Cats

[nolley]

I need information. Basically my sister wants to -get rid of is a bit strong but that's what she wants to do, her cat and it looks like I'm going to have to home it or it's going in a cat home. So, how easy is it for two female (spayed) cats to get to live together (rather than male/female, male/male) and what tips you can give me for introducing a

Comments

[hawkida]

It varies massively - some will never get on, some will be okay pretty quickly.

Recommendations I've seen people use (watching from afar via the computer and only seeing feedback online) tend to be along the lines of:

- keep the new cat in a cage/basket for the first day or so
- keep them in separate rooms for a while afterwards
- let them get used to the fact that there's another cat around before they get near it
- slowly introduce them to the same room, possibly both caged
- don't leave them together alone in the first instance (you might need to keep them separated for a long time)
- have a fallback plan for if they don't get on!

I don't know whether this differs particularly depending on the sex.

Tobes' parents had two cats that were from the same litter, and later adopted two more which were both from a second litter. Three of them get on fine but the fourth has never accepted the new two fully. The original two were both female, the new two were one of each. Basically, the rejecting cat slinks around the edges of the house, being wary about coming in, and will glare at the others and sometimes attack if she feels threatened. They do all share the same space, though, and she'll be in the same room as the others by choice, though on edge while there.

[ang_grrr]

Is either cat a toirtoishell? They are notoriously bad-tempered and resistant to change. (I accept that Patsy is at the far end of the bell curve, even by toirtie standards).

Max, as ever, has summed it up excellently.

[nolley]

No, Schnapps is silver & black & Salem is black.