Integrating new cats

[Cartmann99]

Does anyone have tips for integrating new cats into a multi-cat household? 

[justmissedquiver]

On 1/12/2018 at 4:01 PM, Cartmann99 said:

Does anyone have tips for integrating new cats into a multi-cat household? 

Slow is the way to go.  If you have a small room or walk in closet make a space there with food, litter and bed and keep kitty there for  a few days.  This will let the cats to sniff each other out for a bit. Once the kitty is comfortable with you then allow the other cats in one at a time with a watchful eye for aggression.  I've never had any trouble with integration.

[Cartmann99]

20 hours ago, justmissedquiver said:

 Once the kitty is comfortable with you then allow the other cats in one at a time with a watchful eye for aggression.

Any tips about this? We took in a stray who had kittens in our yard in September, and I had hoped that as the kittens got older she would become less aggressive, but no dice. She's also going blind, which I assume is part of the problem, as she obviously had to act menacing in order to survive outside. We kept her and the kittens segregated from the other cats for about six weeks and then slowly tried to integrate everyone like you recommended.

About two months we took her in, another neighborhood stray that she was familiar with got hurt and we adopted him. He gets along okay with everyone, and the last two kittens also do okay with everybody, but we still have to keep Mama Kitty segregated from our two original cats because she attacks them. Currently, we take turns letting Mama Kitty out of her room, and letting our two original cats out of their room.

 In desperation, I bought some of those cat pheromone diffusers that our vet said might help diffuse the tension and started running them earlier this week. I'm really frustrated because I've always been able to get cats to get along reasonably well or just ignore each other, but not this time. 

Thank you for trying to help!

[WiseGirl]

You probably already checked these sites out, but it is the best I've got.

https://thecatsite.com/threads/introducing-a-stray-semi-feral-to-a-indoor-cats-household.277917/

http://www.feralcatcaretakers.org/Caretaking/IntroducingNewCatKitten.html

https://www.jacksongalaxy.com/blog/how-to-introduce-two-cats/

 

[47of74]

My sister and brother in law adopted Maggie from a friend who was moving and couldn't take her with.  They had my late feline niece Morgan at the time.  I guess they just took it slow in introducing the two cats.  Morgan was pissed off for a few days but eventually accepted the situation.  As far as I could tell both Maggie and Morgan preferred to pretend the other cat didn't exist whenever possible.  

A few months after Morgan passed my sister and brother in law brought Marvel the Kitty in to live with them and Maggie.

They just took it slow.  Maggie wasn't too thrilled at first and there were a couple swats across the fact when she felt Marvel needed to be reminded of who was in charge.  At first Marvel didn't seem to comprehend that Maggie was an older kitty and that such kitties don't always want to run around and play.  After they figured each other out they are totally brother and sister now.  My brother in law said what really brought them together was the weekend they watched his parent's dog and the cats figured out they had a bigger issue on their hands in the form of a big bundle of white canine fur.

Morgan

Maggie

And Marvel the Kitty!

[Dominionatrix]

Try brushing them with the same brush or petting them with the same cloth. I've read that part of cat bonding is developing a group scent, which you can catalyze by doing the above. It worked super well when I introduced my guys, and they have since become ultra-bonded. 

I also would put treats close to the closed door so they could associate a reward with getting that much closer to the other's scent.

[tabitha2]

I live in a tiny Apartment and don’t have time or room for introduction rituals.  I supervisor at the start but My big boys just have to deal with fosters kittens and feline lodgers. One enjoys the new littles we get and the other just ignores them.