Expert: Norman Auspitz - 2/11/2010

Question
Hello ,
I have 2 doll faced Persian cats . One is a 2 year old neutered male and the other one is a spayed 5 year old female.
A friend of mine is giving her male Maine coon cat (age about 3 years old) for adoption as she is leaving the country and settling somewhere else.

She wants me to adopt it because she feels I can take good care of her cat. I also personally love her cat.

Now my question is how can I introduce the new cat to my old cats in a way that they don't fight and accept each other. I want to mention here that her male cat is not neutered and I am afraid that this will cause him to be aggressive and territorial towards my cats in the future if they live together.
Other than that he is a very loving and affectionate cat and was the only cat in her house.

Thanks.

Answer
Nabeel,

The first order of business is to get the new cat neutered and isolate him from the others for a few weeks while the male hormone levels dissipate.

Here is a protocol we have used for introducing a new cat to a household with already existing pets.  Given the ages, there is no guarantee this will work and not end up with everyone going off on each other.  The danger you face is that if they do not get along, removing the new cat after introducing him may not restore the old arrangement.  Once the dynamics of the inter-relationship are changed, they may never be the same again!!!!!


Start out your new cat in one room with a litter pan and water dish. Ideally, the one room should be a bedroom with yourself or another human resident. This accomplishes a couple of things. Your new cat will not be overwhelmed by its new surroundings and get "lost", and thusly will have no problem finding the litter pan. You will feed the new cat in this room and keep the established cats out. It allows the new cat to bond with you or another human being and also build up some self assurance in its new surroundings since it will not have to compete for food or attention right away. Finally, it allows the new cat and the established cats to sniff each other under the door and get familiar with each others' scents.

After a few weeks of being in its one room (after being neutered), it is time to let them 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! 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 cat  is 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. Or, in the worst case scenario, they may never all get along!!!!!

Best regards... Norm.