I have a 2.5 year old female cat (spayed) who has lived alone her entire life.

My parents have two 10 year old cats, one male and one female (both fixed) who have lived with each other their entire lives.

I have recently moved into my parents' house with my cat. Thus far, I have just kept my cat in my room. Last night, we introduced the cats for the first time. It was a disaster - lots of hissing and raised fur - so we separated the cats again. I'm starting to feel sorry for my cat having to be locked up in my room all day.

Does anyone have any advice about bringing cats together? The vet did not offer very much advice at all beyond, "Good luck."

(Edited by jamiecarroll at 2:27 pm on Jun. 5, 2003)

kill the other two cats and tell your parents that they went to "kitty heaven," then, enjoy the fact that your cat rules the turf.

Let the cats interact with each other. No cats immediately get along. They just have to be together for awhile and get used to one another. It could be anywhere from a week to a month or two before they get along, but eventually it'll happen. That's been my experience anyway.

i agree with keith. ive had the same results in my experience. make sure you clip their claws [if you dont already, you can buy kitty-clippers at any pet store and its much more humane than de-clawing] and just let them sniff each other and hiss and swat. make sure that your cat has a refuge though- like, dont force him to stay in the room with either, let him run back into your room if he wants. eventually they will all be curious enough to interact on their own and they will slowly begin to accept each other. im sure that the old cats feel like their territory has been invaded, and dont let your cat do anything that they arent allowed to do [jealousy never made anyone happier]. and, yeah, good luck.

(Edited by stopforme at 3:26 pm on Jun. 5, 2003)

OK. My mom has 5 cats in the front part of the house (living room/dining room, kitchen, laundry room, foyer) and 1 cat in the back part (all of the bedrooms, bathrooms, and "exercise/weight room"). Emma (the cat in the back) was rescued by mom when she found her in our garage giving birth to kittens. She was in bad, bad shape, and the kittens that had been born were dead. Mom took her to the vet, and the vet said that there was one still inside, but Emma didn't have the strength to give birth. SO, mom could either let Emma and that kitten die, or save Emma and pay for the surgery. Of course, mom paid for it, and Emma became ours. Well, we think that whole episode really messed Emma up, so she doesn't want to be around other cats at ALL. The separation has lasted for about a year and a half, and everytime we try to let the other cats go back, Emma freaks out and curls in a ball. BUT, she will lay down and stick her paws underneath the door that separates the front part of the house from the back and play with Phoebe mostly (our pretty, fluffy gray cat). Phoebe is also the only one that she isn't completely terrified of.
Obviously, the separation method sucks. So, I'm with the others. Slowly let them get used to one another. Our progress is extremely slow, but improvement is there. They don't hiss at each other or anything anymore. Emma just hides. On a good day, she will stay where she is laying and let them play around her. I think they have given up in "trying to get to know her". HA.
But, good luck, man. You're not dealing with as many cats, so I think your luck will be much better. And, older cats are more timid (most of the time) anyway.

My friend had a cat for 8 years, and it was lord of its domain. Last year he got a new kitten, and he kept it in his room for two months. Occasionally cat one got locked up and cat two got to come out and play. Often they put the two cats in an interesting closet situation and they, like Stephanie describes, would stick their paws underneath and play. After two months, they were united, claws clipped, and within a week they grew to love one another.

I'm deathly allergic to cats, by the way. An 8 hour period of exposure can leave me bedridden for a week and a half. I'm not even exagerating either.

Will