I have a year old cat and have had an old friend move in with two 10-year-old cats. They are in the spare bedroom & it has been about a 1 1/2 weeks. My cat didn't like it and would even attack the owner of the two cats. He seems to have lessoned the number of "attacks" on her and seems to have started to "talk" to the other cats through the door. He has cat herpes which is a respiratory thing for cats. It is contagious to other cats. Vet says that 98% of cats have it, just don't show symptoms like my cat. He sneezes and gets one runny eye and a respiratory infection. She is fully aware of this and the vet says their immune systems should be up enough to be ok. My cat has kidney problems from the bad food, but is doing better. Vet says that is why he is more apt to show symptoms. He also has or has had heart worms which are not spreadable. Question is: How should we finally introduce them. Book says to bring stuff in with their smell and leave it around the house.
2007-06-16 10:48:15 · 4 answers · asked by Stephanie F 7 in Pets ➔ Cats
Then open the door and let them make their own introductions. Friend says to put the other cats under a laundry basket and let the dominate cat come around them that way.
Also to not let them have unsupervised visits at first.
2007-06-16 10:49:19 · update #1
Thank you for your kind answers about this different situation.
2007-06-16 10:50:24 · update #2
With cats being territorial creatures, it's never easy introducing them to each other. Your poor boy hasn't been in the best of health recently, and if he's not feeling too good at the moment, that might make him less tolerant of the newcomers. The web article below gives good advice on introducing new cats into the home. As you've already kept them separated, you can proceed straight to step 2. of the introduction.
http://www.tulsa-animalshelter.org/tips/intro%20cat.htm
Continue being patient and they will gradually accept each other. Make sure to reward them with treats when they can be together in a peaceful situation and they will quickly learn that it's to their advantage to get along.
2007-06-16 13:51:25 · answer #1 · answered by Michele the Louis Wain cat 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
First of all, speak to the vet about introducing a vitamin supplement called L-lysine into the cat's daily diet. This supplement helps to strengthen the cats immune system and lessen the instances of upper resp. infection.
As for intorducing the cats, if there is a certain smell that your cat is used to, such as your perfume, spray a bit onto the other cats and that will make a familiar scent, thus relaxing your kitty. Also, there are pheremone plug-ins and sprays called Feliway that you can buy at the vet or pet store that help 2 calm cats in stressful situations.
Hope this helps.
2007-06-19 13:59:18 · answer #2 · answered by mrjon912 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In my house we have done something similar to this once, my female kitten and a 12 yr old female cat, and later a five year old female cat and a male kitten. It was the kitten who caused all of the problems. The kitten jumped all over the other cat in both cases. At first the cat did not defend herself, and then she would attack back,even locking her jaws around his neck. I was a little frightened by this, but she let go and the kitten was unharmed. I would be sure to observe them together at first, and if your cats are inside cats to have the kitten declawed as soon as possible, because those claws could hurt the older cats.
2016-05-17 11:14:50 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All of that is good advise.
Do all of it.
Really, you can't be too careful, or too prepared.
2007-06-16 10:58:14 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋