Expert: Norman Auspitz - 9/19/2009

Question
My boyfriend and I have bought our first house and will soon be moving into it. We are having two of our friends move in as well. My boyfriend and I will be moving from a two cat to a four cat household, as we have two and they have two. I was wondering how would be the easiest way to introduce them all to each other. It is a two story home with the master bedroom on the first floor. That's where my male spends most of his time. The two cats our friends are bring with them are used to spending most of their time in their bedroom where they are living now. I made the mistake of just adding our second cat into the household without any introduction and it didn't go very smoothly. My boy has for the most part gotten used to her but I really don't want to have to worry about the four of them getting into fights with him as they are all declawed and he is not. (They are all cats that have been kind of inherited. No one else would take them so we did, they were declawed before we got them.) Thank you so much for your time. I hope to hear from you soon.

Answer
Elizabeth,

The thing about cats is they have to got through a "getting to know you" ritual with other cats.  This often consists of much hissing, spitting, growling, and posturing.  Sometimes they even leave loose fur in the aftermath.  Rarely will two cats hurt each other as awful as the noise may be (like World War III).  This will probably happen regardless of how they are introduces. However, a fairly good introduction protocol is:

Start out the new cats in one room with a litter pan and water dish. Ideally, the one room should be a bedroom with at least one human resident. This accomplishes a couple of things. The new cats will not be overwhelmed by the new surroundings and get "lost", and thusly will have no problem finding the litter pan. The new cats will be fed in this room and the established cats kept out. It allows the new cats build up some self assurance in the new surroundings since they will not have to compete for food or attention right away. Finally, it allows the new cats and the established cats to sniff each other under the door and get familiar with each others' scents.

After 5-7 days of being in the one room, it is time to let everyone meet each other. Be prepared for some posturing, some spitting and hissing, and the like. IGNORE IT! After a while, they should begin chasing each other about and still have the occasional hiss or spit as they get accustomed to each other. Cats tend to make a whole lot of noise and even loosen up some fur. Rarely will two cats hurt each other.

Once they are introduced, there are a couple of things you must remember. Do not separate them again, they will get along, eventually! Do not interfere in their "discussions" as they need to sort it out amongst themselves!

It does not hurt to give the established cats treats and extra attention after the new cats are introduced (yes, cats do get jealous!).

A couple of things you may have to do are to feed them on separate dishes. Provide more than one litter pan in different areas of the household (as cats can be very territorial about litter pans).

All, in all, this method seems to have had great success in the past and makes for a fairly smooth introduction. Please remember that they may make up immediately, or it may take a few weeks. Also, the older the cats, the longer it takes.

Best regards... Norm.