Sorry if this has been raised before. But we did the classic "our cat is lonely, let's get another" and have got the introductions all wrong & need to know how to fix it.
We have had Dylan from 5 months old. He will be 3 next month. He's a neutered male. He lived fairly happy with our 6 yr old cat until he got run over. Last week we adopted Arthur. He's supposed to be the same age, but there's no way. He's prob about 4 or 5 and he's huge! (Dylan is tiny and only looks about a year old & we didn't think Arthur was that big til we got him home) We put Arthur in the spare room with bed etc & I spent time with him & Dylan for a day. Arthur was desperate to get out within a couple of days. Dylan wasn't interested that there was another cat in the spare room. He'd sniff under the door then walk off. He didn't voluntarily go to the door I had to keep putting him outside and then he'd just walk off. Anyway Dylan is out most of the time, so we let Arthur out to explore and he has quite literally made himself at home. He loves human company. Wherever I am he is. We introduced the 2 and Dylan took one look and legged it. When they finally got close enough he hissed and ran away. Every time Dylan sees Arthur he tries to escape, which in turn makes Arthur run after him. I've tried to separate them but feel so sorry for Arthur being locked in a small room. He scratches and cries to come out. As Dylan prefers to be out. I've shut the door between the front room and the kitchen so he can come and go through the cat flap into the conservatory where he likes to sleep but can still get into the kitchen. Arthur just sleeps on the couch most of the time. Dylan is out more and more and seems wary of me when I try to bring him inside, which in turn is making him stay away more. I need to gain his trust again & start the introductions again, but don't know where to start. Also I want to be able to let Arthur out but don't want him to take over the outside territory and stop Dylan coming home altogether.
Help! Introducing new cat. We've done it wrong!
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Kay
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Re: Help! Introducing new cat. We've done it wrong!
what you are doing now sounds OK to me - I would get both cats sleeping on something that can be swapped around though so they get used to each others' scents - it's a bit soon anyway to be letting Arthur out, and Dylan will be fine spending most of his time outside during the summer - as long as he comes home to sleep and eat I wouldn't worry about that
it's early days yet, and in my experience two neutered males tend not to have major issues with each other - the next stage is to try getting them to eat in the same room
it's early days yet, and in my experience two neutered males tend not to have major issues with each other - the next stage is to try getting them to eat in the same room
Re: Help! Introducing new cat. We've done it wrong!
Thankyou. They're both ok in the same room eating together. Dylan isn't a mad food eater. Arthur is a gannet and clears his bowl so Dylan claws to get out of the room as soon as he's had enough and we have to hide his food or Arthur will eat his.