Rescue Giving Incorrect Advice?

[Evenstar]

We adopted two cats yesterday evening so less than 24 hours ago. I had a call at lunchtime from the rescue, very annoyed that we were keeping them in their own room and under the impression from the woman we collected from that this was a permanent arrangement. This was fully discussed as a temporary arrangement with the joint manager at the rescue to settle them in before introducing them to our existing cat and two dogs.

She said that they all loved them so much and “this” wasn’t what they wanted for them.

The rescue manager said we must open their room door immediately and let them come out if they wanted to, we have reluctantly done that despite our understanding being that we should take things much slower. There is a stair gate in place so they can be safe in the room.

I have now had a request for a video of them interacting with the other pets, I am not prepared to force contact for this.

Could someone reassure me that my approach is correct and this rescue are being unreasonable in trying to force the animals together? I have had cats for many years and volunteer at a cat rescue and have never heard anything like it.

WTF. That's completely bonkers advice from the rescue.

Jesus, yes, that’s insane and the request for video is even worse.

we’ve recently adopted and we were told to keep her in one room for a fortnight and not to let her out for six weeks. She’s under close supervision from me but as a Bengal is allowed to roam the house in daytime and had her first outside time today, two weeks in. Other cats and dogs might be more of a barrier but it’s stupid to expect them to adapt that quickly. Maybe have a look at the guidance from the Blue X or Battersea about how quickly to let them out and show it to the people you adopted from? They sound controlling and awful.

I think they are wrong, staged introductions work best.

I had looked online and have many years of experience myself, this woman was so unpleasant and made me doubt myself. I have been in tears, they are mine now and it is like they think they can tell us how to live in our own home and not trust our judgement in caring for our own pets.

This is ridiculous advice. We have always kept the new pet separate until it has settled in a bit before gradually making introductions to any other pets. We are adopting a cat next week and planning to do that so she has time to acclimatise before she meets our existing cat gradually, that's always the advice you get from experts too.

It's actually a bit worrying that a rescue is giving this advice, especially talking about forcing an introduction between a cat and dog. What kind of rescue is this? Is it cat protection league?

Stick to your plan Evenstar x

@mrmagpie no a local rescue

That is ridiculous. It almost sounds like she wants the cats back and is hoping to sabotage their ability to settle.

Yes it does seem that way, they have had the run of the upstairs for much of the day and are gaining confidence, but are not ready to meet the other pets. I am not going to be rushed. The foster has been commenting how much she will miss them, I have just fostered a cat and two kittens and find it quite inappropriate, when they are adopted they don’t belong to you or the rescue. I missed mine, but I feel as if they are trying to make me feel bad for adopting them

Perhaps send them some literature from a reputable source?

Are they holding their chips hostage? A friend of mine adopted the rescue didnt change the chip details to jer so when the cat needed vet treatment the vet scanned and saw the chip wasn't registered to her so they contacted the rescue to confirm they came and collected the cat They kept her cat and her adoption fee it was ridiculous

Madness. I hope that this isn't the start of the rescue trying to get the cats back, Op.

Ignore the request for a video too. You are doing everything right.

This is what I was thinking too!

I have their vaccination certificates and chip numbers, so hopefully there won’t be a problem That’s awful @Theunamedcat

This seems bonkers to me too. Both times we've introduced our cats we've given them a day (or three, in the case of our first) in a safe space away from the other pets to let them settle. If they're insistent on the video and you're worried about them continuing to push, I'd just say "yep we'll send you one once we have one" and take the pressure off yourselves.

It sounds like they've got themselves in a tizz about them being isolated forever and now they're panicking. But forcing the cats into interactions they're not ready for isn't helping anyone! Hope they settle in quickly, OP

We are doing fine at our own pace, I haven’t replied to the video request. My DH has said he will speak with them if they cause any more hassle.

Picture of my big boys for tax

Sorry decided not to share pictures due to nature of thread x

My rescue were not overly happy that my other cat had had contact with my new girl. I tried my best but it was impossible to keep them completely apart. (New girl was suspected to have ear mites)

@Toddlerteaplease that wasn’t really fair, sometimes rescues do seem to make things very difficult for adopters.

What sort of dodgy rescue is this that knows diddly squat about introducing cats to a new environment? Even without other cats being present, it's always a good idea to let them settle and get used to one room first.

Hope you don't have any further trouble from them , OP.

When i got kitten number 2, i did introduce him immediately to my other kitten. But that was only because said first kitten was less than 5 months old, and although new kitten was only 3months, due to breed they were the same weight and similar in size.
we had a rough first week and since then they are practically inseparable, although naturally they do rough & tumble a fair amount.

if i were to get any future cats i would however do a slow introduction as my understanding is once they are no longer kittens, they don’t adjust quickly like mine did.

pic of said kittens for cat tax purposes..