About Teresa Expertise I can answer questions about cat breeding, animal husbandry, raising orphan kittens and kitten delivery. General health questions and shipping animals.
Experience I have worked 10 years as a vet assistant, I have also been breeding and showing Abyssinian Cats since 1982 and previous to that I was breeding purebred English Setters and Persian cats.
Organizations TICA, CFA, ACCA
Education/Credentials I have been trained as a Veterinary Assistant and I have a marketing degree and some pre Vet education.
Question I am moving in with my boyfriend and he has a 6 yr old female very aggressive only child cat. i have a 2 yr old male who is declawed and very passive and is easily scarred. and i have a sweet troublesome 7 mo. old female kitten. we are worried that all of there personalitys will clash and his female will end up hurting my male. we don't want to get rid of any of them but we will if we have to. Do you think it will have to come to that or is there any advice you can give to make this any easier?
Answer Hi Samantha, The dynamics that you are working with could be successful. I don't forsee any problems between your male and his female. usually male cats are more submissive and will defer to a dominant female cat. This is a good thing! Because he will not be challenging her and fighting with her. Two females are more likely to fight BUT because your female is young and therefore more submissinve I feel once again it shoudl go ok! this does not mean that you can walk in and plunk them all down in one room together and expect harmony but within a couple of weeks you should have a pretty happy home !
What you need to do is give the 6 yr old lots of time to get used to the idea of sharing her home with other cats. Start right now by bringing over blankets of your cats so that she can get used to their smell. If you are going for a short visit bring one of your cats in a carrier and let the older cat sniff her or him and they can each meet each other but in a safe situation and then take the kenneled cat back home. Then eventually bring one of your cats over and have it in a spare bedroom or bathroom for the night. The next morning put the 6 yr old into the bathroom for a couple of hours and let your cat or cats run through the house and check things out.. then bring them back home...Do you see where I am going with this? Keep the contact or "invasion" short at first and then let it get longer and longer. Through a doorway is the best way for cats to get used to a new cat so do that as long as you are able and then keep switching places until finally everyone is calm enough to do a real introduction! I would say 2 weeks until you introduce them and 6 weeks until they will actually be sleeping together and grooming each other !
Teresa
