Considering a 2nd cat

in article , Jim
Wild at wrote on 8/11/03 8:18 AM:

I have a 18 month old fixed male. We have a stray living in our shop at
work. She is about 3 or 4 months old. I have been feeding her and she
has warmed up to me. I have already given her a dose of Advantage and it
seems to have taken care of the fleas. I will also have a vet give her a
check up and have her treated for worms, since she has the pot belly
which is a good indication of worms. After all is said and done, it's
meeting time for her and my good natured but not very affectionate male.
Affection to him is, let's play and dig in with our claws.

My question is concerning how these 2 may get along. Given the ages,
different sex and backgrounds. I don't want to do the 2 weeks of
separation deal. My idea was to bring her home from the vet and put her
in the bathroom for several hours. Let the both of them understand that
there is another cat present. It is my understanding that the kitten
will accept whatever she is dealt. However, the established male may
feel invaded. Is there a tried and true proceeder that will give me a
better chance at successfully making these 2 friends? My male did live
with his mom and several siblings for the first 6 months of his life. I
have a feeling that he wants a playmate again. I don't think he would
resent her, but approach the new cat with curiosity and excitement. Like
I said, he is good natured. Any advice in this matter would be
appreciated.

Slow introductions usually go MUCH better. I'd really advise. The age and
sex difference probably will not matter and may help. I certainly would not
rush it. But see how they go. Some introductions take a week, some six
months. The younger the introduced cat the shorter the time usually.

Karen

in article , Jim
Wild at wrote on 8/11/03 8:18 AM:

I have a 18 month old fixed male. We have a stray living in our shop at
work. She is about 3 or 4 months old. I have been feeding her and she
has warmed up to me. I have already given her a dose of Advantage and it
seems to have taken care of the fleas. I will also have a vet give her a
check up and have her treated for worms, since she has the pot belly
which is a good indication of worms. After all is said and done, it's
meeting time for her and my good natured but not very affectionate male.
Affection to him is, let's play and dig in with our claws.

My question is concerning how these 2 may get along. Given the ages,
different sex and backgrounds. I don't want to do the 2 weeks of
separation deal. My idea was to bring her home from the vet and put her
in the bathroom for several hours. Let the both of them understand that
there is another cat present. It is my understanding that the kitten
will accept whatever she is dealt. However, the established male may
feel invaded. Is there a tried and true proceeder that will give me a
better chance at successfully making these 2 friends? My male did live
with his mom and several siblings for the first 6 months of his life. I
have a feeling that he wants a playmate again. I don't think he would
resent her, but approach the new cat with curiosity and excitement. Like
I said, he is good natured. Any advice in this matter would be
appreciated.

Slow introductions usually go MUCH better. I'd really advise. The age and
sex difference probably will not matter and may help. I certainly would not
rush it. But see how they go. Some introductions take a week, some six
months. The younger the introduced cat the shorter the time usually.

Karen

I thought about this allot when we had to put Marshall to sleep last
winter:-(

We have a another fixed female cat, Kitty. Her and Marshall were good
buddies and spent about 11 years together, but Kitty had always been "top
cat".

We got a beautiful fixed male Blue from the local shelter about 2 months
after we lost Marshall. They said he was about one--two years old. He has
grown quite a bit since we got him.

We tried the quick intro. The new cat, Max hid for about a day so we
separated them for about 2 days. They both became quite curious about each
other, so we tried again. Things were fine. Not "best buddy" fine, but
livable. It took about 2 months for them to become friends. I don't think
they will be as close as Kitty and Marshall were, but all is well.

I am surprised as Kitty mourned (actually got ill and quit eating) about 2
weeks after Marshall died. Had to seek emergency vet care and baby her allot
after she recovered. She then seemed like she was VERY content to be the
only cat, but we thought let's try this after she became stable for about a
month. At first she acted like we "betrayed" her by getting this other cat,
but she slowly got used to the idea. The worst thing was/is a little hissing
and batting at each other....no pulled hair, no blood!

I had a friend who got a 2nd cat in November and this cat and her surviving
cat do not get along. She was amazed at how our 2 got along after such a
short time. She said her cats can fight so bad, she still finds tufts of
hair around the house.

Of course, I praised them highly (gave them treats) when they got along and
scolded them when they didn't. I still do this.

Depends on the cats, I guess.

Linda

I thought about this allot when we had to put Marshall to sleep last
winter:-(

We have a another fixed female cat, Kitty. Her and Marshall were good
buddies and spent about 11 years together, but Kitty had always been "top
cat".

We got a beautiful fixed male Blue from the local shelter about 2 months
after we lost Marshall. They said he was about one--two years old. He has
grown quite a bit since we got him.

We tried the quick intro. The new cat, Max hid for about a day so we
separated them for about 2 days. They both became quite curious about each
other, so we tried again. Things were fine. Not "best buddy" fine, but
livable. It took about 2 months for them to become friends. I don't think
they will be as close as Kitty and Marshall were, but all is well.

I am surprised as Kitty mourned (actually got ill and quit eating) about 2
weeks after Marshall died. Had to seek emergency vet care and baby her allot
after she recovered. She then seemed like she was VERY content to be the
only cat, but we thought let's try this after she became stable for about a
month. At first she acted like we "betrayed" her by getting this other cat,
but she slowly got used to the idea. The worst thing was/is a little hissing
and batting at each other....no pulled hair, no blood!

I had a friend who got a 2nd cat in November and this cat and her surviving
cat do not get along. She was amazed at how our 2 got along after such a
short time. She said her cats can fight so bad, she still finds tufts of
hair around the house.

Of course, I praised them highly (gave them treats) when they got along and
scolded them when they didn't. I still do this.

Depends on the cats, I guess.

Linda

Make sure the vet does a FIV/FELV test before they meet.
--
Joe
http://www.jwpitt.com/cats.htm
Cat Rescue http://www.animalrescuefoundation.com
God created the cat so man could have the pleasure of petting the tiger

"Karen Chuplis" wrote in message
...
in article , Jim
Wild at wrote on 8/11/03 8:18 AM:

I have a 18 month old fixed male. We have a stray living in our shop at
work. She is about 3 or 4 months old. I have been feeding her and she
has warmed up to me. I have already given her a dose of Advantage and it
seems to have taken care of the fleas. I will also have a vet give her a
check up and have her treated for worms, since she has the pot belly
which is a good indication of worms. After all is said and done, it's
meeting time for her and my good natured but not very affectionate male.
Affection to him is, let's play and dig in with our claws.

My question is concerning how these 2 may get along. Given the ages,
different sex and backgrounds. I don't want to do the 2 weeks of
separation deal. My idea was to bring her home from the vet and put her
in the bathroom for several hours. Let the both of them understand that
there is another cat present. It is my understanding that the kitten
will accept whatever she is dealt. However, the established male may
feel invaded. Is there a tried and true proceeder that will give me a
better chance at successfully making these 2 friends? My male did live
with his mom and several siblings for the first 6 months of his life. I
have a feeling that he wants a playmate again. I don't think he would
resent her, but approach the new cat with curiosity and excitement. Like
I said, he is good natured. Any advice in this matter would be
appreciated.

Slow introductions usually go MUCH better. I'd really advise. The age and
sex difference probably will not matter and may help. I certainly would
not
rush it. But see how they go. Some introductions take a week, some six
months. The younger the introduced cat the shorter the time usually.

Karen

Make sure the vet does a FIV/FELV test before they meet.
--
Joe
http://www.jwpitt.com/cats.htm
Cat Rescue http://www.animalrescuefoundation.com
God created the cat so man could have the pleasure of petting the tiger

"Karen Chuplis" wrote in message
...
in article , Jim
Wild at wrote on 8/11/03 8:18 AM:

I have a 18 month old fixed male. We have a stray living in our shop at
work. She is about 3 or 4 months old. I have been feeding her and she
has warmed up to me. I have already given her a dose of Advantage and it
seems to have taken care of the fleas. I will also have a vet give her a
check up and have her treated for worms, since she has the pot belly
which is a good indication of worms. After all is said and done, it's
meeting time for her and my good natured but not very affectionate male.
Affection to him is, let's play and dig in with our claws.

My question is concerning how these 2 may get along. Given the ages,
different sex and backgrounds. I don't want to do the 2 weeks of
separation deal. My idea was to bring her home from the vet and put her
in the bathroom for several hours. Let the both of them understand that
there is another cat present. It is my understanding that the kitten
will accept whatever she is dealt. However, the established male may
feel invaded. Is there a tried and true proceeder that will give me a
better chance at successfully making these 2 friends? My male did live
with his mom and several siblings for the first 6 months of his life. I
have a feeling that he wants a playmate again. I don't think he would
resent her, but approach the new cat with curiosity and excitement. Like
I said, he is good natured. Any advice in this matter would be
appreciated.

Slow introductions usually go MUCH better. I'd really advise. The age and
sex difference probably will not matter and may help. I certainly would
not
rush it. But see how they go. Some introductions take a week, some six
months. The younger the introduced cat the shorter the time usually.

Karen

The main thing I learned when recently introducing a second cat to our
household was to make sure the new comer is relaxed with its surroundings
before allowing an introduction. The main time we had troubles with
squabbling were when our new cat was not 100% relaxed anyway (eg if she was
exploring a new part of the house). I think she was giving off tense vibes
that made the resident cat arch up a bit which made the newcomer more tense
which lead to a tiff. Being a kitten, your newcattobe *might* settle in a
matter of hours I guess, but if she seems nervous, give her a bit more time.
I'd at least recommend separating them until she's sussed out the house (or
part of it) and is looking really comfortable with her new surroundings. One
of the main things I was read/was told is that once aggressive behaviour
between cats becomes established it is *very* difficult to break - so it
really is worth doing what you can to minimise or avoid aggression in the
first place.

When I was a kid, my parents got a female kitten to go with their neutured
male - prob about 18months old. This was 30 years ago or so, when the
attitude was to just let 'em sort it out themselves. They never did really.
He was always aggressive towards her and never really accepted her. The more
I researched recently the more I learned how avoidable that probably was -
It just takes patience and unfortunately there really is no shortcut... But
think about it this way - you're putting in a few weeks of extra time and
effort now for a relationship that's got to last *years*. It's worth it.
Oh, and give the Feliway a go. It made a *very* noticeable difference with
our cats which was evident when we ran out before they were done 'getting to
know each other'.

Goodluck,
Purplecat

"Jim Wild" wrote in message
...
I have a 18 month old fixed male. We have a stray living in our shop at
work. She is about 3 or 4 months old. I have been feeding her and she
has warmed up to me. I have already given her a dose of Advantage and it
seems to have taken care of the fleas. I will also have a vet give her a
check up and have her treated for worms, since she has the pot belly
which is a good indication of worms. After all is said and done, it's
meeting time for her and my good natured but not very affectionate male.
Affection to him is, let's play and dig in with our claws.

My question is concerning how these 2 may get along. Given the ages,
different sex and backgrounds. I don't want to do the 2 weeks of
separation deal. My idea was to bring her home from the vet and put her
in the bathroom for several hours. Let the both of them understand that
there is another cat present. It is my understanding that the kitten
will accept whatever she is dealt. However, the established male may
feel invaded. Is there a tried and true proceeder that will give me a
better chance at successfully making these 2 friends? My male did live
with his mom and several siblings for the first 6 months of his life. I
have a feeling that he wants a playmate again. I don't think he would
resent her, but approach the new cat with curiosity and excitement. Like
I said, he is good natured. Any advice in this matter would be
appreciated.

The main thing I learned when recently introducing a second cat to our
household was to make sure the new comer is relaxed with its surroundings
before allowing an introduction. The main time we had troubles with
squabbling were when our new cat was not 100% relaxed anyway (eg if she was
exploring a new part of the house). I think she was giving off tense vibes
that made the resident cat arch up a bit which made the newcomer more tense
which lead to a tiff. Being a kitten, your newcattobe *might* settle in a
matter of hours I guess, but if she seems nervous, give her a bit more time.
I'd at least recommend separating them until she's sussed out the house (or
part of it) and is looking really comfortable with her new surroundings. One
of the main things I was read/was told is that once aggressive behaviour
between cats becomes established it is *very* difficult to break - so it
really is worth doing what you can to minimise or avoid aggression in the
first place.

When I was a kid, my parents got a female kitten to go with their neutured
male - prob about 18months old. This was 30 years ago or so, when the
attitude was to just let 'em sort it out themselves. They never did really.
He was always aggressive towards her and never really accepted her. The more
I researched recently the more I learned how avoidable that probably was -
It just takes patience and unfortunately there really is no shortcut... But
think about it this way - you're putting in a few weeks of extra time and
effort now for a relationship that's got to last *years*. It's worth it.
Oh, and give the Feliway a go. It made a *very* noticeable difference with
our cats which was evident when we ran out before they were done 'getting to
know each other'.

Goodluck,
Purplecat

"Jim Wild" wrote in message
...
I have a 18 month old fixed male. We have a stray living in our shop at
work. She is about 3 or 4 months old. I have been feeding her and she
has warmed up to me. I have already given her a dose of Advantage and it
seems to have taken care of the fleas. I will also have a vet give her a
check up and have her treated for worms, since she has the pot belly
which is a good indication of worms. After all is said and done, it's
meeting time for her and my good natured but not very affectionate male.
Affection to him is, let's play and dig in with our claws.

My question is concerning how these 2 may get along. Given the ages,
different sex and backgrounds. I don't want to do the 2 weeks of
separation deal. My idea was to bring her home from the vet and put her
in the bathroom for several hours. Let the both of them understand that
there is another cat present. It is my understanding that the kitten
will accept whatever she is dealt. However, the established male may
feel invaded. Is there a tried and true proceeder that will give me a
better chance at successfully making these 2 friends? My male did live
with his mom and several siblings for the first 6 months of his life. I
have a feeling that he wants a playmate again. I don't think he would
resent her, but approach the new cat with curiosity and excitement. Like
I said, he is good natured. Any advice in this matter would be
appreciated.