Bringing home a new cat

Feline sociability exists on a spectrum, says Mikel Delgado, co-founder of Feline Minds Cat Actions Consulting. At one conclude, you have cats who are loathe to share place with one more of their kind at the opposite finish are the gregarious souls who delight in mutual grooming classes.

Most cats drop someplace in the center, Delgado suggests, which suggests that most can cohabit peaceably with a appropriate cat. But there is no magic formulation for predicting compatibility and no proof to assist the generally held assumptions that male-female or adult-kitten pairings will be additional successful, she provides.

Nevertheless, you can enhance the chance of a fantastic match by selecting properly. Search for a cat with a comparable strength degree as your resident cat, Delgado suggests. Consider your cat’s temperament, choices and heritage with other cats, and discover as much about the likely adoptee as possible, states Mara Keller, guide shelter associate with the Cat Adoption Workforce in Sherwood, Oregon.

For a cat with a dominant personality, Keller suggests a “go-with-the-flow” form who is neither extremely dominant nor extremely submissive. A cat who requires a good deal of your interest may take pleasure in a shyer pal who does not compete for your lap, adds Danielle Bays, senior analyst for cat security and policy at the Humane Society of the United States.

All that mentioned, feline matchmaking is extra of an educated guessing video game than a science, admits Keller, and there is no ensure any cat you undertake will grow to be your resident cat’s soulmate. But what you do at dwelling can help pave the path to peaceful coexistence.

Smells like group spirit 

The right environment­—with multiple litter containers, food stuff and drinking water bowls, scratching posts and other resources sprinkled in the course of your home—will  go a extensive way towards creating multi-cat harmony, Delgado states. Use cat trees and perches to incorporate vertical area, and place means in a way that just one cat cannot ambush a further.

Since most cats dislike alter, introductions need to be controlled and gradual. Start by preserving the new kitty in a independent room, apart from your resident cat. This permits the beginner to change to your dwelling surroundings whilst your resident cat becomes accustomed to the stranger’s existence and scent.

“Group scent helps build cohesion amongst cats who stay together,” Delgado says. You can facilitate the approach by exchanging the cats’ blankets and toys.

In time, you can crack open up the doorway or use a newborn gate, enabling them to see a person other, and eventually progress to bodily satisfy-and-greets. At every single step, use treats, toys or praise to enable the cats sort positive associations with just about every other’s existence, and stick to a predictable plan. Continue to keep in head that one cat may perhaps be completely ready to socialize right before the other is, and any signals of conflict signify you’re going far too fast and have to have to go back again a step.

Be affected person, Keller suggests: “You’re building the foundation of their potential romance.”