Integrating the new kitties

wrote in message
...
MaryL -out-the-litter wrote:

"Takayuki" wrote in message

I was just wishing that I had a screen on my door like what you had
with your two.

The screen door was temporary. I bought a damaged door at the hardware
(*very cheap* because of the damage) and a man who does lots of
"handyman"
work for me cut out a hole and covered it with the type of metal-mesh
frame
that is often used as a kickplate on the bottom of screen doors.

...If I had not found the damaged wood door, I would simply have
bought the cheapest screen door available and used that.

What a *great* idea. I never thought of that! Of course, let's hope I
have the sense not to get into a situation where I am introducing a
*fourth* cat into my small apartment. But in the future, when I do
decide to adopt again, that idea might come in handy.

As I've posted here before, I took great pains to introduce Roxy and
Smudge the right way, and they were really close buddies for years.
But I didn't take any care at all when I brought in Licky, because
he was just supposed to be a foster, after all eyeroll. And as a
result, he and Smudge have had a contentious relationship ever since.
At least, I think that's the reason. It certainly didn't help!

I still recommend Feliway. Things have definitely calmed down around
here!

Joyce

Yes! Feliway is a great help in situations like this, or for any situation
where kitties seem to have "frayed nerves." I still keep some on hand just
in case it's needed. I no longer need it for anything routine, but I did
get it out one day when Holly began to react to a neighbor cat in the yard
and took it out on little Duffy -- she gave him a couple of swats, I put
them in separate rooms for a short time and plugged in the Feliway. It
definitely had a calming effect.

MaryL

On Jun 16, 2:24 pm, "MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER
wrote:

I was just wishing that I had a screen on my door like what you had
with your two. You did your introduction so much more elaborately and
thoroughly than has anyone else I've heard of. Right now, I'm keeping
them pretty much isolated, but I do want to give them some
opportunities to interact, so as not to lose that window of
opportunity when neither of them have a strong territorial claim to
the house yet.

The screen door was temporary. I bought a damaged door at the hardware
(*very cheap* because of the damage) and a man who does lots of "handyman"
work for me cut out a hole and covered it with the type of metal-mesh frame
that is often used as a kickplate on the bottom of screen doors. We used
the same hardware (doorknob and hinges) that were on the permanent door, and

Tak, I've done something similar with Lacey, Sam and Barnabus although
not as elaborate. I bought a window screen for about $14. It fits
over the door and is tall enough that they can't go over. Since I
didn't want to take a chance of someone going through the screen
during the day when I was away I would close the wooden door when I
was at work and then when I came home I'd open the bedroom door, put
the window screen in place and duct tape it to the door frame. This
also offered me the opportunity to "divide" the house after a week or
so. I moved the screen to the doorway between the sleeping part of
the house and the living part of the house so that the new cat has
three bedrooms and two baths and the older cats had the family room,
dining room and kitchen.

Julie

"GaDragonfly" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Jun 16, 2:24 pm, "MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER
wrote:

I was just wishing that I had a screen on my door like what you had
with your two. You did your introduction so much more elaborately and
thoroughly than has anyone else I've heard of. Right now, I'm keeping
them pretty much isolated, but I do want to give them some
opportunities to interact, so as not to lose that window of
opportunity when neither of them have a strong territorial claim to
the house yet.

The screen door was temporary. I bought a damaged door at the hardware
(*very cheap* because of the damage) and a man who does lots of
"handyman"
work for me cut out a hole and covered it with the type of metal-mesh
frame
that is often used as a kickplate on the bottom of screen doors. We used
the same hardware (doorknob and hinges) that were on the permanent door,
and

Tak, I've done something similar with Lacey, Sam and Barnabus although
not as elaborate. I bought a window screen for about $14. It fits
over the door and is tall enough that they can't go over. Since I
didn't want to take a chance of someone going through the screen
during the day when I was away I would close the wooden door when I
was at work and then when I came home I'd open the bedroom door, put
the window screen in place and duct tape it to the door frame. This
also offered me the opportunity to "divide" the house after a week or
so. I moved the screen to the doorway between the sleeping part of
the house and the living part of the house so that the new cat has
three bedrooms and two baths and the older cats had the family room,
dining room and kitchen.

Julie


This arrangement would depend on the age of the cats and how agile they are.
That would *never* keep Holly out because she is so agile that she can scale
anything. She makes a leap to the mantel seem completely effortless! For
that matter, Duffy would probably have climbed right over -- he may be
blind, but he's like a little gymnast. But it would be a great idea for
kittens.

MaryL

In ,
Takayuki shouted to everyone in earshot,
went into the cello position and licked an incision - and I remembered
that they told me that he was neutered only yesterday.

I'm a mostly-lurker, reading with interest here, and unless I've
missed something (entirely possible), it looks like no one has really
commented on Buster's recent neutering. you may or may not know that
he'll have some testosterone in his system for a couple weeks or so,
during which time he may have some behaviours that Dot won't care for,
possibly including what you described in the post that started this
thread and possibly including others that a human might not quite pick
up on. I don't know whether you had any preconceived notions about
how long you might have to keep them mostly-separated, but you might
think about keeping it up for at least two weeks.

I went through a vaguely similar thing a year and a half ago or so. I
brought a cat in from my yard, found no one to claim him, and then had
him neutered, since he hadn't been. before his neutering and for a
couple weeks afterward, he was never overly aggressive toward my other
three, but if I was letting him roam/interact and he settled down
somewhere, he might catch a cat moving around and then have to get up
to investigate--not appreciated by said cat, who was wary of him.
other times, he'd get into what would start as a tentatively-playful
chase, but then he wouldn't back down after cornering the cat in
question. never came to blows but didn't exactly endear him to
anyone, either. about two weeks after his surgery, that ended quite
suddenly, and I only continued the gradual integration for a few more
days, as he was getting a bit fed up with his confinement (and loudly
so, as he's part meezer). nowadays, he's still nobody's best buddy,
but he only rarely has a squabble with any of the others, and when I
manage to catch the beginning of it, it doesn't seem that he's usually
the one starting it.

I hope this helps you in some way. congratulations on the new kits!

Jeff
--
obligatory cat pics: http://web.mr-happy.com/pets/

On 2007-06-16 16:35:50 -0500, (JB) said:

In ,
Takayuki shouted to everyone in earshot,
went into the cello position and licked an incision - and I remembered
that they told me that he was neutered only yesterday.

I'm a mostly-lurker, reading with interest here, and unless I've
missed something (entirely possible), it looks like no one has really
commented on Buster's recent neutering. you may or may not know that
he'll have some testosterone in his system for a couple weeks or so,
during which time he may have some behaviours that Dot won't care for,
possibly including what you described in the post that started this
thread and possibly including others that a human might not quite pick
up on. I don't know whether you had any preconceived notions about
how long you might have to keep them mostly-separated, but you might
think about keeping it up for at least two weeks.

I went through a vaguely similar thing a year and a half ago or so. I
brought a cat in from my yard, found no one to claim him, and then had
him neutered, since he hadn't been. before his neutering and for a
couple weeks afterward, he was never overly aggressive toward my other
three, but if I was letting him roam/interact and he settled down
somewhere, he might catch a cat moving around and then have to get up
to investigate--not appreciated by said cat, who was wary of him.
other times, he'd get into what would start as a tentatively-playful
chase, but then he wouldn't back down after cornering the cat in
question. never came to blows but didn't exactly endear him to
anyone, either. about two weeks after his surgery, that ended quite
suddenly, and I only continued the gradual integration for a few more
days, as he was getting a bit fed up with his confinement (and loudly
so, as he's part meezer). nowadays, he's still nobody's best buddy,
but he only rarely has a squabble with any of the others, and when I
manage to catch the beginning of it, it doesn't seem that he's usually
the one starting it.

I hope this helps you in some way. congratulations on the new kits!

Jeff

Doh! I didn't even think of it, but you are right, it could definitely
help in a couple of weeks.

"Karen" wrote
| (JB) said:

| I'm a mostly-lurker, reading with interest here, and unless I've
| missed something (entirely possible), it looks like no one has really
| commented on Buster's recent neutering. you may or may not know that
| he'll have some testosterone in his system for a couple weeks or so,
| during which time he may have some behaviours that Dot won't care for,
| possibly including what you described in the post that started this
| thread and possibly including others that a human might not quite pick
| up on. I don't know whether you had any preconceived notions about
| how long you might have to keep them mostly-separated, but you might
| think about keeping it up for at least two weeks.

| Doh! I didn't even think of it, but you are right, it could definitely
| help in a couple of weeks.

I don't think this advice really applies in Tak's situation, as Buster is
only a year old, so he was probably not sexually mature when he was
neutered.

"Pat" wrote in message
et...

"Karen" wrote
| (JB) said:

| I'm a mostly-lurker, reading with interest here, and unless I've
| missed something (entirely possible), it looks like no one has really
| commented on Buster's recent neutering. you may or may not know that
| he'll have some testosterone in his system for a couple weeks or so,
| during which time he may have some behaviours that Dot won't care for,
| possibly including what you described in the post that started this
| thread and possibly including others that a human might not quite pick
| up on. I don't know whether you had any preconceived notions about
| how long you might have to keep them mostly-separated, but you might
| think about keeping it up for at least two weeks.

| Doh! I didn't even think of it, but you are right, it could definitely
| help in a couple of weeks.

I don't think this advice really applies in Tak's situation, as Buster is
only a year old, so he was probably not sexually mature when he was
neutered.



Cat's definitely can be sexually mature at one year of age. Female cats
have kittens at younger ages than that, and male cats father same kittens at
that age. Many unneutered males also start spraying at a much younger age.

MaryL

On 2007-06-16 18:04:52 -0500, "Pat"
said:


"Karen" wrote
| (JB) said:

| I'm a mostly-lurker, reading with interest here, and unless I've
| missed something (entirely possible), it looks like no one has really
| commented on Buster's recent neutering. you may or may not know that
| he'll have some testosterone in his system for a couple weeks or so,
| during which time he may have some behaviours that Dot won't care for,
| possibly including what you described in the post that started this
| thread and possibly including others that a human might not quite pick
| up on. I don't know whether you had any preconceived notions about
| how long you might have to keep them mostly-separated, but you might
| think about keeping it up for at least two weeks.

| Doh! I didn't even think of it, but you are right, it could definitely
| help in a couple of weeks.

I don't think this advice really applies in Tak's situation, as Buster
is only a year old, so he was probably not sexually mature when he was
neutered.

I think it is. Cats are well into sexual maturity by even 6 months. He
is one and was only just neutered, so I'm pretty sure it will calm him
down a bit.

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote:
wrote in message
.. .
I still recommend Feliway. Things have definitely calmed down around
here!

Yes! Feliway is a great help in situations like this, or for any situation
where kitties seem to have "frayed nerves." I still keep some on hand just
in case it's needed. I no longer need it for anything routine, but I did
get it out one day when Holly began to react to a neighbor cat in the yard
and took it out on little Duffy -- she gave him a couple of swats, I put
them in separate rooms for a short time and plugged in the Feliway. It
definitely had a calming effect.

I've always been unsure of Feliway, since I haven't heard anyone cite
any double-blind studies on its efficacy, but I've just gotten a
diffuser, and we'll see how it goes. Right now it's in the main room
near the den, but since the door is usually closed between the two
areas, I wonder if that means I need to buy a second one?

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote:
"GaDragonfly" wrote in message
roups.com...
Tak, I've done something similar with Lacey, Sam and Barnabus although
not as elaborate. I bought a window screen for about $14. It fits
over the door and is tall enough that they can't go over. Since I
didn't want to take a chance of someone going through the screen
during the day when I was away I would close the wooden door when I
was at work and then when I came home I'd open the bedroom door, put
the window screen in place and duct tape it to the door frame. This
also offered me the opportunity to "divide" the house after a week or
so. I moved the screen to the doorway between the sleeping part of
the house and the living part of the house so that the new cat has
three bedrooms and two baths and the older cats had the family room,
dining room and kitchen.

Julie

This arrangement would depend on the age of the cats and how agile they are.
That would *never* keep Holly out because she is so agile that she can scale
anything. She makes a leap to the mantel seem completely effortless! For
that matter, Duffy would probably have climbed right over -- he may be
blind, but he's like a little gymnast. But it would be a great idea for
kittens.

Dot, who is by far the older and chubbier of the two, has leapt from
the floor to the top of the refrigerator with one standing jump! It
makes me wonder what the limber Buster might be capable of.