When Cat Introductions Get UGLY

When Cat Introductions Get UGLY

One of the most overlooked elements of cat-to-cat introductions is knowing your cat’s body language and adjusting your game plan based on their needs and fears. In this video, I break down the experience of 3 of our viewers to give you the best head start to a good relationship in your feline home.

0:00 Introduction
1:08 Analysis
6:13 Common Misstep 1
7:34 Common Misstep 2
10:16 Common Misstep 3
13:48 Universal Solution
14:40 Recap

The Boil and Simmer Technique!

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#JacksonGalaxy #Cat #Advice

[cats]

"Jackson Galaxy says I can have 12 cats." So far thats my takeaway. Lol.

[sassysmith]

For anyone going through this- don't give up!! it took my two cats 6 months for us to finally be able to leave them alone together without fear of them injuring each other. they went from enemies to lovers! it can be done

[haleygurney]

Thank you so much for featuring me in your video! It ended up working out. Ash & meagan are best friends now! 😻

[StuckInProgrammers]

I want to offer hope for those struggling with this. I was here 5 months ago in absolute despair. My resident cat turned into a fighting monster when I brought a kitten home, & I seriously feared having to re-home my kitten.

I followed the advice here, really focusing on body language. It went from behind a closed door, to a gate, to very short supervised interaction w/o a gate, to being unsupervised. There was one room that my resident cat was extra possessive of, so I had to go even slower there. But after 5 months, they get along well! They play a lot, & I feel safe leaving them alone. It helped most to remember to take it at my cat’s speed, not my own, & to celebrate even tiny victories in the process.

[Bigmummy]

I REALLY appreciate your videos and insights. I’m a 40 yo combat veteran who recently became a cat dad because the hurricane left some kittens homeless. I thought everything was going wrong until I found you! My new babies are doing wonderful and I’m currently working on a “catio” for Butters and Ricky!

[RP-nnmr]

Always good to hear that the cheapest litter boxes are the most cat friendly.

[Ocarinist_Drew]

It took my two cats...about 1.5 - 2 months to be able to sit in the same room together without fighting.

We followed all your steps, and didn't move on until we were confident both cats were ready.

And it worked out fantastically. Now our cats are best friends. A year later, you would think they're litter mates. They cuddle constantly and are very in tune with each other while playing--taking turns, listening to body language, etc. It really is the best case scenario. There was a point where we would have settled for them just not trying to kill each other on sight.

Moral of the story is: take your time. Really pay attention to the cats' challenge lines and don't push them. Be happy with very small amounts of progress each day/week.

[cristyh]

I just went through a month of introducing 2 rescue kittens to my 3 adult cats. It is going better than I thought it would. I think it actually helped that the 2 kittens were just interested in playing with each other. My adults would watch them play and now the one kitten, who has such a pleasant/friendly personality is introducing himself to play with the adults. I only have 1 adult cat who avoids them but I'm sure she'll come around eventually.

[CodenameTurtle]

When I first tried to introduce my cats the slow way, they were both very eager to meet (non-aggressively so) and my older cat Luna was over the MOON to have a kitten in her house. After 3 days of their nagging, I relented and went for a 5 minute meetup, and I was surprised it went so well, because I'd been prepared for a long-term battle lol. Sadly Luna passed away from cancer this year, so I've been thinking about getting another cat, and guessing it will probably not go as smoothly this time from all of these stories. But cats really arent solitary animals.

[Fluffycatz]

One thing you can also do, to help the cats feel at ease, is to play a loop, of a cat purring. Cats purr, when they feel safe, and it’ll help them feel safe, around each other. I used that to tame my cat, who was a feral, when she was given to me. It took less than a day. I’m somewhat of a cat whisperer, myself, and I love using cat body language, with every cat I see, to let them know I love them 🥰🥰🥰

[lissfranco]

“Two is better than one. Three is better than two”
This confirmation that I do need a third cat! I have two 4 year old cats and would love another in the near future 😻

[gasmith]

I rescued a cat and after I brought her home my other male cat was SO MAD I couldn’t even look at him, he would hiss at me. I had to keep them separated for 3 months and thought it would never work out. Then I moved into a new apartment and after I did there were no more problems with them getting along. In fact, they’re now so bonded they’re like a married couple!!

[amber-leeclifford-williams]

I went to stay with my parents for a while so we had to introduce the girl cats to my boy cat. My sister and I followed literally all the steps perfectly, when it came time for the the door to be cracked open at feeding time and my boy was doing great but the girls were not, my sister's cat pounced on him before we had it open 10 inches for 5 seconds we could not figure out what went wrong. My sister and I back tracked, but really couldn't think of what had happened they were eating on either side of the door with no fuss. The problem? My father was feeding the girls in secret because he didn't believe that what we were doing was going to work. Make sure if you are in a multi person house hold that everyone is playing by the rules

[apkelly]

Long story short (I'm Irish, this will not be short)...our neighbour got a 4 week old kitten, couldn't or didn't know how to look after him. My sister found him half dead in their garage, brought him around and reluctantly gave him back. We'd go outside to the bin at midnight and we'd find him outside hiding in the bush...we noticed he was semi feral. Contacted neighbour and they said they weren't there for a few days so they put out him out. We took him in unbeknownst to them. Here's were it gets good. We already have a 2 year old rescue female cat. Sad start for her too...thrown in a trash bin at 4 weeks and like him...didn't have siblings or mother for socialisation. First day he's there, she's following after him, hissing and attacking us if we pet her. Then our cat got fierce depressed. She worried me, so we knew he had to go, but he couldn't go back next door....they weren't there. So for the next few days the 2 cats were separated. He was in the sitting room with us during the day and in a bed room at night. After a few days they were reintroduced again. She still hissed at him if he came close, but she wasn't attacking us anymore. Rock on a week later and they're chasing each other around the house. They now sleep together and look for one another to play. Our neighbour has surrendered him to us as they realised they were unable to give him the care he needed. He's now a happy kitten. Vet reckons he's only 10 weeks old...so sad. He had blue eyes when he was given to the neighbours, so was extremely young.

[Smorgasbord.]

I can't wait!

As an aside, I recently convinced a friend to get two kittens instead of one. I listed all the reasons why and included all the work he'd have to do to keep a single cat active and happy and even then it he or she wouldn't enjoy all the health benefits a companion can provide Result: he brought home two little ones and bought one of your books. _THANK YOU SO MUCH_ for your guidance!

[kurzeundknackig.workoutsfu]

when seeing the video, i thought this was my story… two cats, sometimes they get on ignoring one another and then out of nowhere my bengal mix attacks my little fluffy one.
i took your advise and now after 2 hours of taking him for a walk, interactive playtime, him dragging his sniffing carpet through the house and licking food out of his kong for almost 20 min i have both cats for the first time in weeks sleeping in the same room next to one another. i am so happy i could cry. i have the feeling i finally found the missing piece. let’s hope it will continue like this! thank you so much jackson!

[HouseOfCozyMysteries]

Yeah! It took four months of Jackson Galaxy magic, but our old cat and new kitty finally decided they are best buds instead of mortal enemies. I’m sure it took as long as it did because we kept trying to rush things. (Seriously hated having a screen door in the middle of our house, but yeah, it was necessary.) The cats roam the house looking for each other, zoom together, eat together, and they just fell asleep together. (Okay, not quite together, but on the same bed.) They are so much fun.

[Nikki]

You have no idea how much I've wanted more stuff on cat introductions! I binged the entire My Cat from Hell series to see if I could find an episode with cats in a similar situation. It's been a little over a year in my case, and the only issue now is that the "new" cat can only roam the living room when the other one is sleeping or going to sleep. If she's wide awake and sees her walk in, she'll chase into the hallway.

[bbikermama]

Cats need more than a week to adjust . Imagine getting a new roommate that you didn’t know, didn’t vet, and all of a sudden he’s using your bathroom, sleeping in your bed and stealing time away from your boyfriend… Exactly… I always give new cats 2 weeks of smell adjustment.. that is, they are in a room by Themselves, but the other kitties can smell the new join. Then they get another week of visual.. if all goes well, we introduce the others one at a time with us managing mad minimizing the forced time together. I was able to introduce a kitty that the shelter said “can’t be with other cats”, but after 1 year, she now seeks out our other two kitties…

[solitaryrena]

I took in a pregnant stary. Found homes for two of the five kittens.
Been separated 14 weeks.
Home didn't work out and one kitten rehomed backed to me.
The poor little love doesn't recognise this home nor her siblings and mum. They do not recognise her.
So sad. Its only been couple of days, so learning all I can from this channel.