Expert: Tina - 4/10/2007

Question
We have a cat...10 1/2 months old.  Recently we found a stray and she looks to be roughly the same age, but I'm no expert.  How do we get the two cats to socialize with each other.  For the past three weeks, they avoid one another...hiss, spit and display total dislike for each other.

Is this a possible event to see them approve and like one another?

Please help because we're out of ideas and becoming frustrated.

Thanks & regards,

Cindy  

Answer
HI Cindy,

How kind of you to take in this little stray cat. If the new cat and your resident cat are not yet spayed or neutered, having that done ASAP will help matters. It can be hard to introduce a new cat but usually you can get them to co-exist peacefully with patience. However you will need to back things up and separate the new cat for a while, then follow the tips in this article I wrote on the subject;

http://catnet.stanford.edu/articles/introducing_cats.html

Good luck!