Greenbriar Animal Hospital

It is a lot of work to get cats to be comfortable with each other, so be sure you really want another cat! The best way to avoid conflict is to carefully prepare for the first encounter. It is impossible to predict how one cat will respond to another. Most cats will be unfriendly, and it is not uncommon to end up with cats that have a permanent dislike of one another! Senior cats and cats that have lived as ‘only cats’ for a long time are unlikely to adapt well to a new addition, but even kittens can take an instant and abiding dislike to another cat or kitten.

Major tips for introducing a new cat to your cats:

Cats do best when they live as only cats or with a bonded littermate. The more cats you have, the more problems there can be with getting along and also in using their litter boxes religiously! If you are determined to introduce a new cat to your other cats, there are several things you can do to make it easier on everyone. See our handout on “Resources for Cats”, and read on!

Make sure you have one litter box per cat or one litter box per floor of your home (whichever is more). The boxes need to be in different locations – having 2 boxes side by side only counts as one (to your cats)! See our handout “Litter Box Tips” for additional do’s and don’ts.

Miscellaneous helpful things to know introducing a new cat:

For the first two weeks, keep the new cat confined to one room. Provide fresh food, water and a litter box. Make frequent visits to spend time playing, feeding, petting and generally interacting with the new cat. Give it time to adjust to this location, where it is guaranteed emotional and physical security. Meanwhile, the new cat’s odor and sounds will alert your resident cat(s) to its presence. Allow them to sniff each other under the door, and to smell each other on you. A spritz of Feliway or a Feliway diffuser can help, too. When the new cat assumes positions of rest or grooming when you are in their room, and the current residents are not upset when outside the door, proceed to the next step, actually meeting face-to-face. Take at least 2 weeksto reach this point, even if things are going well. Keep the separate litter boxes. You may want to move the box later, but you should always have one box per cat or one box per floor of your home, whichever is more. When both cats meet for the first time, you should remove the new cat from it’s room and bring it out to an open area and set it down. Close doors to other rooms. Some hesitation and/or hissing are to be expected (from either or both). If they are co-existing reasonably well after a few minutes, feed them in each other’s presence, but place their dishes at opposite sides of the room. Wait only a few minutes after they have eaten to confine the new cat to it’s room again. If either or both cats are so upset that they do not eat in the other’s presence, remove the food bowls and confine the new cat again. Try again in a few days, when both cats are calm. If both cats are handling this step OK, repeat it daily for several days. Be patient! Some cats are less willing to share their territory, and it can take a month or so before you get beyond the first step. Once the cats are doing OK with brief togetherness with food, begin extending their together time, always with you there to referee if needed. Don’t allow the cats free access to each other when you are not there until they have been consistently getting along all the time for at least 2 weeks. If the cats are continually aggressive or not making progress after 4 weeks, please let us know. Medication may be needed during the transition period. With time, most cats learn to at least accept others in the household.