Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all! Sorry it's been so long since my last post ... life tends to get in the way sometimes! Both Spooky and Jynx are doing very well though ... but things are going to change in the coming months.

Sorry this is long ...

My boyfriend and I just bought a brand new home - built from the ground up! YAY! It will be ready next July and when we move in we will be introducing 2 cats who currently live in 2 different homes to one another ... we are a little worried about the encounter ... here are the cat profils;

Spooky is a 15 year old female, regular house cat. She currently lives in a house with a rather aggressive Siamese whom she has to be separated from in order to preserve her health and well-being! Due to this Siamese she has become very timid in her old age. She is a sweetheart and one of the most gentle cats I have ever known. She has fairly bad arthritis and she is a little nervous in general (thanks to the Siamese). She is my cat and is very attached to me (we live in the basement together!) She also has a bit of a problem with peeing in the right place (she always has) and unless she is given no other choice than the box she will find somewhere else to go.

Jynx is a 2 year old, female Cornish Rex. She currently lives in a home with 2 other cats (male) and she gets along with them very well. She is very hyper and playful and extremely affectionate. Because she lives at my boyfriends house currently, she is more attached to him then I. Though she is very needy towards me when I'm over and sleeps with me under the covers at night! Recently, a female kitten (4 months old) waas brought to Jynx's home and she did not react pleasantly! It became a weekend of hissing, hissing, growling and more hissing. The kitten didn't care less and only wanted to play, but Jynx was not pleased! Granted, it was only for 2 days, but there was no improvement in her behaviour or any type of acceptance on Jynx's part. She was not aggressive or violent towards the kitten though - just loud!

So, those are the 2 that will be introduced into a brand new house next Spring. We know it's a few months away ... but we want to prepare. We don't want to stress either of them out in any way ... and we want to go about this as intelligently as possible!

The house will be big enough for them to have their own space ... and we will definitely have 2 litter boxes ...

Any and all suggestions/advice will be much appreciated from us both (and the cats!).
Thank-you in advance ...

- MsMiranda ~*^..^*~

Since it's two issues, I'll split my thoughts and then come together...

1. New House. When I moved my boys from their home of many years to the brand new condo, I did a lot of reading. The bottom line I read and experienced is that the cat(s) need to start small in a room and spend a week or as long as needed rather than being thrust in a whole new house at once. My boys stayed closed up in my bedroom with food/water/litter/toys for a week before they started acting like they were "comfortable" and wanted to venture out -- but stuck to my room as a "safe" room as it was established as that the first week. After a week of venturing, they were very comfortable in the new condo (took about two weeks total). Two things that may have made the transition longer for my boys -- the contractors were still working on the upper units (lots of noise during the day) and I had ceiling fans, which they had never seen. They spent the first 24 hours under my bed and didn't eat, drink, or use the litter box. I then pulled them out one at a time (the more outgoing cat first) and petted them and coaxed them in the litter box and to eat/drink. They kept looking at the ceiling fan like it was a monster the whole time (it was off). But, don't be surprised if one of your cats hides out. I would let them hid out for a few hours, but recommend coaxing them out after a few hours and work with them to use the box, eat, etc., if they aren't out wandering in their "room" anyway.

2. New Meetings. Since it seems to work best to keep new cats separated from each other a couple weeks anyway, you may just want to give them separate rooms from day one for the first week or so. Then when they want to venture out, I'd let one venture with the other closed in a room and vice versa. I'd rub towels on the cats and let them sniff. And then maybe have one in a cat carrier and let the other sniff and vice versa. All of this gradual over several days.

3. Happy Harmony. First I'd tackle the fear of the new house and keep the cats totally separate for a week or so. Then start with the slow integration with each other when they are "comfortable" in the house. It may be easier since both will be new to the house. Something to consider -- Whichever cat you keep in your bedroom, if you do, may be most territorial towards that room. You may want to consider giving them each a room not your bedroom...
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Tammy
Stanley and Pookey

Hi Tammy - thank-you so much for all that advice! I've actually been doing as much online reading as I can (even though it's pretty far away) and I've seen your suggestions mentioned before.
I'd love to be able to give each of them their own room ... however, we only have 2 bedrooms. I was thinking that our bedroom would definitely make one or the other jealous...and could only think of the washrooms as an alternative (we have 2).
Everything will be done when we move in ... we'll have everything painted, all the furniture in and all the building will be done (and no ceiling fans! hehehe)
I've read that females are extremely territorial and as they are both female we considered bringing them both in at the same time, letting them meet in their carriers for a few hours (face to face in separate carriers of course) and then opening the doors and letting them establish their own "zones" on their own ... that way we aren't creating territories by putting them in their own rooms.
I've read that we can start "introducing" the two now by carrying scents to the other cat ... rubbing towels and then bringing them to the other cat at the other house. But, in reality, they've been getting used to one another for the past 1 1/2 years because my clothes must be covered in Spooky's scent when I visit Jynx and Jynx sleeps under the covers with me at night and I go home to Spooky ... will this make their meeting any easier?

MsMiranda ~*^..^*~

we only have 2 bedrooms. I was thinking that our bedroom would definitely make one or the other jealous...

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Then keep it simple. Think it thru and put the most "mellow" of the two in your room.

Tackle it in two phases. Get them used to the house first over a week or two isolated in their own "safe" rooms, if needed, then get them used to each other. Play it safe and start from scratch getting them used to each other when they are used to the house after a few days.

1. Let one out at a time to investigate the house (they'll probably smell each other).

2. Still rub the towels on them -- even tho they kind of have been smelling each other. I don't think it will help overmuch that they have smelled each other. They will be off balance with the new house and then meeting eachother...your situation adds two stressers in rather than just one...

3. One thing I thougth of since this is unique and one doesn't have previous full run of the house... You could also swap rooms a week or so after they seem comfortable in the house, before you let them really meet. They'd really smell each other in the rooms they have been staying in for a week or so. It'll also get them used to that room safely.

4. When they do meet face-to-face, I'd do it with one in a carrier -- in a community room -- not one of the bedrooms they have been staying in.

Slow and steady will win this race. It will seem like forever if it takes a couple weeks isolating them and then a couple weeks slowly integrating them, but it will pay off. Time and again you see folks have problems integrating if they just drop a cat/dog in the middle of the living room and let them all figure it out on their own. Yours especially will be doubly freaked. Their home they always new is gone (first problem to tackle) and then there is a new cat to get used to...
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Tammy
Stanley and Pookey

Thank-you so much Tammy! That's some really good advice ... I really appreciate all the tips/hints.

I think it will be a very slow process but we want these girls to be happy in their new home, so we'll do whatever it takes!

MsMiranda ~*^..^*~

Yep, it'll work out just fine. You'll know better than anyone how fast to go just watching how they react to the house and then to each other... I wish you all the best and will say, it went much smoother for me when I moved my boys because I did just what you did -- I thought about it a few weeks out, read up on it, and asked questions. A lot of what was suggested and discussed is about exactly what happened. The one thing I didn't anticipte is their refusing to come out from under the bed for 24 hours (and still not looking like they were going to budge at that point) -- due to the ceiling fan (off). Had to coax them out and pet them and hold them and coax them into the litter box and food/water, along side them the whole time, to get them started...
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Tammy
Stanley and Pookey