Cat Behavior Explained: How To Introduce A New Cat Or Kitten To Your Resident Cats

A new kitty in the family! But wait, have you asked your resident cats how they feel about this change? And what about the new kitty…will he feel at ease in his new family? Here’s how you can ensure this transition is as stress free as possible for everyone involved, including yourself, so you can all enjoy that new fuzz ball in the house.

First off, check if you have everything you need to provide for your new cat or kitten. Next, set up his safe room so he can get used to his new home. Add a spare bathrobe to the safe room, for yourself. Yes, a bathrobe. No, I’m not nuts. Just a wee bit eccentric, occasionally, but that’s besides the point. Pick up your kitty and make sure he’s comfortable in his safe room. Don’t forget to have him checked out by the vet once he’s comfortable, before he has contact with your other cats!

At this point, you have to keep in mind that cats are territorial first, and social…a distant second. Territory has clear priority. And you’ve just put a strange cat in their territory. Your resident cats are bound to be curious..if not down right hostile. The newcomer, on the other hand, has just been removed from a place he called home or at least a place where knew his way around and dumped in the middle of hostile territory. He’s likely scared, confused and insecure. All he knows is there are other cats here -that much he can smell- and he has no idea how hostile they’ll be towards him. Meanwhile your cats have no clue why the stranger is here or what his intentions are.

So, with all this in mind, you want to go slow. Three things are important:

1) One step at a time. Don’t overload your new kitty, or your resident cats.

2) Positive associations are key. Give the cats a reason to like each other.

3) Always *ALWAYS* let the cats determine the pace.

Your cats will want to check out the newcomers’ new room as they can hear him in there. Let them, but keep an eye on things. If they get upset, or start hissing and get the newcomer all scared, distract them with some food or toys. Build positive associations with the presence of the newcomer. Play with them so they have a way to vent those anxieties and frustrations and bribe them so they know that the presence of the newcomer means good things.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, there’s a confused kitty in need of some play and reassurance as well. Before you go in, wash your hands thoroughly. Once inside, put on the bathrobe. Why? The smell of the other cats is on your hands and clothes. And it can overwhelm and scare the new kitty. Likewise, when you go outside, wash your hands and remove the bathrobe, so most of his scent stays within the room instead of agitating your resident cat population. Told ya you would need that bathrobe!

In short: bribe and build positive associations until everything goes back to the normal routine and everyone’s relaxed and happy again.

Now it is time to exchange scents. . Scents are important to cats, and used in overall communication, for instance to avoid physical conflict. Keep using the bathrobe though till this phase is completed.

Take a sock or a towel, and rub one, but maximum two (take the ones that are likely to most friendly cats towards the new comer) cats down. Make sure you rub their chin and cheeks as those are the parts they use to mark territory with. Do the same with the new cat using another towel. Put the towel or sock under some delicious food and present it to the other party. So, your resident cats’ smell trapped in the sock or towel goes under the food of the new kitty and vice versa. It’ll give them a chance to get used to each other’s scent while experiencing something good. Watch the responses. Make sure your resident cats don’t start fighting amongst each other afterwards –also known as redirected aggression- and if they do, distract them with toys or food. All hissing, fighting and general confusion should subside before you go to the next step. If need be, wait a few days and try again with the sock exchange, until everybody’s happy again.

You can ditch the bathrobe now. Once you do, see if your cats growl or hiss at you and run away. If so, go back a step.

Ok, so now it’s time for your kitties to see where the newcomer lives and for the newcomer to see his new home fully. It is more important for your new kitty to see the rest of the home than vice versa so if your resident cats get upset from visiting the territory, don’t bother with it.

This can be a bit tricky to pull off if you don’t have a lot of space, so you might want to bring your cats to a neighbor for like a half an hour or lock them away in a small room.

Open the door and encourage your new cat to explore each room at his own pace. Keep the path and door to the safe room open, so he can go back if he feels insecure. If this happens, try again later, like an hour later or so. This way, he can later on focus on getting acquainted with the other cats as he already knows the lay-out of the house. That’s one unknown to scratch off his list.

Similarly, try to keep your new cat be in another room -preferably one he knows and feels comfortable in- or even in a cat carrier in a safe place away from the other kitties, while they explore the safe room. This doesn’t have to take long. Afterwards, food and play for everyone to unwind and create good vibrations.

Try to repeat this when everyone’s settled down again and the routine is back. Do this as often as it takes for your cats to walk into the rooms foreign to them with a tail upright and confident, without any hissing, growling or fear in their eyes.

So here it is..time to open that door. Keep treats on hand, and keep introductions brief. Open the door slightly and for like 30 seconds. Allow sniffing , but no posturing or negative behavior. At all times keep it positive, give them their treat when that door opens so they associate good things with each other.

It’s tempting to keep the door open when things go well, but it’s best not to rush. After 30 seconds, close the door. Try again like half an hour later. Do it for 2 minutes this time (depending on how well it goes). And build up the time they’re exposed to each other, keeping it fun at all times.

Once everyone’s relaxed, leave the door open and let the new cat decide for himself if he wants to go and see the rest of the territory while the other cats are there. Keep the door to the safe room open at all times.

Keep an eye out for posturing, direct staring and other hostile bodylanguage. This is easily missed by humans but is incredibly intimidating to a cat. Study the videos above so you know what to watch out for. Distract the offending cat with a toy, to break the tension and to keep things from escalating and, in the process, undo all the positive associations you’ve build up.

If things do go wrong: have some balls and toys on hand to toss at them in an attempt to distract them. If this doesn’t help, clap your hands loudly. This is as a last resort as it doesn’t give a good association, but it does distract them from their fight. If it was a rather hefty fight, bring the newcomer to his safe room and reintroduce again as before.

Keep the new cat in his safe room at night, or when you’re not home to supervise, until the normal harmony has returned and the new cat has been accepted by everyone.

If at any time, you find your cats constantly fighting despite doing this step, you might have rushed the process and need to go back a couple of steps. Every cat has its own pace, and it’s best to respect that in order to avoid future drama.

That’s all, folks! Enjoy that happily purring kitty in your lap ;)