Help! Need advice on cat introduction

Thanks in advance to anybody that responds to me!

We already have a 12 year old cat that has been ours for close to 6
years. On friday night we (my roommate and I) got a 2 year old cat
from the local humane society. This cat is VERY nervous and takes time
to warm up to people. I knew this when I got the cat, but I would
still like things to go smoother. The cat has actually been in the
custody of one of the humane workers house since march. She has 3
other cats and I have proof from her experience that the new cat can
coexist with other cats and will warm up to humans after some time.

I brought the new cat in the carrying case into the house and put it
down on the floor to let the 12 year old (whiskers) see/sniff and to
watch her reaction. She (whiskers) growled and hissed at the new cat
(Marigold). Marigold is the type of cat that does not vocalize very
often and when she is afraid tends to hide and "freeze" in one
location, so Marigold didn't hiss or growl back.

So I sighed and figured that things were going to take some time.

I brought her up some stairs to a set of rooms (one of which is mine)
that is connected by an adjacent bathroom. I put the carrying case
down in the adjacent room. I decided to let Marigold get used to me
first before traumatizing her more with Whiskers so I closed the
bedroom doors to both rooms to keep her from the rest of the house
(and whiskers). I opened the carrying case, it took her about 2 hours
to come out. When she did, she immidately found the bed that was in a
corner of the room and wedged herself in the corner underneath the
bed.

She kept there for almost 24 hours and did not eat/drink or use the
kitty litter box in the room ( I put the food/water in the middle of
the room..away from the litter box about 10 feet away)

After 24 hours she came out while I was not around and wedged herself
in another corner of the room by a desk (but at least hand
accessible). I put the food and water close to her (within inches) and
started to pet her. She seemed to warm up and began eating (no water
yet). As she ate she became increasingly friendly, and was receptive
to me petting her more but I could see that any sudden movement on my
part or strange noise coming from outside the room would cause her to
freeze for a second before continuing to eat and rubbing up against my
hand.

So It's now monday morning. She was very vocal this morning and
friendly. I had to leave her in the closed rooms while I am at work.
So I am sure the two cats are meowing at each other through the door
while I am gone.

At this point I would really like to get the ball rolling with
introducing the two cats to each other, but the new cat is SO skittish
(nervous) that I am afraid that if I bring whiskers in the room for a
short while, whiskers growling and hissing will just eradicate what
little trust I've developed with Marigold.

Any suggestions as to how to proceed next would be GREATLY
appreciated!

-Doug

"Danathar" wrote in message
om...
Thanks in advance to anybody that responds to me!

We already have a 12 year old cat that has been ours for close to 6
years. On friday night we (my roommate and I) got a 2 year old cat
from the local humane society. This cat is VERY nervous and takes time
to warm up to people. I knew this when I got the cat, but I would
still like things to go smoother. The cat has actually been in the
custody of one of the humane workers house since march. She has 3
other cats and I have proof from her experience that the new cat can
coexist with other cats and will warm up to humans after some time.

I brought the new cat in the carrying case into the house and put it
down on the floor to let the 12 year old (whiskers) see/sniff and to
watch her reaction. She (whiskers) growled and hissed at the new cat
(Marigold). Marigold is the type of cat that does not vocalize very
often and when she is afraid tends to hide and "freeze" in one
location, so Marigold didn't hiss or growl back.


So It's now monday morning. She was very vocal this morning and
friendly. I had to leave her in the closed rooms while I am at work.
So I am sure the two cats are meowing at each other through the door
while I am gone.

At this point I would really like to get the ball rolling with
introducing the two cats to each other, but the new cat is SO skittish
(nervous) that I am afraid that if I bring whiskers in the room for a
short while, whiskers growling and hissing will just eradicate what
little trust I've developed with Marigold.

Any suggestions as to how to proceed next would be GREATLY
appreciated!

-Doug

I have a fairly long document that I put together to explain how I
introduced Duffy and Holy. I did this at the request of some other people
who wanted the information, and I did not want to continually post it to
newsgroups because I had previously posted the information (some in bits and
pieces) several times. I will be happy to send it to you by email after I
get home from work this evening if you would like to see it. Let me know if
you want to see it. In the meantime, please let me emphasize the point that
you should plan to do this in very slow and gradual stages. You will
probably set things back considerably if you try to force an introduction.
This means that you are actually fortunate that you had to leave the cats in
separate rooms when you went to work today. You can see a "history" of what
I did if you look at the two links under my signature.

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")

"Danathar" wrote in message
om...
Thanks in advance to anybody that responds to me!

We already have a 12 year old cat that has been ours for close to 6
years. On friday night we (my roommate and I) got a 2 year old cat
from the local humane society. This cat is VERY nervous and takes time
to warm up to people. I knew this when I got the cat, but I would
still like things to go smoother. The cat has actually been in the
custody of one of the humane workers house since march. She has 3
other cats and I have proof from her experience that the new cat can
coexist with other cats and will warm up to humans after some time.

I brought the new cat in the carrying case into the house and put it
down on the floor to let the 12 year old (whiskers) see/sniff and to
watch her reaction. She (whiskers) growled and hissed at the new cat
(Marigold). Marigold is the type of cat that does not vocalize very
often and when she is afraid tends to hide and "freeze" in one
location, so Marigold didn't hiss or growl back.


So It's now monday morning. She was very vocal this morning and
friendly. I had to leave her in the closed rooms while I am at work.
So I am sure the two cats are meowing at each other through the door
while I am gone.

At this point I would really like to get the ball rolling with
introducing the two cats to each other, but the new cat is SO skittish
(nervous) that I am afraid that if I bring whiskers in the room for a
short while, whiskers growling and hissing will just eradicate what
little trust I've developed with Marigold.

Any suggestions as to how to proceed next would be GREATLY
appreciated!

-Doug

I have a fairly long document that I put together to explain how I
introduced Duffy and Holy. I did this at the request of some other people
who wanted the information, and I did not want to continually post it to
newsgroups because I had previously posted the information (some in bits and
pieces) several times. I will be happy to send it to you by email after I
get home from work this evening if you would like to see it. Let me know if
you want to see it. In the meantime, please let me emphasize the point that
you should plan to do this in very slow and gradual stages. You will
probably set things back considerably if you try to force an introduction.
This means that you are actually fortunate that you had to leave the cats in
separate rooms when you went to work today. You can see a "history" of what
I did if you look at the two links under my signature.

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")

"Danathar" wrote in message
om...
Thanks in advance to anybody that responds to me!

We already have a 12 year old cat that has been ours for close to 6
years. On friday night we (my roommate and I) got a 2 year old cat
from the local humane society. This cat is VERY nervous and takes time
to warm up to people. I knew this when I got the cat, but I would
still like things to go smoother. The cat has actually been in the
custody of one of the humane workers house since march. She has 3
other cats and I have proof from her experience that the new cat can
coexist with other cats and will warm up to humans after some time.

I brought the new cat in the carrying case into the house and put it
down on the floor to let the 12 year old (whiskers) see/sniff and to
watch her reaction. She (whiskers) growled and hissed at the new cat
(Marigold). Marigold is the type of cat that does not vocalize very
often and when she is afraid tends to hide and "freeze" in one
location, so Marigold didn't hiss or growl back.


So It's now monday morning. She was very vocal this morning and
friendly. I had to leave her in the closed rooms while I am at work.
So I am sure the two cats are meowing at each other through the door
while I am gone.

At this point I would really like to get the ball rolling with
introducing the two cats to each other, but the new cat is SO skittish
(nervous) that I am afraid that if I bring whiskers in the room for a
short while, whiskers growling and hissing will just eradicate what
little trust I've developed with Marigold.

Any suggestions as to how to proceed next would be GREATLY
appreciated!

-Doug

I have a fairly long document that I put together to explain how I
introduced Duffy and Holy. I did this at the request of some other people
who wanted the information, and I did not want to continually post it to
newsgroups because I had previously posted the information (some in bits and
pieces) several times. I will be happy to send it to you by email after I
get home from work this evening if you would like to see it. Let me know if
you want to see it. In the meantime, please let me emphasize the point that
you should plan to do this in very slow and gradual stages. You will
probably set things back considerably if you try to force an introduction.
This means that you are actually fortunate that you had to leave the cats in
separate rooms when you went to work today. You can see a "history" of what
I did if you look at the two links under my signature.

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")

In article ,
enlightened us with...

At this point I would really like to get the ball rolling with
introducing the two cats to each other, but the new cat is SO skittish
(nervous) that I am afraid that if I bring whiskers in the room for a
short while, whiskers growling and hissing will just eradicate what
little trust I've developed with Marigold.

Any suggestions as to how to proceed next would be GREATLY
appreciated!


Congrats on getting this far! Nervous cats can take a lot of patience.
My Isis hid in the bathroom for two weeks.

I would recommend taking a couple days to get the cats used to each
other's scent. Get a towel. Rub it on Marigold. Then take it in the
other room and rub it on Whiskers. Do this several times a day and they
will start to smell more like each other, as cats who live together do.

Then you may want to shut Whiskers in the bathroom or a bedroom for a
short while and let Marigold explore the house without having to see
Whiskers. They will smell each other this way, since Whisker's scent is
in the home and Marigold's scent will be throughout the home after she
explores it.

After a week or so, I'd try an introduction. While Marigold is
exploring, let Whiskers out of the bedroom or bathroom. They meet each
other, but don't associate you specifically with the meeting. I would
not recommend direct contact if either cat is aggressive, but it sounds
like Marigold is not the confrontational type and Whiskers may hiss, but
if she didn't stalk Marigold and have a fit, she probably isn't overly
confrontational either.
Let Marigold run into the other room if she wants to. Don't force
anything. If the cats don't fight, leave the room open for awhile to see
if Marigold comes back out. Do let her have some security by closing the
door again if she seems overly scared.

If she gets scared, she may not want to come out again for awhile. Don't
force her. Just give her the opportunity to explore while Whiskers isn't
around (as before) and build up her confidence. Then try again.

Let us know how it goes.

--
~kaeli~
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable
from magic.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace

In article ,
enlightened us with...

At this point I would really like to get the ball rolling with
introducing the two cats to each other, but the new cat is SO skittish
(nervous) that I am afraid that if I bring whiskers in the room for a
short while, whiskers growling and hissing will just eradicate what
little trust I've developed with Marigold.

Any suggestions as to how to proceed next would be GREATLY
appreciated!


Congrats on getting this far! Nervous cats can take a lot of patience.
My Isis hid in the bathroom for two weeks.

I would recommend taking a couple days to get the cats used to each
other's scent. Get a towel. Rub it on Marigold. Then take it in the
other room and rub it on Whiskers. Do this several times a day and they
will start to smell more like each other, as cats who live together do.

Then you may want to shut Whiskers in the bathroom or a bedroom for a
short while and let Marigold explore the house without having to see
Whiskers. They will smell each other this way, since Whisker's scent is
in the home and Marigold's scent will be throughout the home after she
explores it.

After a week or so, I'd try an introduction. While Marigold is
exploring, let Whiskers out of the bedroom or bathroom. They meet each
other, but don't associate you specifically with the meeting. I would
not recommend direct contact if either cat is aggressive, but it sounds
like Marigold is not the confrontational type and Whiskers may hiss, but
if she didn't stalk Marigold and have a fit, she probably isn't overly
confrontational either.
Let Marigold run into the other room if she wants to. Don't force
anything. If the cats don't fight, leave the room open for awhile to see
if Marigold comes back out. Do let her have some security by closing the
door again if she seems overly scared.

If she gets scared, she may not want to come out again for awhile. Don't
force her. Just give her the opportunity to explore while Whiskers isn't
around (as before) and build up her confidence. Then try again.

Let us know how it goes.

--
~kaeli~
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable
from magic.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace

In article ,
enlightened us with...

At this point I would really like to get the ball rolling with
introducing the two cats to each other, but the new cat is SO skittish
(nervous) that I am afraid that if I bring whiskers in the room for a
short while, whiskers growling and hissing will just eradicate what
little trust I've developed with Marigold.

Any suggestions as to how to proceed next would be GREATLY
appreciated!


Congrats on getting this far! Nervous cats can take a lot of patience.
My Isis hid in the bathroom for two weeks.

I would recommend taking a couple days to get the cats used to each
other's scent. Get a towel. Rub it on Marigold. Then take it in the
other room and rub it on Whiskers. Do this several times a day and they
will start to smell more like each other, as cats who live together do.

Then you may want to shut Whiskers in the bathroom or a bedroom for a
short while and let Marigold explore the house without having to see
Whiskers. They will smell each other this way, since Whisker's scent is
in the home and Marigold's scent will be throughout the home after she
explores it.

After a week or so, I'd try an introduction. While Marigold is
exploring, let Whiskers out of the bedroom or bathroom. They meet each
other, but don't associate you specifically with the meeting. I would
not recommend direct contact if either cat is aggressive, but it sounds
like Marigold is not the confrontational type and Whiskers may hiss, but
if she didn't stalk Marigold and have a fit, she probably isn't overly
confrontational either.
Let Marigold run into the other room if she wants to. Don't force
anything. If the cats don't fight, leave the room open for awhile to see
if Marigold comes back out. Do let her have some security by closing the
door again if she seems overly scared.

If she gets scared, she may not want to come out again for awhile. Don't
force her. Just give her the opportunity to explore while Whiskers isn't
around (as before) and build up her confidence. Then try again.

Let us know how it goes.

--
~kaeli~
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable
from magic.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace

kaeli wrote in message . ..
In article ,
enlightened us with...

At this point I would really like to get the ball rolling with
introducing the two cats to each other, but the new cat is SO skittish
(nervous) that I am afraid that if I bring whiskers in the room for a
short while, whiskers growling and hissing will just eradicate what
little trust I've developed with Marigold.

Any suggestions as to how to proceed next would be GREATLY
appreciated!


Congrats on getting this far! Nervous cats can take a lot of patience.
My Isis hid in the bathroom for two weeks.

I would recommend taking a couple days to get the cats used to each
other's scent. Get a towel. Rub it on Marigold. Then take it in the
other room and rub it on Whiskers. Do this several times a day and they
will start to smell more like each other, as cats who live together do.

Then you may want to shut Whiskers in the bathroom or a bedroom for a
short while and let Marigold explore the house without having to see
Whiskers. They will smell each other this way, since Whisker's scent is
in the home and Marigold's scent will be throughout the home after she
explores it.

After a week or so, I'd try an introduction. While Marigold is
exploring, let Whiskers out of the bedroom or bathroom. They meet each
other, but don't associate you specifically with the meeting. I would
not recommend direct contact if either cat is aggressive, but it sounds
like Marigold is not the confrontational type and Whiskers may hiss, but
if she didn't stalk Marigold and have a fit, she probably isn't overly
confrontational either.
Let Marigold run into the other room if she wants to. Don't force
anything. If the cats don't fight, leave the room open for awhile to see
if Marigold comes back out. Do let her have some security by closing the
door again if she seems overly scared.

If she gets scared, she may not want to come out again for awhile. Don't
force her. Just give her the opportunity to explore while Whiskers isn't
around (as before) and build up her confidence. Then try again.

Let us know how it goes.

So..Somebody today at work recommended that I go get a child gate and
put it in front of the door (and another one above the first to keep
them both from jumping it!). This way they could get used to one
another without injury

Whiskers came up to the gate...and growled and made some other strange
noises I'd never heard before...Then Marigold heard it and came to
investigate (brave cat!) As soon as she got close to whiskers,
whiskers "screamed" at her. I don't quite know how to describe it. It
came from her throat like a "screamed hiss". It was brief and loud!
Needless to say Marigold jumped 3 feet in the air and darted back
underneath the bed. She came back out again though. So she was'nt
permamently traumatized!

I will definitely try the towel idea. Somebody also recommended using
the same brush on both cats. More updates to come...any comments
welcome! Thanks again for the help thus far! Too bad this group
does'nt accept binarys, I could post pictures! But then again maybee
that would'nt be such a good idea. I'm sure every cat owner in the
group would post pictures!

-Doug

kaeli wrote in message . ..
In article ,
enlightened us with...

At this point I would really like to get the ball rolling with
introducing the two cats to each other, but the new cat is SO skittish
(nervous) that I am afraid that if I bring whiskers in the room for a
short while, whiskers growling and hissing will just eradicate what
little trust I've developed with Marigold.

Any suggestions as to how to proceed next would be GREATLY
appreciated!


Congrats on getting this far! Nervous cats can take a lot of patience.
My Isis hid in the bathroom for two weeks.

I would recommend taking a couple days to get the cats used to each
other's scent. Get a towel. Rub it on Marigold. Then take it in the
other room and rub it on Whiskers. Do this several times a day and they
will start to smell more like each other, as cats who live together do.

Then you may want to shut Whiskers in the bathroom or a bedroom for a
short while and let Marigold explore the house without having to see
Whiskers. They will smell each other this way, since Whisker's scent is
in the home and Marigold's scent will be throughout the home after she
explores it.

After a week or so, I'd try an introduction. While Marigold is
exploring, let Whiskers out of the bedroom or bathroom. They meet each
other, but don't associate you specifically with the meeting. I would
not recommend direct contact if either cat is aggressive, but it sounds
like Marigold is not the confrontational type and Whiskers may hiss, but
if she didn't stalk Marigold and have a fit, she probably isn't overly
confrontational either.
Let Marigold run into the other room if she wants to. Don't force
anything. If the cats don't fight, leave the room open for awhile to see
if Marigold comes back out. Do let her have some security by closing the
door again if she seems overly scared.

If she gets scared, she may not want to come out again for awhile. Don't
force her. Just give her the opportunity to explore while Whiskers isn't
around (as before) and build up her confidence. Then try again.

Let us know how it goes.

So..Somebody today at work recommended that I go get a child gate and
put it in front of the door (and another one above the first to keep
them both from jumping it!). This way they could get used to one
another without injury

Whiskers came up to the gate...and growled and made some other strange
noises I'd never heard before...Then Marigold heard it and came to
investigate (brave cat!) As soon as she got close to whiskers,
whiskers "screamed" at her. I don't quite know how to describe it. It
came from her throat like a "screamed hiss". It was brief and loud!
Needless to say Marigold jumped 3 feet in the air and darted back
underneath the bed. She came back out again though. So she was'nt
permamently traumatized!

I will definitely try the towel idea. Somebody also recommended using
the same brush on both cats. More updates to come...any comments
welcome! Thanks again for the help thus far! Too bad this group
does'nt accept binarys, I could post pictures! But then again maybee
that would'nt be such a good idea. I'm sure every cat owner in the
group would post pictures!

-Doug

kaeli wrote in message . ..
In article ,
enlightened us with...

At this point I would really like to get the ball rolling with
introducing the two cats to each other, but the new cat is SO skittish
(nervous) that I am afraid that if I bring whiskers in the room for a
short while, whiskers growling and hissing will just eradicate what
little trust I've developed with Marigold.

Any suggestions as to how to proceed next would be GREATLY
appreciated!


Congrats on getting this far! Nervous cats can take a lot of patience.
My Isis hid in the bathroom for two weeks.

I would recommend taking a couple days to get the cats used to each
other's scent. Get a towel. Rub it on Marigold. Then take it in the
other room and rub it on Whiskers. Do this several times a day and they
will start to smell more like each other, as cats who live together do.

Then you may want to shut Whiskers in the bathroom or a bedroom for a
short while and let Marigold explore the house without having to see
Whiskers. They will smell each other this way, since Whisker's scent is
in the home and Marigold's scent will be throughout the home after she
explores it.

After a week or so, I'd try an introduction. While Marigold is
exploring, let Whiskers out of the bedroom or bathroom. They meet each
other, but don't associate you specifically with the meeting. I would
not recommend direct contact if either cat is aggressive, but it sounds
like Marigold is not the confrontational type and Whiskers may hiss, but
if she didn't stalk Marigold and have a fit, she probably isn't overly
confrontational either.
Let Marigold run into the other room if she wants to. Don't force
anything. If the cats don't fight, leave the room open for awhile to see
if Marigold comes back out. Do let her have some security by closing the
door again if she seems overly scared.

If she gets scared, she may not want to come out again for awhile. Don't
force her. Just give her the opportunity to explore while Whiskers isn't
around (as before) and build up her confidence. Then try again.

Let us know how it goes.

So..Somebody today at work recommended that I go get a child gate and
put it in front of the door (and another one above the first to keep
them both from jumping it!). This way they could get used to one
another without injury

Whiskers came up to the gate...and growled and made some other strange
noises I'd never heard before...Then Marigold heard it and came to
investigate (brave cat!) As soon as she got close to whiskers,
whiskers "screamed" at her. I don't quite know how to describe it. It
came from her throat like a "screamed hiss". It was brief and loud!
Needless to say Marigold jumped 3 feet in the air and darted back
underneath the bed. She came back out again though. So she was'nt
permamently traumatized!

I will definitely try the towel idea. Somebody also recommended using
the same brush on both cats. More updates to come...any comments
welcome! Thanks again for the help thus far! Too bad this group
does'nt accept binarys, I could post pictures! But then again maybee
that would'nt be such a good idea. I'm sure every cat owner in the
group would post pictures!

-Doug