often wondered about adopting a second. Our cat is a pretty laid back chap and I think he'd hopefully be ok with another cat after some adjustment. We also live in a fantastic area for cats, with fields and farmland surrounding us.

The thing stopping us at the moment is the practicalities of the initial settling period. We have a small house- not so much an issue when the cat is settled and coming and going freely, but not so easy when you are trying to keep it in for 3-4 weeks or whatever the advice is. We have a small bedroom where the cat could start initially but there's no way it would be happy in there for long. So when it has the range of the house, we are not sure how to manage that (I.e not let new cat escape) with the comings and goings of our existing cat if that makes sense? He is used to nipping in and out of the cat flap as he pleases and is very independent. How can we reach a happy medium where we are not all stressed and unhappy for 4 weeks?

Any experiences/advice welcome

I got a new one three weeks ago. I was going to keep her in one room but the rescue said just let her out, as she'd been in a house with loads of cats. So I let my existing cat have a sniff while in the basket then let her out and it was fine. My other cat is so laid back she's horizontal.

Most initial introductions take several weeks so new cat would have to be in a different room for that time. If possible, pick a room that's not your current cat's favourite room though to avoid territorial issues. Being in one room for a few weeks is absolutely fine of course - at rescues many cats spend months in a pen or one room if lucky.

Get a microchip catflap and you can let current cat go out and keep new cat in.

Thank you for the replies!

Toddlertea- how did you manage in terms of keeping new cat in and still letting first cat out? Do you have a microchip cat flap?

Viccat- microchip cat flap is an idea... will look into that. I know what you mean about being in one room, and would definitely start them off in a separate room, I'm just going by our first experience and also that of a friend who has adopted recently, and that was that once the new cat realised there was more to explore outside the room it was very difficult- I'm talking cat banging and scratching at door etc and trying desperately to escape. It might be that another cat will be absolutely fine but I'm just trying to plan ahead...

They are both indoor cats. They go into an enclosed garden but that's it. I just let Snorg out when cheddar wasn't around. She isn't bothered if she goes out or not. When cheddar went out for the first time it was adorable to see Snorg supervising her.

I worried for ages about this.

We now appear to have Upstairs Cat (new, not yet allowed outside) and Downstairs-and-Garden Cat. We haven't any doors or barriers between the two, it just seems to be how they've sorted it out between them.

Cat3 stayed in DS's bedroom for first 5-7 days.

My mother just kept a new cat inside for 3 days & let them sort out with each other all the hissing, kept apart until they stopped trying to have a go. Wasn't complicated.

The girls spent 5 days in the same cattery pen together and have been fine. It's gone better than I ever dared hope it would!

It was hilarious to see Snorg jump on the bed and realise Cheddar was in her way. She stood their for a few seconds thinking about her options then literally tiptoed around Cheddar. (Who didn't stir) If it had been Fatty she'd have jumped straight off again not dare invade her space!