How to manage a visiting cat

[Pippik]

We have a 12 year old male cat. He's an outdoor cat with a cat flap though at this time of year he spends 99% of his time indoors.
At Christmas a family member is bringing their cat. A female indoor cat.
My plan is to shut off one room, a spare bedroom, for the visiting cat. It's more room and nicer than a cattery but I wonder if it will work?

It should be fine but beware the shut in cat shredding the carpet by the door , that's what ours do if accidentally shut anywhere for five minutes .
Get two plug in feliway, one in room for guest cat and one in house for yours, will help chill them both a bit

Don't. It's not fair on your cat or on theirs.

When Penelope arrived. My existing cat did everything she could, to get in that room. She absolutely knew there was another cat in there. It was impossible to fully separate them.

You don't necessarily need to do anything other than keep the cat flap locked. The cats will sort this themselves. We used to travel with our big male cat and stay somewhere where there was a much smaller resident female cat.

Male cat knew that he was on her territory and did his best to avoid her. She hissed and clipped him around the ears if he got to close, but there weren't any major issues.

Since resident cat is male in this case, he will probably accept the visiting female. I think it would be more of an issue if 2 males or 2 females

@3smallpups Good tip. I'll put a rug by the door and get some feliway.

@MidnightMeltdown that's interesting. Obviously both cats are neutered but he is twice the size of the female. He does have "hostilities" with next door's cat another big male but I've never seen him fall out with the female across the road. Of course she's not on his territory.

My plan B was to try and get him in a cattery as the visiting cat will definitely be coming here.

It'll be fine. My son brings his aggressive Bengal when he comes to our house. He just shuts it in his bedroom and goes up every few hours to spend time with him. Our cats just carry on as normal. They are not allowed upstairs but have all of the downstairs and a garden to roam in.

@caringcarer it is my son and his cat. How does he feel about sleeping in a room with a litter tray🤢? Other than that it sounds the best solution. I don't want to risk any fighting.

My plan B was to try and get him in a cattery as the visiting cat will definitely be coming here.

The thing is, if you do that, your cat will come home and know there's been another cat on his territory. It could end up with your cat spraying to reclaim his territory (yes, even neutered cats can spray) or becoming stressed.

@Pippik

Yeah my cat was the same. He was a big (neutered) male who would fight any other male cat that he spotted.

However, if it was a female, or a kitten, he would quite happily leave them to wander around the garden (or even come into the house!)

I think it's quite rare for a male cat to attack a female, but you never know so just be cautious. It's probably more likely that she will hiss at him!

I really wouldn't do this. It is very unfair to both cats. They would both be very stressed. Better to ask your visitors to not bring theirs.

Update on this.
The cat came and spent a week here. Visiting cat was happy, resident cat oblivious.