Introducing a group of cats

[LabradorMama]

My partner is moving in in the next few months. I have a cat and an elderly Labrador. The dog is not bothered about cats unless they run, in which case she’ll show a perfunctory interest. The cat is a 10 year old female who goes out daily but spends most time indoors.

My partner has three (yes, three) four year old male British shorthair X Russian Blues, all brothers. They are indoor cats and have never met another cat or a dog.

I’ve been researching how best to introduce this quite specialised group but I haven’t had much luck. Advice on introducing cats is usually one cat to another, rather than an established group going into a new territory with a resident cat (and dog)

Has anyone done this or something similar? We love all of these animals and really want them all to be happy together, we’re mindful that a bad first impression might last so we want to do our best by them all.

We think introducing their scent to each other by swapping blankets between houses prior to the move is a good start and I’ve bought pheromone diffusers and extra cat trees but what next?

Any advice appreciated! TIA

Photo of the boys for attention

A lot of people say you should keep the 3 cats in one room i.e a bedroom so the two groups I.e resident cat and dog and 3 new cats can sniff each other under the door etc.

In my experience this leads to various animals scratching at doors to get to the others, howling, opening the door themselves. So every new animal that has come into our household (currently 3 cats and a dog) has just been placed in the living room in their carrier if a cat or on lead if a dog, the other animals come for a look and a sniff then they are let loose. Sometimes an animal will find a hiding place for few days but will eventually become braver and braver or they will just get on with things with a few minor scuffles while they sort out the hierarchy.

Thanks for your reply, I’d seen this advice and thought the same thing - major scratching to get in/out!!
My worry is that if the new cats are terrified of the dog then they won’t dare pass her to get to their food and litter trays. So maybe moving her bed for a while will help.
Do you think putting the boy cats in a crate together will help them to be braver while meeting the new animals? Or should we separate them?

I'm not sure about the boys being together or apart I think it probably depends how much they like each other. If any of the cats do take off and hide I would place a litter tray and food/water where they can get at it without having to venture out. We had 1 cat take up residence behind the sofa so we pulled it a bit further out and he had his litter tray and food and water behind there for a few weeks. Then as he got braver and came out we still left it there as his safe space for a bit but when he seemed fully confident we put his litter tray and food where we wanted them and he was fine from then on.