Cat Introductions

My boyfriend is moving in with me and is bringing over his 2 cats this
weekend. I've got a 9-year old declawed male who is not very social.
He's got a very sociable 2-year old male and an unsocial 9-year old
declawed female. All cats have been fixed. His 2 cats do not get
along with each other. I used to have another cat before my divorce
and so while my cat has lived with another (younger) cat, he has never
liked sharing his domain. My house is fairly big, and has enough
rooms for the cats to have their independence though my cat is used to
being king of the roost right now. We are planning on putting each
of his cats in their own bedroom and having mine sniff them through
the doors. We will eventually switch one of the cats with mine, so
his cat can wander the house while mine can sniff the room he was in,
then we'll do the same with the other cat. We are prepared for this
process to take time.

Any general advice would be greatly appreciated, as would any help
with these questions:

- His cats are used to getting up on counters in his kitchen. My cat
does not do this, and I don't want any cats on my kitchen surfaces. I
work from home and can monitor behavior. What is the best way to
dissuade the cats from getting on the kitchen counters?

- His cats have free reign to their food dishes and are of a healthy
weight. My cat is obese and gets fed twice a day, 1/4 cup of weight
management food per feeding. Unless we can come up with a better
plan, my cat will have to have free reign to their food as well (not
weight management food).

Thanks!

CG

writes:
(snip)
- His cats are used to getting up on counters in his kitchen. My cat
does not do this, and I don't want any cats on my kitchen surfaces. I
work from home and can monitor behavior. What is the best way to
dissuade the cats from getting on the kitchen counters?
(snip)

You can put lots of little loops of tape, sticky side out, on them, so
that they get stuck on cats that leap up. Most cats will hate this and
try to avoid it. It can keep on working because from the floor they
can't see the tape's not there any more.

-- Mark

On Thu, 01 Mar 2007 10:31:52 -0500, (Mark
T.B. Carroll) wrote:

writes:
(snip)
- His cats are used to getting up on counters in his kitchen. My cat
does not do this, and I don't want any cats on my kitchen surfaces. I
work from home and can monitor behavior. What is the best way to
dissuade the cats from getting on the kitchen counters?
(snip)

You can put lots of little loops of tape, sticky side out, on them, so
that they get stuck on cats that leap up. Most cats will hate this and
try to avoid it. It can keep on working because from the floor they
can't see the tape's not there any more.

-- Mark

Spray them with water when they jump on the counters. Also, keep the
low cal food out all the time. Feed the high cal food ONLY when you
can supervise. It works for me.

CG wrote:
... My house is fairly big, and has enough
rooms for the cats to have their independence though my cat is used to
being king of the roost right now. We are planning on putting each
of his cats in their own bedroom and having mine sniff them through
the doors. We will eventually switch one of the cats with mine, so
his cat can wander the house while mine can sniff the room he was in,
then we'll do the same with the other cat. We are prepared for this
process to take time.

Any general advice would be greatly appreciated...

--Get a couple of baby gates at a thrift, and block off a doorway with
them (one high, one low) so that the inmate and visitor can do more
than just sniff.

--With a double-wide feeding dish, serve a joint dinner. No one can
fight while eating.

--Catnip.

--Laser pointer, paper bag

--At least one litter box per critter

--I like my "Tattletale" noisemaker (high-pitched squeal motion
detector) for tabletop training. (You'll have to leave the house or
use the bathroom or go to the mailbox eventually.)

Good luck (on all counts)

--Karen D.

our youngest started jumping up on the counters so we laid out sheets of
aluminum foil. It's working quite well.

--
ie
ride fast, take chances.


"Veloise" wrote in message
ups.com...
CG wrote:
... My house is fairly big, and has enough
rooms for the cats to have their independence though my cat is used to
being king of the roost right now. We are planning on putting each
of his cats in their own bedroom and having mine sniff them through
the doors. We will eventually switch one of the cats with mine, so
his cat can wander the house while mine can sniff the room he was in,
then we'll do the same with the other cat. We are prepared for this
process to take time.

Any general advice would be greatly appreciated...

--Get a couple of baby gates at a thrift, and block off a doorway with
them (one high, one low) so that the inmate and visitor can do more
than just sniff.

--With a double-wide feeding dish, serve a joint dinner. No one can
fight while eating.

--Catnip.

--Laser pointer, paper bag

--At least one litter box per critter

--I like my "Tattletale" noisemaker (high-pitched squeal motion
detector) for tabletop training. (You'll have to leave the house or
use the bathroom or go to the mailbox eventually.)

Good luck (on all counts)

--Karen D.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. So far, the cats have been in
the house for 2 days and no major scream fests.

There's only one small issue we're stuck on. One of his cats (the 2-
year old male) is reluctant to come out of his room. Every time we go
in to visit him he's hiding behind the futon but comes out to greet
us. I had him out for 10 minutes today (with my cat in his room),
when I heard him crying loudly outside his room's door, obviously
wanting back in. I switched cats back right away, not wanting his cat
to be too stressed out. I think it would be good for his cat to have
the opportunity to get out, even if only for 5-10 minutes once or
twice a day. Maybe even to the point of carrying him out of his room
(if he doesn't struggle) and putting him down in another area of the
house, letting him wander or go back to his room if he wants (while my
cat is in another room). My bf thinks we shouldn't try to let his cat
out of the room until his cat starts crying to get out, or shows
interest in leaving the room.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!



On Mar 1, 10:16 am, wrote:
My boyfriend is moving in with me and is bringing over his 2 cats this
weekend. I've got a 9-year old declawed male who is not very social.
He's got a very sociable 2-year old male and an unsocial 9-year old
declawed female. All cats have been fixed. His 2 cats do not get
along with each other. I used to have another cat before my divorce
and so while my cat has lived with another (younger) cat, he has never
liked sharing his domain. My house is fairly big, and has enough
rooms for the cats to have their independence though my cat is used to
being king of the roost right now. We are planning on putting each
of his cats in their own bedroom and having mine sniff them through
the doors. We will eventually switch one of the cats with mine, so
his cat can wander the house while mine can sniff the room he was in,
then we'll do the same with the other cat. We are prepared for this
process to take time.

Any general advice would be greatly appreciated, as would any help
with these questions:

- His cats are used to getting up on counters in his kitchen. My cat
does not do this, and I don't want any cats on my kitchen surfaces. I
work from home and can monitor behavior. What is the best way to
dissuade the cats from getting on the kitchen counters?

- His cats have free reign to their food dishes and are of a healthy
weight. My cat is obese and gets fed twice a day, 1/4 cup of weight
management food per feeding. Unless we can come up with a better
plan, my cat will have to have free reign to their food as well (not
weight management food).

Thanks!

CG

On 5 Mar 2007 14:21:49 -0800, wrote:

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. So far, the cats have been in
the house for 2 days and no major scream fests.

There's only one small issue we're stuck on. One of his cats (the 2-
year old male) is reluctant to come out of his room. Every time we go
in to visit him he's hiding behind the futon but comes out to greet
us. I had him out for 10 minutes today (with my cat in his room),
when I heard him crying loudly outside his room's door, obviously
wanting back in. I switched cats back right away, not wanting his cat
to be too stressed out. I think it would be good for his cat to have
the opportunity to get out, even if only for 5-10 minutes once or
twice a day. Maybe even to the point of carrying him out of his room
(if he doesn't struggle) and putting him down in another area of the
house, letting him wander or go back to his room if he wants (while my
cat is in another room). My bf thinks we shouldn't try to let his cat
out of the room until his cat starts crying to get out, or shows
interest in leaving the room.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Gradually let him out of the room. Don't rush it. He's just afraid of
all the activity and he isn't used to the house yet.



On Mar 1, 10:16 am, wrote:
My boyfriend is moving in with me and is bringing over his 2 cats this
weekend. I've got a 9-year old declawed male who is not very social.
He's got a very sociable 2-year old male and an unsocial 9-year old
declawed female. All cats have been fixed. His 2 cats do not get
along with each other. I used to have another cat before my divorce
and so while my cat has lived with another (younger) cat, he has never
liked sharing his domain. My house is fairly big, and has enough
rooms for the cats to have their independence though my cat is used to
being king of the roost right now. We are planning on putting each
of his cats in their own bedroom and having mine sniff them through
the doors. We will eventually switch one of the cats with mine, so
his cat can wander the house while mine can sniff the room he was in,
then we'll do the same with the other cat. We are prepared for this
process to take time.

Any general advice would be greatly appreciated, as would any help
with these questions:

- His cats are used to getting up on counters in his kitchen. My cat
does not do this, and I don't want any cats on my kitchen surfaces. I
work from home and can monitor behavior. What is the best way to
dissuade the cats from getting on the kitchen counters?

- His cats have free reign to their food dishes and are of a healthy
weight. My cat is obese and gets fed twice a day, 1/4 cup of weight
management food per feeding. Unless we can come up with a better
plan, my cat will have to have free reign to their food as well (not
weight management food).

Thanks!

CG

cabriog...wrote:
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. So far, the cats have been in
the house for 2 days and no major scream fests.

There's only one small issue we're stuck on. One of his cats (the 2-
year old male) is reluctant to come out of his room. Every time we go
in to visit him he's hiding behind the futon but comes out to greet
us. I had him out for 10 minutes today (with my cat in his room),
when I heard him crying loudly outside his room's door, obviously
wanting back in. I switched cats back right away, not wanting his cat
to be too stressed out. I think it would be good for his cat to have
the opportunity to get out, even if only for 5-10 minutes once or
twice a day. Maybe even to the point of carrying him out of his room
(if he doesn't struggle) and putting him down in another area of the
house, letting him wander or go back to his room if he wants (while my
cat is in another room). My bf thinks we shouldn't try to let his cat
out of the room until his cat starts crying to get out, or shows
interest in leaving the room.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

--Take an empty plastic laundry basket and invert it over one of the
cats while visiting another one in whatever room is convenient. They
can see, sniff, and comunicate, but no wars.

--Catnip for everyone!

HTH

--Karen D.