Rag Doll Cats Rescue

how can you introduce a new cat into another cat’s home safely?

I rescued a 2 month old kitty, a rag doll, and have an 11 year old american short hair cat, that has a difficult personality. My approach includes keeping my kitty in my room and putting in a screen door, so that they can have occasional encounters with a screen door between them so that, without me there to supervise, they won,t be able to immediately harm each other. Am i doing the right thing? or can i do something else so that in the future they can live in peace together in the same house?, so that i can keep my kitty. And most importantly is what im trying to do possible?

It’s not impossible. They may become best friends or they may just learn to tolerate each other.

Its important that the 11yr old doesn’t feel neglected. If anything, give him more attention than your kitten, as hard as that maybe. He needs to know it’s still his home.

Keep them separated in different rooms for a few days, even up to a week or two if needed. Its best to let them get used to each other’s scents first without seeing each other. Each cat needs their own litter box, toys, food and water dishes. They may always need to have their own too, they may never want to share. Even if they do though, its important to allow them to have their own space right now. Then you can let them have a few short supervised visits to let them get to know each other. Hissing is merely a statement that they don’t want to fight or be messed with, not necessarily a threat. Let them play and play fight a little bit, they need this interaction to get used to each other. But break it off if it gets too rough. My cats pawed at each other a lot when they first were introduced, but no one ever got hurt. The hissing stopped and now they’re best friends.

Isolation in the beginning is KEY though. Gradually introduce them. Good luck!

Tennessee Cat Rescue