How to Introduce 2 Cats in 5 Proven Steps

Video Navigation:

0:00 Forest Meowing!
0:18 Introduction
1:29 Step 1: Preparation
4:06 tuft + paw Sponsor Shoutout
4:39 Step 2: Homecoming
6:18 Step 3: Scent Introductions
7:31 Step 4: Dinner Dates
8:58 Step 5: Making Eye Contact
11:03 Additional Tips to Help Cats Get Along
13:03 Conclusion

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[billp]

It’s like introducing the Montagues and Capulets to each other

[whiteknightcat]

So a small informal gathering with light beverages, maybe a meat and cheese tray or fruit and veggie tray is out?

[MarylandMermaid]

Last year I adopted a 7 yr old male who is truly the Ghandi of cats. An 8 week old female kitten decided to adopt us by showing up in our yard until the neighbor said we should keep her. My big boy welcomed her with open paws. He grooms her, protects her, plays gently with her. I’m so proud of him.

[yoanareyes]

Gosh If I’ve new how hard was going to introduce a cat to another I would have listened to the lady at the shelter when she told us to adopt 2 kittens

[APR]

We adopted a 3-yr old male just yesterday and brought him home to our 2-year old brother/sister bonded pair. Of course, we had no clue how to facilitate the introductions but we were so lucky that our new boy is just so mellow and well-mannered. He immediately knew that he was the new cat in town and he set course to be respectful and non-threatening. Just over 36 hours later, our 3 babies are living in peace. Sometimes, you get lucky but also just use common sense to have a successful introduction: expect hissing and growling; have a place where the new arrival can be safe, give your current babies lots of love, watch everyone carefully (adopting during the holiday weekend worked to our advantage), definitely have separate feeding and litter box areas. And calm down the energy in the house; if the humans are keyed up, the cats will be, too.

[thesjkexperience]

I put a small towel, that smelled like my kitten, down where our other two ate. I put their plates on top of the towel so they would associate the kitten smell with good things. My kitten was ready after 3 days and they all get along great! Im watching again as we are adopting my kittens younger brother. Exactly one year younger! Im allergic to cats so I treated myself to a Siberian. I live high in the Rockies so it's a good choice for the nasty weather we can get. I made him a great cat.

[paigefalcone]

Thank you for sharing this post! The methods mentioned do take time and patience, but worked for us. I don't think you can rush the process and expect positive results. Backing up the steps may also be necessary and is ok. We took on my sister in law's deaf, 12 year old cat. We introduced him to our 6 year old male (who 6 months before lost his best cat buddy) very slowly. We followed the steps as described and supervised. It took some time, but both cats eventually accepted the situation, one another and learned to coexist, even sleeping together. There were points along the way when I did not think we were going to be successful, but our vet said "time is simply your friend" and we found this to be true. Please don't give up trying. We all need a place we can call home. Best cat wishes!

[deenakaddoura]

My boyfriend and I are about to move in together and introduce our cats to each other. I found this very helpful! Thank you so much! fingers crossed!🤣

[loretta_]

I've gotten a new cat/kitten recently, and she's got a tiny little voice and only ever meows when I'm about to feed her. The vocal one you had at the beginning, reminded me of my last cat who would "talk" to me for ages☺️

[sketchysketchu]

lol perfect example of when the cat is ready to leave, your actor is clearly ready to get out of the bathroom and back to the rest of the house

[TomasUjhelyi]

Now we need the video of introducing 5 cats in only 2 steps

[Kubi]

Yes a slow transition is key. I didn’t know that when I brought my new kitty home but they are both pretty good now together♥️💜

[TravelingKristin]

We recently adopted two kittens after losing our dog to cancer. We have a senior male 12 who is very sweet, affectionate and mellow. He has always been apart of a multi-pet household and since our dog passed showed signs of being lonely. Hence the two kittens. We are slowly introducing them and he took to our dog right away when we brought him home. First visual with one the kittens he was hissing a bit, so we are slowing down introduction again. thank you for the tips!

[hollyjennings]

This video is really good as you are using actual example of cats and practical advice! We have a kitten and 2 resident cats who we adore.
They are currently at the stage of them eating either side of the door.

[MDiL]

My new kitten immediately wanted to go explore the rest of the house. We actually had to change the sanctuary room we originally decided on because he wanted to be with someone

[SAmaryllis]

omigosh Forest being chatty in the beginning was so cute, thanks for including that! And ofc demonstrating all the steps thoroughly :)

[abeddani]

Kudus to all the effort you are putting into making our cats' lives easier..love from lebanon

[chiinori]

I foster cats and always stress a slow introduction whenever one of my fosters goes to a family with a resident cat. A lot of time things don't go as planned - the new cat snuck out of quarantine and the two cats saw each other. I suggested walking back to the previous step and a lot of people just decided to forego the rest of the process and wing it. They ended up making the integration a lot more difficult than it has to be.

[mookyyzed]

Very helpful. We're at day five and we did our intro a little different. Our 1st cat saw the new kitten on day one and has seen her every day since. We keep the kitten upstairs and she has her own room with food, toys and litter. We have a pet gate at the top of the stairs to keep them separated by still able to see each other and get used to each other. We'll give treats and play with both of them around the gate and we just introduced feeding them around the gate at their dinner and breakfast today. It went pretty good. The older one was a little on edge but she did eat about half her food, so we moved her dish back to her regular spot so she could finish. So far things seem to be progressing nicely. Hoping to be able to get the gate removed for good within a week. Fingers crossed🤞

[medusianAllure]

Relevant to my life right now. I'm moving on Friday and I've been plotting how to introduce my boy to my partner's. Glad to see I'm doing it right according to the experts.