How do you introduce cats to each other?
Kaley D asked:
My boyfriend and I rescued a cat 2 years ago who had just previously had 7 kittens, he kept two and I kept one, so the cats are related. Recently we brougt my cat to his house to reunite them with his brothers, and he only met one and totally flipped out! It was a hissing and growling competition. I was wondering how do you go about introducing cats to each other (even though they are related) in a healthy way so that you dont loose the trust of your cats or end up with a constant cat quarral?
My boyfriend and I rescued a cat 2 years ago who had just previously had 7 kittens, he kept two and I kept one, so the cats are related. Recently we brougt my cat to his house to reunite them with his brothers, and he only met one and totally flipped out! It was a hissing and growling competition. I was wondering how do you go about introducing cats to each other (even though they are related) in a healthy way so that you dont loose the trust of your cats or end up with a constant cat quarral?
Tags: Cat House, Introducing Cats, Kittens
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November 18th, 2008 at 8:00 am
Only when their relay young can u do that.
November 20th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
say, “this is cat one, this is cat two, how do you do.”
November 23rd, 2008 at 12:07 am
Bob this is Jim and Jim this is Bob
November 25th, 2008 at 10:24 am
rub there their noses together and hope they don’t fight
November 25th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Let them eat together. Get to know each other. pet them at the same time.
November 26th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
It has to be done very gradually. Have a closed door between them (they can still smell each other) and feed them there, or put string under the door with toys on each end so they can play. It may take 2 weeks, but it’ll work Carry one through the room and let them see each other under supervision. Just give them time to get used to each other.
November 29th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
You might go to: and read Dr. Jean Hovfe’s article, “Cat to Cat Introductions”. The fact that the cats are “related” has no bearing on the success of their integration as cats do not recognise a sibling (or a mother) after they have been separated.
Click on the Spirit Essence link while you are there and consider using some flower essences with the cats to aid in their adjustment. A Feliway difuser is also helpful in your situation.
November 29th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
We just threw them both in a room together, with a litter tray, food, and water then shut the door and left them to it.
Seemed to work for our two male house cats.
November 30th, 2008 at 6:48 am
Just let them run around sooner or later they will get used to each other I might have to go threw this when I send my cat to my moms house with my other cat Le-Le.My cat paper say it may take weeks or months until they are settled in.
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:21 am
um really you would half 2 get their claws trimed because some cats tend 2 fight when their at a middle class stage but you should inturduce them when their little and than they would grow up 2geather and know that the other wont harm them or their owner
December 4th, 2008 at 6:11 am
I think you should not force them . They will choose to live 2gether. Let them in the house and time will do his job.Forcing them will always end by a quarrel. Only time ca tell…
December 6th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
Tie their tails together lol
December 8th, 2008 at 5:23 am
you can try to make them smell each other,you hold a can and an other person holds the other so they dont fight.You could do this every week or so for 5 minutes…
December 11th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Hi hun,
Don’t worry - this is totally normal!
Because they haven’t lived together for 2 years, in all honesty they may not even know that they are related. And even if they do, the battles about hierarchy will still exist in the same way as unrelated cats.
Even though they are all male, there will need to be a hierarchy in place if you are planning to move in with your boyfriend. If you aren’t planning to move in with your boyfriend, and you don’t need to bring the cat over, I’d just leave it alone if I were you. Being moved around can be very traumatic for cats and really it’s best to avoid it unless absolutely necessary.
Let’s say you’re moving in with your boyfriend or you do need to bring your cat over to his….
They will all need to have a place in the hierarchy. This is why they hiss and scowl - all of them want to be ‘top cat’. Most likely, your cat will have to take third position though! He is afterall an intruder in their eyes! This is something you have to let them work this out for themselves. Don’t worry about them hissing - they will eventually accept him and it’s completely normal.
Try not to intervene too much - if you keep ‘defending’ your cat or telling your boyfriend’s cats off, the problem will get worse because your boyfriend’s cats will see the kitten as a threat. Your boyfriend’s cats will think that you are taking the side of your cat, and this will make them anxious.
Honestly, most cats do find a way of living with each other, even if they only tolerate each other’s presence.
If it helps, I took my kitten to see my mom’s 3 cats (my childhood pets!). Oh boy, were they not impressed with that?! My kitten was being very fiesty, trying to rule the roost - and my mom’s cats were having none of it! After a couple of hours, my kitten finally learnt that he came 4th in the kitty ranking. Once he’d accepted his position, they got on great. In fact, later that day they all slept together upstairs!
Obviously because you’re cat is 2 years old, he will not be as submissive as my kitten, so it will take a little while longer.
So in a nutshell, my advice is this:
If you don’t *have* to take the cat round to your boyfriend’s, just don’t do it. Even if he spends a weekend there and gets along with the other cats, he may go back to square one if you separate them again. It may also be very stressful for your cat - trust me, he would rather be left at home alone for one night than taken to a new house with new smells, unfamiliar sights and two hostile cats. Cats are really creatures of habit and they much prefer their own territory.
If you have to take him to your boyfriend’s, then my advice is to let them get on with it. Supervise, but let them hiss and swat each other. It’s natural, not dangerous, and it’s the only way they’ll learn to tolerate each other. Comfort your cat regularly, and try to comfort the other cats at the same time. Not only will this show the cats that you ‘like’ them all equally; but it will also mix their scents, which helps the introduction process.
Good luck!
xx Emmie
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December 12th, 2008 at 8:46 am
My cats was the same when i brought them together, it is not unusual for them to do this.. the best way to do this i find is put Ur new cat in a different room and put the other cats bed in with it and the same with the other cat, only do it for about an hour.. it will take a little while for them to come around but they will be ok in a day or so after doing this
December 14th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
No favorites (even though you probably have one). Most doors in homes these days have a little air space at their bottoms. Scent. Keep each cat in a separate room for a day or so and let them scent one another through the bottoms of those doors overnight. There is bound to be some hissing and carrying on while they establish their territories and dominance. Not to worry. The vet told me the less you make of it the less the cats will make of it. I got bold and just left them in the house together and yes, with no boundaries at all, they made some wild noises and had a little exchange of sorts - a whack here and a hiss there - and then they settled right down. Now they groom each other. Old Johann and Litrtle Scooter. Best friends. My protocol for this is that I believe God has designed cats to get along with one another. The less of my intervention and thoughts, the better. I totally trusted God to sort out their differences, seeing He made them. I said in effect, “Here, this is way over my head. You deal with it. Good night.” Next day they had quieted down a little bit. The next day, even moreso. I said a silent Thank You. I never had to resort to the closed door thing. I just gave them both free range of our entire home and they had it sorted out in about a total of two days. By all means ask a vet where you are to see if any of this will work for you, but I know for certain it worked for me. Take good care, and good luck with your little friends. That quarreling thing peters out fairly quickly because any cat worth his feline majesty does not have time to stoop to scrapping with other cats - it simply is not dignified. Take good care. Sent with good energies to you from Chris, in South Portland, Maine, U.S.A.
December 18th, 2008 at 12:59 am
Cats do not care if they are related or not.
If they had all been together since birth it would have been fine but now they will see one another as competition.
Introduce them gradually. Start off with them in cat boxes alongside each other so that they can get used to the sight & smell of each other. Next put them on harnesses & take them into the same room but not close enough to touch each other.
Keep adding a new step until the hissing & spitting stops then start letting them get a bit closer.
It may take a long time but it will be worth it.
December 18th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
strictly supervised visitation is required over a period of weeks if things gradually calm down ,you know you’ve succeeded.
December 18th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Being related doesn’t matter to a cat. It’s a territorial thing. When I brought a new cat into the house I just left them to it and sat away from them bnut kept an eye on them incase of any bullying etc. Just put one lot of food down so they have to eat at the same bowl. They will get used to each other sooner or later and they decide they don’t like each other they will stay out of each others way. My older cat used to puff up and hiss every time he saw the new cat but within a few weeks they actually started to cuddle up to sleep.
December 19th, 2008 at 9:36 am
It sounds horrible but when i got my kitten from a cat rescued home i was told just put the kitten in the other cats litter tray and put some of the litter over the new kitten so it has the other cats scent on him/her well it worked for my ones and i have been doing it every-time i get a new kitten..
December 21st, 2008 at 12:41 pm
I have had to introduce many cats so the easiest way is to have a room separated with a glass door. Put one cat in one room and the other cat in the other room. They can look at each other and get used to having each other around. Do this several times over a few day and most importantly DO NOT LET THEM BE ALONE. It’s going to take at least a week until you know they are friends. Another way if you don’t have rooms separated by a see-thru door is to get a laundry basket turned upside down. Put one cat under it so the other can smell it without scratching each other. Then switch.