Mary Allen
If you want to bring cats together, you are primarily faced with one question: How can it be done as safely as possible? With our tips, the merger will succeed.
Our house tigers are basically social creatures, but they also get along well as loners. Like all members of the Felidae, our purring housemates have no problem with living alone or in small groups. How and whether living together works depends on the habits, character, and sex of our kitties.
Routine gives them a sense of security that they don’t want to do without. If your furry friend has been living alone with you for a long time, a newcomer may not be welcomed immediately. With our tips, you can make it easier for your velvet paws to get used to each other.
How to merge cats
Normally you have already been able to observe the reaction of your velvet paw to conspecifics once or several times. You should make it dependent on how you bring the animals together: With the …
- Short and painless strategy
or the - Step-by-step strategy
The quick and painless strategy
For the most part, has your cat remained composed, calm, and relaxed when interacting with other animals? Did she respond moderately interested to indifferent? Then, when purchasing a second house tiger, it is best to decide on a strategy that is quick and painless for everyone involved. This means that getting to know each other is not delayed for several days but happens within a few hours.
Arrange the first hours in the new home for the newcomer so that he can get used to the smells and the furnishings. Meanwhile, your first cat should be shielded in another room.
After a while, you let the two cats make contact and watch each other. Make sure that the velvet paws do not have to cross the path to get to the feeding station, the litter box, or the respective resting area. This way they can get used to each other in a relaxed manner.
With a bit of luck, you can sniff each other without any problems and your animals have been brought together successfully.
It is important that if the animals show signs of aggression or fear at this point (bucking back, raising their hair, flattening their ears, making noises), they need the opportunity to physically separate from one another. For you, this means that you prepare a room with food and water bowls, a litter box, and a cat cushion in advance – just in case.
The step-by-step strategy
If your cat doesn’t react quite so easily to other cats, opt for a step-by-step strategy. In this case, you don’t let the house tigers approach each other without protection. However, you will need a separate area of your home for this method, ideally a separate room where the new cat can be set up sheltered for some time. The territories are only changed after a day or two. This means that your first cat will be housed in this room and the newcomer can explore the rest of the apartment.
If you follow the tips from our guide, both house tigers will get used to the smell of the other more easily. You can then get to know each other for the first time. A partition, a grid, or a net that you can stretch tightly and attach to the door frame with thumbtacks will help you. This way you play it safe and the cats can see each other for the first time and sniff each other directly.
If this first meeting goes without aggression or fear, you are on the right track and you can remove the “dividing wall”. However, if there is a negative reaction now, take a step back and make two individual areas out of the entire area again. In just a few days, you can get your darlings used to each other in a stress-free way and they will soon get along well.
Which cats even go together?
First of all: It can happen that two velvet paws can’t stand each other and, despite all attempts, never become friends. But even in this case, you don’t need to despair. Eventually, almost all cats will find a way to get used to each other. Once the order of precedence is settled, they will avoid each other if necessary. Of course, you can support them along the way.
We all like to have a harmonious community of people and animals in our home, where everyone feels comfortable. If you consider a few tips from our guide, you have a good chance of achieving this goal.
For example, one of the common tips is: that the more similar the house tigers are, the easier it is to bring them together. A calm, inactive cat doesn’t like being disturbed by a playful, always active cat.
An old, perhaps sometimes in pain, the cat doesn’t want a young, extroverted daredevil around her. When making your choice, make sure that the character of the newly selected family member fits well.
Does gender make a difference?
If the cats are spayed or neutered, gender plays a minor role. However, two females often get used to each other faster and better than a mixed pair.
tomcat and cat
A castrated tomcat often does not give up his mating behavior (approaching from behind, biting the neck) despite the castration and molests the cat, which eventually feels stressed and puts up a fight.
hangover
Even two castrated cats can understand each other perfectly. This is especially true when they are young, i.e. have only just grown up.
Cat and cat or tomcat and tomcat (unneutered)
Care should be taken with two unneutered female cats. Two male cats who are not neutered are on alert – in this case, fights over the hierarchy are foreseeable. That is why breeders in particular have to create territories that are independent of one another if they keep several breeding tomcats or cats.
What role does age play?
Your house tigers should also match in terms of age. Merging works best when both cats are immature or just grown up. At this point, neither territorial behavior nor sex drive is strong enough to cause conflict.
The cat community runs smoothly if the cats are allowed to grow up together, i.e. if you can bring them together as kittens.
How do bring cats and kittens together?
As with dogs, velvet paws also have what is known as puppy protection. This applies until the kitten is a few weeks old. Then it has to abide by the rules of the cat family – not every behavior is tolerated.
You can therefore assume that your first cat will observe the kitten for the first time and correct it if necessary without harming it. But don’t take it for granted! Existing puppy protection does not always automatically mean that the cats will live together peacefully.
Watch your old cat and the new kitten closely. Separate them at the slightest sign of stress from your first cat. She could seriously injure the little one with slaps and bites.
If the kitten is older than three or four months, you should use the step-by-step strategy described above. Kittens are often bold and don’t yet have a sense of when to hold back. In this way, you help both cats to get used to it without stress.
When should cats be brought together?
In general, the sooner the better.
If you’re sure from the start that you want several felines, then it’s best to bring them home at the same time to be matched. None of the cats then has an older claim to the new territory. Most cats and tomcats are automatically a little shy and reserved when they first explore their new home and will try not to get in each other’s way.
Typical merging problems
It is normal for minor arguments and power struggles to arise in the first few days. The old cat has to defend its territory, the new one has to find its place first. As in a family of big cats, each animal has its rank. So you don’t have to feel sorry for it when it has to submit. Once the hierarchy has been clarified, you no longer need to be afraid of escalations among the cats.
Hissing and growling: what now?
Hissing and growling are normal defensives, threatening, or preemptive behaviors. Cats want to show that they don’t like something or that they feel superior. The other animal has to accept this.
For most cats, this behavior is enough to prevent physical aggression. Be sure to stay close and see if the growl or hiss turns into an attack. Keep a blanket handy to protect your hands and/or put on leather gloves so that you can separate the brawlers if necessary. Then follow the step-by-step strategy outlined above.
Should the cats be separated at night when mating?
If there are no problems when you first meet them, separate the old cat and the newcomer for at least one night. It may be that jealousies or signs of territorial claims or territorial defense show up, especially on the first night. If the second day also goes well and is absolutely calm, the cats and tomcats can also stay together at night.
If there are problems right from the start, you will of course have to separate the cats at night. You should have a stress-free time, especially while you’re sleeping and not able to act as a minder.
Is a grid or a partition useful?
A grid makes sense if the cats and tomcats should get to know each other through their eyes, ears, and sense of smell, but cannot establish physical contact. This is important for dominant animals, but also for those who have lived alone for a long time and do not immediately welcome a newcomer.
Duration: How long does it take to merge cats?
Even if you follow all the tips in this guide, no general statement can be made here. Too many factors come into play. With a little empathy, however, a merger should be successfully completed after one to two weeks. If you’re lucky, it only lasts a few hours and the two family members fall in love instantly.
Tips and tricks for merging
The golden rule is: that the less stressful the reunion is, the faster all family members will feel at ease again. That means first and foremost that YOU have to stay relaxed. Try to avoid any nervousness. If you can’t do that, at least don’t let her feel your cats or hangovers.
Also, use these tricks so that your animals get along well as quickly as possible:
- Human hustle and bustle carry over to most pets. Master and mistress should always keep a clear head and the oars in hand so that an animal feels comfortable. It is therefore best not to pay too much attention to the two furry friends when they get to know each other! However, keep a close eye on them. A good middle ground is the best guide here.
- The combination takes place for the first time via the sense of smell. Exchange the cat blanket, the cat cushion, or other objects among the cats before the first direct sniffing. This allows them to get used to the strange smell.
- Valerian as a sedative can temporarily distract your cat from stressful situations. It’s not a permanent method, but it can be helpful for a short period of time when cats are brought together.
- Treats work wonders when cats and hangovers need to be taken out of stressful situations. A rustle with the goodies sack or opening the tube of delicious pie can work wonders. Reward both animals at the same time!
- Some guides swear by vaporizers, which act on cats by emitting pheromones (hormones) into the air. These vaporizers are placed in the room where the resident cat is about a day before the new cat arrives. The scent soothes and soothes them, making them more indifferent to the newcomer.
- The new arrival will have to get used to a new home AND the resident cat. That’s why it’s only fair if he can spend a few hours with you in the apartment and examine it without being exposed to the stress of reunification. Give cat and tomcat the opportunity to slowly get used to each other and learn to love each other!
Merging cats: typical mistakes
The biggest mistake happens when feeding: Under no circumstances should you initially feed the cats next to each other and certainly not with just one food and one drinking bowl. Disputes are therefore absolutely foreseeable. Either a cat doesn’t dare to go near the bowl and doesn’t get enough, or it is hissed, chopped, or bitten.
Feeding must be stress-free – preferably in two rooms. Make sure that the cat can walk to the bowl at any time without fear and without attacking.
So that you don’t experience any unpleasant “soiling” in your home, offer each cat its own litter box. Many cats do not dare to go into the litter box of the long-established cat because the intense smell represents a territorial boundary.
Do not pet or spoil one cat more than the other. Avoid picking up a cat, thereby giving it a sense of dominance and size over the other. Jealousy in cats arises from the feeling that they are being denied a piece of their previously safe home. This automatically stimulates the defense of the territory and leads to aggression or fear.
We hope that our guide has provided you with a few helpful tips and we wish you and your cats a good start together and harmonious coexistence!