Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all!! Me again ... I know I always wait ages between posts. I swear, life just never slows down!

So, my baby and I will be moving out into the world sooner than we thought. My house isn't ready yet, but my parents are moving and so I have no choice but to pick up my kitty and live elsewhere! Our final destination, chez my boyfriend and his mother ... where 2 other cats already live!

One of the cats is my Cornish Rex, Jynx ... we were hoping her and Spooky wouldn't have to meet until we moved into our new house and introduced the 2 of them there. Now, they will be living together 2 months before they move OUT together and into the new house (sorry this is so confusing!).

Anyways, my baby is 15 years old and getting quite crabby and arthritic and is female. The 2 already in the house are 3 year old Jynx (Rex female) and 4 year old Marcus (regular short hair male).

I want this move to be as pain free as possible for Spooky. She's had enough trauma in her life (living with a bitchy Siamese for 12 years) so I want her to feel at home and comfortable and not like an outcast. She is extremely attached to me, but so is Jynx. Whenever I'm at my boyfriend's house Jynx sticks to me like glue and actually sleeps in the same place Spooky does when I'm there!! I want them to get along, but I know females don't usually get along very well. Also, Spooky has been scarred so badly by the Siamese I'm afraid she'll never accept another cat.

The house is quite large ... 2 story, 4 bedrooms, large downstairs etc. so there is plenty of room for all 3 of them to have their own space ...it's just that Jynx has already "claimed" my boyfriend's bedroom and I don't want Spooky to feel neglected by me or left out because that's my room too and should be her room as well, WITH Jynx ...

Sorry this is was long, I'm just very worried about it all. She's old and I want her to be happy ... I've never done this with cats before so it's all new to me!

Thanks for any and all suggestions guys!!!

- Miranda

You'll just have to go slow and steady. Keep her isolated in her own room for several days to a couple weeks before you have supervised visits (with her in a cat carrier at first). When she is in her own room, rub towels on the cats (or let them sleep on a towel for a while) and put the two resident cat towels in the room with her so she can get used to their smells and put her towel out with the resident cats to get used to her smell. I think the most important is to keep her in her own room for several days so she gets used to the idea of moving first, then introduce the other cats later on. You'll have to keep an eye on her and spend time with her. If you find she isn't eating or using the litter box within 24 hours, you'll have to coax her and work with her. You can get an appetite stimulant from the vet (Cyproheptadine) if you find her appetite is really diminished. Play it by ear. But isolate her for several days before any introductions. And, plan to spend a lot of time with her the first few days to get her comfortable. The other cats will be fine -- they have your boyfriend and are in their own home. Dote on her up front and make her feel safe in her own space and comfortable up front and it should work out when you start slow supervised introductions after a few days.
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Tammy
Stanley and Pookey

Thank-you all so much for the advice! I was planning on giving Spooky her own room in the beginning ... keeping her food and litter there etc. and letting the other cats kind of sniff each other out through the crack in the door! There's a bed in the room too so I might just sleep in there with her for the first few nights so she's not alone (she has always slept with me).

She actually just had blood work done not too long ago - she had a bit of blood in her stool and we were extremely worried. We brought her to the vet immediately for blood work and x-rays. Thankfully, she was fine - we determined she'd snitched one too many cups of Hot Chocolate over the holidays and the sweets weren't agreeing with her tummy! She does have a Thyroid problem (she takes a pill every morning) but other than that *knock on wood* she's healthy and looks extremely good for her age!

The move will happen in the next month and a 1/2 so I'll keep you guys posted ... again, thank-you all so much ...

- Miranda

Perfect that there is a bed in her room. Sleeping with her the first few nights in her room will do wonders for her getting used to the new home... You have two totally different things to tackle: A new home/routine and new pets in the new home. If you tackle the new home first, the introduction to the other cats later will go much better...

I did think of another thing. After she is more relaxed in her room in a few days, and seems to want out, you may want to shut the other two cats up in a room for a while to give her free/safe run of the house a few times so she can get used to the whole house before meeting the other cats...

So, isolation for a few days with you sleeping with her in your room; then safe/free run of the house with the other cats behind closed door; then slow introduction to the other cats... Might take you up to a month to get this all done, but slow and steady will win this race and pay off big term in the end.

She'll give you cues when she wants to get out of the room and explore the rest of the house, etc...
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Tammy
Stanley and Pookey

Better yet, after a few days of her in her own room. Let HER out to explore and put the 2 other cats in HER room so they can sniff around and get used to her scent.
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Tessa Onyx, Foudini, Charlee, Spottie, ShyRaven, Buddy, Tuxie, Widdle Attila Sipowitz, Lizzie, Minnie, ET, Mylo, Penny (We be house cats at last), and Salem, Wicca and Marmalade (We iz also house cats, we guess)and the 5 porch kits also Riley da goggie and Alex da baby hamster too
Tabitha and Samantha..always in our hearts
A house without cats is like a garden without flowers

Hi There,

I just read the reply from the other poster and her advice is excellent!

The only thing I wanted to add is that it may be a good idea to have your 15 year-old examined by a vet and have a blood panel and urinalysis done before the move. Senior cats are prone to so many things and the stress of the move is going to affect her. If she has any health issues it would be good to know about them beforehand. Hopefully she will get a clean bill of health but it's good to know for sure. If any treatment is needed, it would be beneficial to get started before the stress of the move.

My 10 year-old cat, Fiona, was unexpectedly diagnosed with kidney failure recently. Because it was found early, her chances of doing well with treatment are very good.

Regards,
PHKitkat

Tammy gave you some great advice- I hope all goes well!