How to introduce cats to each other

Congratulations – you’re about to be a new cat parent.

While this can be an exciting adventure, if you’ve already got a cat, the thought of the two of them getting to know each other can be a little daunting.

If you want to help your cat adjust to their new home, read up on how to introduce two cats for a happy home life.

Prepping your home to introduce your new cat to your old cat requires a bit of work. You’ll want to set up a spare room or quiet bathroom as a temporary new cat room. Your new cat will live here for the first few weeks while you introduce them to each other. This is to make sure your new cat doesn’t bring any illnesses home and pass them on to your other cat and to avoid fights breaking out while they’re unsupervised.

Cats are very scent-driven, and the smell of a new cat in their home can be quite confronting if they’re never been exposed to it before. Scent swapping or sharing is the act of introducing your first cat to the idea of a newcomer by introducing their scent into the home slowly.

Around a week out from meeting, you should place a blanket or bed that your new cat has been resting on in your home. This will give your first cat a chance to sniff them out. Likewise, you can offer your new cat a bed or blanket that belongs to your first cat so they can become familiar with each other's scent.

The idea of scent swapping is to introduce the cats before they actually meet to minimise the chance of any disruptive behaviour.

The first step, as mentioned above, is to exchange your cat's bedding. This will allow them to smell each other and start to associate the new cat with the home space. You should start by taking a piece of bedding from each of their beds and placing it in the other cat’s bed.

Each cat should have their own separate area to rest, which will usually be in the form of a bed. While the other isn’t there, you should try and allow the cat to explore the other cat’s bed in order to form an association with the new cat in their home.

Before they tolerate being in the same room together, feeding your cats on opposite sides of the same door can help to build a comfortable bond. Don’t worry, they know the other is there. KatKin can be fed to cats of all ages so is the ideal food to offer both cats to level the playing field and reduce food envy.

Once the scents have been exchanged, the next step is allowing the cats to see each other. This should be done through a window or door, where they can’t physically touch. The sight of another cat in their space can be enough to rile the other up, so be sure to make the first contact visual only.

Physical contact may come as a shock to both cats, even if you’ve followed all of the steps above. In most cases, depending on personalities, you might see the cats stare each other out, run away scared or even try to start a fight.

None of these options are ideal, so instead of letting them foster hostility to one another, be sure to introduce physical access while you’re holding the new cat and can pull them away at any time.

Over time, you’ll be able to let them roam the house freely and enjoy each other's company, but at first it’s recommended to take it slow and only allow supervised contact for a few minutes at a time.

Once you’re confident that the cats can be around one another without tufts of hair flying, it’s time to give them access without supervision for short periods. During these times it's recommended that you stay close by, within earshot of any noises that might suggest they’re not having a good time.

Usually, if you’ve eased them into the process, your cats should start to tolerate each other's company and eventually they may even start to get on.

If the cat you’re introducing into your home is a kitten, you might consider using a crate to ease them into their new space. A crate provides a safe space for an animal, and can help create a physical boundary between the cats so that your kitten feels protected and calm.

A crate can be especially helpful at night, when you can’t monitor the contact that your two cats are having. During this period, you may find that disagreements can occur and nasty scratches may appear. To avoid any cat fights, using a crate at night can be a great way to keep your kitten cosy and safe.

When welcoming your kitten home, you should have lots of bedding ready for them that carries their scent, their own bowl, litter tray and their own toys. Cats can be possessive and territorial, so be sure to set some boundaries between your kitten and your cat with separate items and a separate crate to sleep in.

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