To any cat owners lurking the forums

[Helen]

Well, basically...

My new cat will be arriving at our house tomorrow; she's 12 years old (but apparently looks much younger), Siamese, and quite small. We're all really looking forward to having her around the house, but the thing is, we already have a cat. Biscuit (the cat we already have) is around six months old, and can be extremely vicious. We recently started letting her go outside, but our vet has urged us not to let the new one out until she is more familiar with her new home. There's also the issue that Biscuit might get jealous of this new cat, or see her as a threat, and may hurt her. So my question is, what should we do for the first couple of days, while this new one gets used to her surroundings? Should we keep them apart for a while?

[Paul_UK]

I'm a cat owner but we have one at a time so I can't help with introducing new cats.

However my sister works for a cat rescue center, so I'll email her later and ask for her advice.

[Helen]

Thanks! ^___^

[panda]

As a cat person with five cats I'd say first of all, just see what happens when they're together. Then if they fight separate them.
Siamese cats can be very dominant.Once in the past an older Siamese cat came into our house and within a few days totally dominated the other five cats.
Good luck!! Keep us up to date.
Some cats get along,some don't. Only time will tell.

[Louise]

I think it depends a bit on the character of your cat, my husband's cat turns his back and leaves the room if another cat is introduced to the household and he has great difficulty getting over it. Apart from a bit of hissing and spitting he has never attacked another cat he just prefers to keep himself aloof and sulk quietly in a corner somewhere.

Having said that when he thinks we can't see him he has been known to play with the other cat (my daughters) then turn his back in a huff as soon as he sees us so who knows what goes on in their little minds.

Never underestimate your cat, my husband's cat sulked for one month, no word of a lie, when my husband returned from a3 week long trip overseas. Cats are more intelligent and sensitive that some people would have you believe and they too suffer from jelousy and insecurites and can be hurt.

What I have done in the past with dogs is to give the original dog their food first, give the original dog extra cuddles and pets untill they get used a bit to the intruder but I don't know if that works with cats.

Did you know that Siamese are very 'talkative' cats and when they get going it can sound like a baby crying... it's true!

[Helen]

Well, when I got home from school, Inci had arrived, and was hiding under the sofa. Her and Biscuit apparently hissed at each other the first couple of times they met, so we've separated them for now. Inci's up here with me at the moment, and she's very cuddly, and VERY vocal. So yes, you were right, Louise

[pirateninja]

Weeeeell, we had this slight problem when introducing Hansworth (my mom's boyfriend's cat) to our home, when we already have Lisa.

I agree with Louise, it does depend on the character of the cat. Lisa is very dominant and Hansworth doesn't really give a damn. If Lisa wants Hansworth out the room she'll give a hiss, and Hansworth just doesn't care, she'll just saunter out. We do make a point of giving Lisa the "privileges", like being able to come up on the sofa etc, so she doesn't get jealous of Hansworth, but other than a couple of hisses they just stay out of each others' way.

Separating them is probablt the best thing to do at first, but what we did was to let them have the wander of the house, so there was a lot of space if they wanted to keep out of each others' way.

Good luck with your new cat!

[Rahata]

My ex roommate had two cats. We got them at the sametime actually one was a kitten 4 months old and the other was a 7 year old. Both from different houses. It took them about a month to get to know each other. Promise(the 7year old) just liked to sleep where as Clarke wanted to play. She swatted him a few times but nothing massive more like a back off or else kinda thing. But they eventually started sleeping in the same spot so I dunno it takes time to have them get use to each. Don't keep them from each other but keep an eye on them is what i think. If they do fight just stomp or something usually scares them away from each other. But I don't think you'll have that problem, sounds like you have a friendly cat so don't worry and GOOD luck.

[Paul_UK]

Here's the reply from my sister:


Hi Helen, I'm Jill, Paul's sister!

Firstly congratulations on your new arrival! I am very envious, I just adore Siamese cats! Inci sounds gorgeous!

I have four cats and often have foster cats staying over, so my own cats have quite a lot to put up with sometimes. The best way to introduce them is to put Inci in a separate room, or one of those big dog crates if you have one, for a while so she can settle in and get used to the house and have her own space. Stroke the new cat and then stroke your resident cat so they can get used to the smell of each other on your hands. You can try swapping any favourite beds over as well so they can get each others smells. So this way they are apart but getting used to the smells of each other.

Ok next step... when you are there to keep an eye on things let Inci out while cuddling Biscuit. Let Inci explore the house find her feet etc. Make big fuss of Biscuit! Then put Biscuit down and just allow them to wander around. There may be a bit of hissing and growling, this is ok, and is quite normal. If they actually fight then you will have to separate them and try again the next day. It may take a week or so but this has always worked for me so far! At feeding times always feed Biscuit first and ensure that they each have their own feeding places. You may also need an extra litter tray, one for each cat, just while they are getting used to each other. Is Biscuit spayed yet? If not, when she is calling she might be more aggressive with Inci. Just something to watch out for.

With regards to going outside I would keep Inci in for at least a month. This will give her plenty of time to settle in to her new home. Before you let her outside maybe get her microchipped so you can be traced of she gets lost. Keep a close eye on her when she is outside, especially as she is a pedigree breed. Pedigrees are more likely to be stolen.

So, with some patience and careful planning they will soon get used to each other and may even become the best of friends! Good luck and I hope it all goes well! Let us know how they get on!

Love from
Jill.

[Alex]

I got 2 Siamese cats

First we had one.. then we made that one get kitties (dont know how to explain better!) and we kept one of them so now we have a 8 year old female and i think 4 year old male cat.
They are so sweet!!

[LOVEjames]

When we got Charlie we just sorta plopped him down. He adjusted well, as did the other cats. xD But like, I know how rare that is.

[Helen]

Here's Inci! She's ever so sweet ^_^
We've so far tried cuddling her, then cuddling Biscuit, who was not amused, and jumped out of my mum's arms hissing. I suppose it's just a matter of patience, really.
IMG_0039.jpg

[Defraction]

Siamese cats are uber cute!

I think they just gotta get used to each other's existance... and maybe make sure the original cat gets a little bit more attention, but then has to realise s/he's not the only one in the house.

My neighbour had to get her eldest dog put down and so she got a new one and he's really cute. But the other dog gets jealous if you love him too much so you end up having to stroke them both at the same time and then you can't do much else.

[Cheese Love]

When getting a second cat, it's a good idea to let the cats get accustomed to each other's scent. Basically, if your cat ever sleeps on a blanket ot something, give the blanket to the other cat and make sure it smells it.

Other than than... A supervised meeting, for sure.

Not to scare you, but this sort of thing does go wrong. On my 15th birthday, I got another cat. My old cat was very territorial, but also smaller and declawed, so hissed and growled at him for four hours. After four hours, my new cat snapped and attacked her. Ever since, if they're in the same room he'll attack her. It's a really sticky situation and they can never be in the same room =/

But.. Your first cat is six months old? If it's smaller of a cat, the 12 year old might be able to put your old cat in its place.

[Helen]

Biscuit (the six month old one) still is pretty small, but Inci's not exactly huge either, despite being much older. Biscuit is also much more vicious than Inci, and was here first, making it a bit of an unusual situation. I just put her in my room with Inci, and they hissed and growled more than ever before. But it's only Inci's second day with us, so I hope they'll get used to each other eventually.

[Lexington]

We brought a stray home to live with our other cat. We introduced them through a doorway first, with a very slight crack, so they could see each other, sniff each other, but not fight. The stray was very territorial, but our old cat simply seemed intrigued. We let them do this for a couple days, then got them together by playing with string with each of them, and slowly bringing the strings together. Soon they were playing together.

Lex

[Helen]

It's just not working. Inci managed to open my bedroom door (siamese are SO clever :O) and go downstairs to where Biscuit was hanging around. They just sat looking at each other for ages, then Inci attacked her, and there were a few minutes of running, hissing, scratching, biting, and angry meowing.

Inci's an awesome cat, she's very clever and very friendly to people, but she's used to just attacking anything that pisses her off (she lived with 2 dogs previously), and as she's 12, probably too old to change her ways now. We're taking her back on Saturday morning; she's very much a solo ownership cat.