Question about getting a second cat

[NJCher]

My friend has one cat, Henry, who is a couple years old. Because my friend works full time, Henry spends a lot of time by himself in a big, three-story house.

My friend has sold her residence and is moving to a new house, slightly smaller but closer to her work. Now she'll be able to spend more time with him.

She's been wanting to get Henry a buddy but has been reluctant to go through any territorial difficulties with the addition of a new cat.

We were thinking that the time for a new cat might be when she moves into the new house. Since he will be in news surroundings, this might cut down on the territoriality issue.

On the other hand, moving might be stressful enough for Henry, let alone contending with a new cat in the house.

What do you guys think? Any ideas on this? Do you think this might cut down on the potential territorial problems?




Cher

[ET Awful]

1. I would give Henry a little time to adjust to the new place first

Then, bring in the new cat. Keep the new cat in a different room with it's own food, water and litterbox for a week or so and keep the door closed. Let the two sniff each other under the door and grow accustomed to each other's scent. Also, put a towl in the spots were each of them regularly sleep, and swap the towels every couple of days, so they end up sleeping on each others scent.

You might also want to put the food dishes on either side of the closed door so they smell each other while they eat.

After a couple of weeks of this, they should start getting used to each other pretty quickly.

You have to expect some hissing and such, it's not necessarily aggressive, in most cases, hissing is defensive and instinctual.

[demnan]

2. I agree

one new change at a time is enough for an animal that notoriously hates change.

[Beaverhausen]

3. This thread should help you out

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=243&topic_id=6787

This is one of my all time favorite threads here. Newsguyatl was introducing a new cat and this thread documents the various stages they went through.

They are quite the happy couple now, fortunately.

[Eurobabe]

4. Give the first cat a month or so to get used to the new digs

then slowly, use the tried and true method of kitten in the bathroom for 3 days, swap the new one out and put the older cat in the bathroom for a couple of hours. Let them smell each other behind closed doors. By the third day, you can slowly introduce them, and they should be fine. There will be some fireworks, hissing, posturing -- but most single cats adjust fine and in the end are so happy to have a buddy. I would recommend sticking with the same sex. Good luck to your friend. Let us know what happens!

[Kashka-Kat]

5. second opinion

actually, there may be some validity to the idea of Henry getting all his changes out of the way in one shot.

There's that whole progression of introducing cats-- you know about that, right? Can take days or weeks or months depending on the animals. Keep them separate, get them used to smelling and hearing each other through door before they meet face to face, take towel and rub one cat and then the other to mingle their scents. Even before meeting face to face, you can swap spaces periodically so they can investigate the other cat's smell first. Meeting face to face happens only when they're not hissing and freaking out anymore by the scent & sounds of the other cat.

Henry I think will be more amenable to being confined to part of the house when he first moves in. If he moves in and gets used to having run of the house, and THEN gets confined he's not going to like that and be more upset at what to him is a home invasion. But if there's separate space from the get-go, then I think he'll be less stressed in the long run.

Choose the new cat, or cats, wisely. Shelters should be able to give you some idea about how well they tolerate other cats. 2 cats which are more oriented towards each other (sleep together, groom each other, etc.) than towards humans might be a good idea bc then they won't be competing w/ Henry for human attention. Let Henry be the pet, and the other 2 be his companions. A good shelter should be able to advise.

[nickinSTL]

6. heh. companion animals

for your cat :D