Hunters Glen Copyright Page

Adding a New Cat
to Your Household

Regardless of whether you currently have dogs, other cats, or an other animal companion that has free roam of the house, adding another pet will be a stressful time. However, there are ways to make this transition easier, which will both, safeguard your current pets, and ease the transition of adding a new pet to your animal hierarchy.

First Things First

First, before you ever bring the new cat into your house, take it to your vet. You need to be sure that this animal is healthy or at least non-contagious before you bring this animal into your home. If it is not possible to get to the vet first, isolate the new cat in a room of the house that you can clean with bleach. Tiled or well-sealed wood floors make disinfecting much easier if it turns out that your new kitty is sick. Equip the room with a food bowl, water bowl and litter box and make sure all of these items were cleaned before you put them in with the new cat. Also, remember to place the box and the food area away from each other, as cats are notorious for not eating where they potty, and improper placement at this stage could set up inappropriate elimination problems.

Once at your vet's, have the following checks done:

Are all vaccinations up to date? If this information is unknown, have them brought up to date
Are there any signs of ringworm? (any hairloss or scaly skin patches should be considered to be ringworm until a fungal culture proves otherwise)
Are there any signs of internal parasites? Does the cat look 'bloated'? Spend an inordinate amount of time cleaning or biting at it's anus? Do you see 'rice grains' on the cat, or worms in its litterbox?
Are there any signs of ear mites? Is the cat scratching at its head or ears? Is there gritty dark brown wax present in or on the ears?
Are there any signs of fleas? When the cat's coat is ruffled, do black flakes fall off? Are there areas on the coat where there are concentrations of blackish 'dirt' attatched to the hair shafts, near the skin? Do you see fleas on the cat?
Are there any symptoms of an infectious respiratory disease? Is the cat sneezing? Is the green or yellow mucous present in it's nostrils? Are it's eyes watering? Does it look 'stuffed up'?
Have blood tests done for Feline Leukemia (FeLV) and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV). These tests can be done concurrently, in your vet's office, and take about 20 minutes.

Should your vet find anything wrong with your new cat, that isn't a fatal disease like FeLV or FIV, your cat will need to stay in isolation until its treatment is completed. Depending on the nature of the problem, you may also need to disinfect yourself (dilute bleach water is very effective), before rejoining your other pets. Most parasite problems take at least 2 months to resolve (this allows for 2 cycles of the lifespan to be sure all the eggs have hatched and new adults are now killed). "Colds" usually resolve much faster, in about 10 days to 2 weeks.

Introductions

The basic concept of adding a new cat to your household is allowing both time and distance between the current residents and the new cat to adjust to the change before they are allowed to always be together. You DO want your current animals to get used to the scent of the new cat, and you want the new cat to get used to the scent of them. You DON'T want your current animals and the new cat to physically interact without human supervision, at least not at first.

Since we are breeders, it's pretty common for us to have new cats coming into the household. Our set up includes the installation of screen doors on our isolation rooms. A screen door has the advantages that the cats can see through it, and smell through it, but not physically interact with each other. Installing a screen door is typically not practical for most people, so decide on one room of your house that can be the exclusive property of the new cat for at least a week. This should be a room that is not a favorite haunt of your current cats, and one with a door. You need to remember to spend time on both sides of that door yourself. This gives your new cat the needed security and attention while reassuring your existing cats that you still love and care for them.

You will undoubtedly hear a lot of hissing and growling from both sides of the door for the first few days, though there are always exceptions. Don't be suprised if the new cat spends much of it's time away from the door. After the new cat has thoroughly marked its new territory (rubbing its cheek against every available surface) and seems calm, remoive the newcomer, and it's box and dishes, and let the other cats into the room (this is of course assuming that any parasitic or infectious processes have been resolved). You can optionally close the current cats into the new cat's room, and let both parties explore the territories open to them. If the new cat is out in the rest of the house, you might want to select one room, that you can close off, for it to explore, so that it doesn't get frightened or lost. This process allows the new and resident cats to interact with each others scents, which is an integral step in the introduction process.

After a few days have passed and tempers seem calm on both sides of the door, you can proceed by allowing one or two of the resident cats into the new cat's room. You should stay and mediate, because cats if anything are unpredictable. Likewise, you can allow the new cat out into the house, with the resident cats. Again, be sure to watch for signs of trouble and be aware of when either side has had 'enough' of the experiment. Slowly increase the time you are letting the animals mix, but don't leave them alone and together until you've had a full day where you have been at home all day, and observed no problems.

Another good method for getting existing cats and new cats used to each other is to use a wet washcloth to transfer the scent of the cats between them. Take a damp washcloth and wipe it over the coat of the new cat. Take this same washcloth and wipe it over the coat of the resident cat, and then return to the new cat and wipe it with the washcloth again. DO NOT RINSE the washcloth during this process!!! This allows the resident cats to smell a little like the new cat, and the new cat to smell a little like them. Familiar scents serve to calm the animals down.

Bringing a new cat home doesn't need to be traumatic. A little common sense and patience is all that's needed to make the transition a peaceful one.

Write Us!