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Welcoming a New Cat to Your Household
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Have you ever had to live in a strange place? Even though you prepare yourself for the change, moving to a new home is always a stressful event for all of us. Now imagine that you were moved without any forewarning, to a home that you'd be sharing with people you don't even know! Would you be able to quickly adjust? Well, that's what it feels like to a cat that is moving into a new household.
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When introducing a cat to your home, it's important to make the experience as pleasant and painless as possible. After all, you want the kitty to be happy, well-adjusted, and comfortable in his new home.
Have you ever heard stories of people's cats who, for whatever reason, are urinating in their home, scratching the furniture, or have other negative behaviors?
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Cats are very sensitive to their surroundings and sometimes behavior such as this is a sign that they are unhappy about something in their environment.
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When bringing a new cat to your home, begin by putting the cat into a small room, such as a bathroom or small bedroom, with a litter box, food, water, bedding, and toys. If you have other cats, this will give each cat an opportunity to sniff the other cat beneath the door.
Another trick is to transfer the smell of each cat onto the other by alternately petting each cat. You can also take a couple socks, rub one on one cat and the other on the other cat, and put each sock with opposite cat for awhile.
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Another way to introduce the new cat to the rest of your pets is by putting the cat in a cat carrier and placing the carrier in the middle of a room. Allow the other pets to approach the cat and observe both pets' reactions.
After a few days (how many days will depend on how well the previous days have gone), let the new cat out of the room, to explore the house supervised. Do not let the new cat out while you're not home. The new cat will take several minutes to explore every crevice of the house. Show the cat where the litter box and food and water bowls are.
If the cat seems relaxed (you're able to approach the cat and pet it), you should be fine leaving the cat free to roam the house. If the cat appears nervous, scared, intimidated, or upset, put him back in his room and see if that calms him down. While he was out of the room, make note of encounters with other people and cats and his behavior towards them. Was he friendly or afraid?
If the cat hides under a bed or dresser, don't be too concerned. Wait for the cat to come to you; don't force the cat to come out. Put the necessities (food, water, litter box) nearby for the cat to use. Talk nicely to the cat and let him know that while you want to be with him, you will be patient and meet him on his terms. Cats are highly intuitive and while they don't understand our language, like young children, they can understand the messages we convey.
(Continued on page 5)
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