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I have always considered myself a cat person. I wear that label with pride. As far back as I can remember, I’ve always been drawn to cats, and I’ve always had at least two of them at all times. That seemed to be a good number for us. Two cats are perfect for keeping each other company when we are away during the day, and then there is no odd cat out.
We thought we had the perfect number of pets, especially when you count Rufus, our dog…but then one day while we were on vacation in Northern California and I was browsing the Internet, an ad popped up from a cat rescue organization. Normally I would click out of that faster than you can imagine, but there was a little kitten face looking back at me and all I could do was point my phone towards Pete and tell him we needed one more furry friend.
Because Pete is usually the voice of reason, I totally expected him to say we already had more than enough pets in our home, but instead, he said we needed to call asap and inquire about that kitten.
I was pretty shocked that even he couldn’t resist that face, and a few days later we brought home that little kitten and named her Moon.
The thing is, we were not planning to adopt another cat, and our two cats were on the older side and brothers. They had never been around another cat before, and I had no idea how they would take to the idea of another cat in our home, let alone a kitten. We joke that they have gotten grouchy in their old age, and I had visions of them getting upset with a ball of energy running throughout our home at all times of the day. Our older cats love their sleep, and I couldn’t imagine them enjoying being woken up by a playful kitten.
Thankfully, I had worked at an animal hospital in college so I had a few tips and tricks up my sleeve to make the transition from a two-cat home to a three-cat home as easy as possible.
Tip 1. Don’t insist on having good sharers. There is nothing worse to a cat than having to share his owner. Cats also don’t typically enjoy sharing food, water, a litter box and toys. While you can’t help having to share yourself, you can help with the rest. Get the new cat his own supplies at first. Keep him in a separate area, but don’t stop the old or new cats from using each other’s things. Having more than one toy available can help alleviate stress from the belief that there isn’t enough to go around.
Tip 2. Always have your vet do a full exam before bringing a new pet into the home.
Tip 3. Give it time. The first introduction we made between the older cats and the kitten didn’t go so well. It left the kitten crying and our black and white cat in a hissing fit. I quickly ended that meeting and we tried again the next day with better results. We started with half-hour meetings and slowly increased their time together.
Tip 4. Give the established pets just as much, if not more, attention. I know how cute and fun a new pet is, but this is the time to really give your attention to the older furry friends. They might be feeling jealous of the newcomer, and spending that extra time can really help them stay calm and open to the new pet.
Tip 5. Don’t make any other changes in your existing pets’ life. Adding a new pet can be stressful enough, so don’t change your pets’ food or schedules too much. Keep everything else the same and let the new and old pets create their new normal together.
Tip 6. Let food be the peacemaker. If all else fails, put the new pet in one room with everything he needs, and then put the other pets’ food and water right outside the door of that room. With this approach, the existing pets will relate the smell of the new pet with something that makes them happy – food! This one really worked for us. Our black and white cat was a holdout and not too sure of the new kitten. This strategy is what finally got him to accept the kitten into our home.
Tip 7. Don’t give up. Our one cat really acted like he was never going to accept the new kitten, but then one day I saw them cuddling together on the couch. Finally, there was acceptance and they have all gotten along since!
Are you thinking of adding a new cat to your home?
These should all probably work well for a dog too. No cats in our house – allergies!
My family is a cat lover and we always have a cat at home even until now that my son came into our lives. He calls the cat meow meow. Thanks for sharing these tips.
I miss having a cat… my husband is severely allergic… I miss the craziness cats bring 🙂
I love these tips and I feel like it could work in some ways for other pets too! So helpful1
These are such great tips! animals are very in tune to what is going on, so keeping things calm & introducing slowly is key. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Ah, these are really good ideas. We had a hard time introducing our first two cats to each other. It was a long process.
Great post! We have a cat as well but don’t think I could handle another. lol For a cat, he’s pretty high maintenance. ????
I have two cats. One adopted us nine years ago. The other adopted us last summer. You offer some great tips for introducing a new cat to your home.
On the surface, it would certainly seem that you were very brave introducing a new kitten to 2 established cats and your earlier experience at an animal hospital would have helped a lot. These look like really, solid and practical steps and tips to make it work out. My favorite as what I think would really be effective was the one about making food the peacemaker…now that is a smart approach!
I’m not a cat person so no cat in the house. I’ll share this with my cat lover friends.
These are so great tips and a lot of these can be transferred over to many different animals. Introducing your new pet at home is really important for both you and the animal.
Making sure all your pets are seen by the vet and receive their shots is so important. This way you don’t have to worry about them making each other sick.
These are great tips for brining a new kitty home. Some of them we used when we brought ours home too
Our cat adopted us and moved herself in. We couldnt say no she was just too cute.
Great tips!!!! I remember going from one furbaby to two! Definitely a tough transition, but it can be done. My two furbabies now love each other lol