Combining Households- and Pets! Help Needed?

Question

I have a female cat that I adopted (found in the street) and is now about 3 years old. My boyfriend has 2 male cats that are about 1 1/2 years old. We have brought them together once, but kept them in separate rooms, and they all flipped out. What are things I can do to help these cats get used to one another- I know it will take time, but how long?

Answer 1

It will take time, as much time as the cats need to get used to each other. You can't put a time limit on it either. When they are ready to be friends, it will happen. In the meantime, expect some fur to fly, so to speak. Try keeping them separate for a few days. You could let the female have the run of the house and put the 2 males in a separate room. Let female go to the door where the males are. But, keep the door where the males are closed all of the way. Let them sniff each other from under the door. Keep doing this, maybe for a few days. Then, you could try opening the door a little to see how they react to each other. If you think they will fight, close the door. If you think there are chances where they might get along. Open the door a little wider each time. If you don't like that idea. You could also get a spray bottle, pick up a new one tho, as it isn't safe to use one that had some kind of chemical in it like windex. Fill it with water, put the nozzle on stream. If you think they are going to start fighting, aim for their faces as cats hate water in their faces. Yell at the cats like you mean it too. Show them who the boss is. It might be a good idea to keep the males in another room while no one is home, just to be safe. Don't forget, that your kitty has been the only one for 3 years. And your boyfriend's cats have been the only 2 for a year and a half in a different home. It will take time for them to get along with each other, you just have to let it happen when it happens for them. I hope this advice helps and I wish you much luck on your new kitty family.

Answer 2

At first we had 4 cats then a stray baby kitty somehow wandered over to our house in search of food. We sorta adopted it overtime (we kept feeding it) so it became our cat. The other 4 cats were always chasing the "stray" cat but eventually they became friends and even cleans each other.
Yes, it definitely takes time BUT it depends on the personality of the cat. If a cat has a good temperament it will accept the "NEW" cat a lot faster. If not, it will take some time ..sometimes never! But as long as there is space in the house they won't fight. Just don't keep them in a small space together. If they are in a house they will probably be okay because they can each stay on their space and not disturb one another. For example with the 4 cats I have one of the cats still does not accept that "stray" we adopted but they wander around in the house+garden+etc and keep away from each other. You can't really do anything to make the cats accept one another. You need to let "nature" take its course. Good luck. Hope the cats will love each other and be civil :)

Answer 3

Cats base 99% of what they think on smell.

1. Make sure they are all fixed.
2. Wash all their bedding (all three cats), toys, etc to remove as much of their scents as possible.
3. Bathe all cats with the same shampoo. You can even get bath wipes that require no water and no rinsing. This will make the cats smell more like each other.
4. Introduce them immediately after bathing them. Part of the reason they flipped out is because they could smell the other cat(s) but not see them to check them out. Now, they'll see each other and all smell kinda the same.

Let them sniff each other, walk around each other, etc. Make sure they all have their own food dishes, litter boxes and beds, so they don't feel like the other cat is taking over.

Answer 4

Make sure the cats are all neutered. Whose place are you moving to? Yours or your boyfriends? Because whichever it is, the cat that lives there is going to see it as their "turf" and there will be problems. Maybe if you are renting, why don't you look for a new place? Because then it will be neutral, there won't be the scent of any of the cats anywhere, and it would be a good starting point. I brought home my male cat first, and he thought it was his territory, and he was younger than the female I got. They didn't like each other for about 24 hours then they were bathing each other. They should settle eventually. The best thing is not to force them, but don't let them hurt each other. The usual hissing and growling is ok, as long as there are no brawls. They get over this eventually, they just feel threatened. You may find the older female will want to nurture the younger males eventually.

Answer 5

How to Introduce a NEW CAT(s) into a househld with already one or more cats:

1. Set up a comfortable "safe room" for New Cat. Put her food, water, litter box (not near the food), scratching post, toys, and bed or other sleeping mat there. Expect a great deal of "hissy-spitty" behavior through the closed door from both cats.This is natural and normal; they are just starting to explore their "pecking order."
2. Scent is very important for cats. Let each of them smell the other indirectly, by rubbing a towel on one and letting the other smell it. They will soon accept the scent as a normal part of the house.
3. Once or twice, switch roles. Put New Cat in the normal living quarters, and let your resident cat sniff out the new cat's Safe Room.
4. After a day or so, let the two cats sniff each other through a baby-gate or through a barely-opened door. Gauge the rate at which they seem to be acclimating to each other.
5. When you think they're ready, let them mingle under your supervision. Ignore hissing and growling, but you may have to intervene if a physical battle breaks out. Again, take this step slowly, depending on how quickly they get along. If they do seem to tolerate each other, even begrudgingly, praise both of them profusely.
6. Make their first activities together enjoyable ones so they will learn to associate pleasure with the presence of the other cat. Feeding (with their own separate dishes), playing, and petting. Keep up with the praise.
7. If things start going badly, separate them again, and then start where you left off. If one cat seems to consistently be the aggressor, give him or her some "time out," then try again a little bit later.

The process of acceptance varies from cat to cat... but eventualy, both will accept the other. Just be patient. Lots of snuggle-time and attention is indicated for all cats concerned during this period. Remember, the prime goal is to get them to associate pleasure with the presence of each other.

Answer 6

Rub an old towel on your cat and let it lay around the male cats. Do the same to the male cats and let it lay around your female cat. Let them sniff and get used to it. Later rub a towel on your female and rub the same towel on the males. Then rub a towel on the males and rub it on your female. Transferring scents works very well. It may take a few times to do this. My two cats have lived together for many years. One of them need to stay at the vets for a few days and when I brought her home it was chaos until I did the above. Friends again. Cats recognize each other by scent, not sight.

Answer 7

Been there done that got the tee shirt.

Your best bet is to try and keep them separated on the first day there in the same house so they get used to the smell of each other without any physical contact and the chance of fights.

After that try introducing them to each other while you're in the room with them, that way you can make sure they won't hurt each other. Yes it takes time usually a couple of days before they start to become comfortable with each other, and after week are so you shouldn't be able to tell that they haven't lived together forever.

Good luck
E.

Answer 8

Male cats are very protective. The males will fight over the female cat. This will be done in many ways including spraying things. Be careful. If you want it not to be so bad I would suggest getting another female kitten. I know this sounds strange but cats need a pride. With lions there is one male and lots of females. If there is one female there will be problems. Your female is going to be scared anyway. The change needs to be made ASAP.

Answer 9

take the cat that lives in the house and put him/her in a room with litter food and water for a couple of days. let the other explore. this will allow them to spread there scent and the other cat to get used to it. then let them meet. allow each an escape route. give each a litter-box. good luck