Introducing cats

There are some older threads about cats on here, but nothing specific.

I have 2 cats already. Junior (male) Ginger (female) and we have been adopted by a one-eyed female stray I call “El Capitan” my wife calls “Leopard” whatever.

El Capitan has been in an isolated room for a number of weeks. The others are aware of her, but out of sight out of mind. I began careful introductions last week. Crack in the door. Carrying El Leopard with me into other cat’s territory. She is calm. The others…well…

Junior hisses and takes a menacing pose. Ginger growls and hisses. Since El Capitan Leopard has managed to get out of her room to explore. Junior seems to have just gotten to the “your here, I am here. Stay away from me and all is good” attitude. Although the wide-eyed looks he gives her, with ears perked forward are something I keep an eye on. Ginger…she will have none of it. She growls and prowls. Here is where it gets interesting.

Leopard does not seem affected by it. She is calm. Until Ginger takes off running away. Then, the Stray will go after her. Tail up. Not bristled. Just up. No hiss or fuss from the the stray. “Know it all” part of me says that the newbie wants to be friends and does not understand why the Ginger cat is running away. Maybe to play?

So that is it, she is chasing/running after her in a non-threatening way, yet Ginger is clearly not interested. So what are the opinions?

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All sounds pretty normal in terms of cat introduction. I don’t think Leopard chasing after Ginger is play and even if it is, Ginger would not perceive it as play until she no longer feels threatened. The fact that Ginger runs away, makes El Capitan more likely to see her as a pray, and leads to fighting and territorial insecurities from Ginger, and possible unwanted marking behavior.

I would suggest this is not the right time to leave them in one room unsupervised. They need more positive reinforcement about the presence of each other.

You could try room swapping, which is rotating the rooms that Ginger and Junior stay in and El Capitan stays in. That way the old cats don’t see the new cat, but gets acquainted with her through her scent.

You also would want to feed them at the same time with some sort of barrier in between the old cats and the new cat. They way they associate El Capitan with happy eating time. Slowly remove the barrier day by day so they can see one another while eating.

I’d say if they can eat in peace with the new cat in full view, then it’s time to just let them do what they want. They might still fight, but that leads to the next stage.

Finally, try to engage them in play when they are all in the same room. See if their attention can be focused elsewhere, instead of hunting down one another. Try giving them treats if they all are in the same room without getting on each other’s throats.

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Thanks.

I remember when my mother did this years ago. There was no “slow introduction” it was basically deal with it. It worked out in the end as a pecking order got established.

I should have mentioned the G and J are timid, G even more so. She freaks out a lot. If I simply move she will freak out and run away. I think that is what triggered the chase. But, J did not chase G when she was a kitten. (G was adopted by us when she was a month or so old. I guess she was discovered with her siblings in a box by trash workers. Either tossed out by someone or mom disappeared.)

You sound more knowledgable on this than I, but I just want to add that the chasing is not aggressive. No hissing or growling or puffed tail from the Pirate. When I got up to make sure no fight, she was actually in her room and G was hiding somewhere else.

Thanks for the heads up. I liked your cat video. I am guessing your cat is more open to strangers?

That’s a good sign. Does G grow or hiss when the others give chase?

They they are on a equal footing, it’s fine that they chase and wrestle. My cats seem to enjoy it.

Not at all. My two cats were born in the streets and one was at least 1 and a half years old when I picked her up, the other was at least 6 month old. They were way past the time to socialize them. Both of them are terrified at the sight of strangers. Although the younger one can warm up to strangers within 30 minutes. The older one takes days.

Did you get them at the same time?

Ginger growls and prowls at Leopard, then when she sees her chance, she bolts. With Leopard giving chase. Junior does not partake in the chase. The first time it happened, I ran to try and prevent a calamity. When I got upstairs, Leopard was in her room (“What did I do?”) and Ginger nowhere to be found.

When Leopard chases Ginger, her tail is up, but not puffed. No growling or hissing from her. Except…one time, before I got to the stairs, there was a dustup and I heard spitting and I saw a tuft of hair in the air. Leopard looking at me “what did I do?” and Ginger, again, no where to be found. The hair may or may not have been from the fact that it had been a week or so since I cleaned the stairs.

Junior and the Leopard had a kerfluffel last weekend. Our bed is Juniors territory. He tolerates Ginger on it. Little else. Well, Leopard decided to jump the gate and have a gander. This did not end well. No one was hurt, but egos were bruised. Since, when I am in the room with Leopard and the door open (gate closed) if she sees Junior she will charge the gate fluffed up.

My method of introduction has been a mix of isolation and socialization. They know of each other. And now have seen each other, I just want them to get acquainted. Ginger will have none of it. She hides in her box. Junior and Leopard spent most of the time yesterday just tensely looking at each other. Blinking and otherwise calm, but it was not camaraderie. I held Leopard as I sat close to him and handed out treats. He was not happy. But, not stressed or pissed. Tense would be the word. A hiss and little growl was it.

I hesitate to call Leopard a street cat or stray. Abandoned is probably more apt. The vet said she had been fixed and had at least one round of shots. I guess she had a collar that was too tight, the restaurant people removed it. I have a soft place for this cat. Shelter would be a death sentence since no one wants to adopt a one-eyed cat. (no, i do not know how. although the vet said the eye could have been saved) It breaks my heart to hear her cry while I am with the other cats.

I know you are probably not a cat expert. I hate to keep bothering you with it. Thanks for listening all the same.

Just a cat lover, and love hearing stories about cats.

If Leopard doesn’t really attack, then all you need is patience I think. Give Ginger a little bit of time to realize Leopard and Junior mean her no harm.

I didn’t get my cats at the same time, so I pretty much had to go through the same experience. It took Latte almost a whole year before realizing Milktea just wanted to play with her. Once she gained enough confidence, they are pretty much wrestling each other every waking moment.