Help, quick - Any cat experts out there please?

sal

My son is coming home tomorrow from living away for a few years. All furniture will be safely stored and his room is ready.

But - he now has a cat, a lovely neutered tom...and so do I. And a dog who is now amazingly tolerant of our little tomcat, they are best pals.

My son has been unable to find a home for his cat and I am terrified of introducing another tomcat into our household and upsetting the harmony. It is breaking his heart to think of parting with his cat, although it may only be for a short time until he moves on again.

What can I do? Is is possible that 2 toms could live alongside each other without fighting for territory or is my cat likely to leave home? Also his cat is an inside cat and mine loves his outdoor adventures in the fields (and with next door's four cats). I'm really stuck.

Any ideas?

sal

sinizterguy

If one of the cats is neutered then the chances of any major fights are much reduced afaik.

You could try introducing them just outside the house first - to see how they tolerate each other.

It is possible to keep two cats together in 1 house - but it does depend on their individual natures.

I am not an expert - I dont even currently own a cat - so take anything I have said with a pich of salt.

Gingham_Ribbon

First of all, if the new cat is not kept in doors for a while, there is a good chance it will get lost as it will be unable to find its way back, or it will try to go 'home' to where it used to live. But if it's a house cat that should be easier. I always keep mine indoors for a couple of months but I could be being over cautious.

Secondly, as long as they are allowed to meet and your cat establish himself as boss, there shouldn't be too many problems. Try not to interfere unless there's fur flying.

Make a big ole fuss of your guy to remind him you still love him.

You may have to keep them in seperate rooms when you're not there to keep an eye on them to start with. In that case, I would suggest that your cat gets the run of the house and the new one is kept in one room, just while you're all out.

I'm hardly a cat expert, but this is what I would do. (I used to have 5, but never had to introduce a fully grown tom into the house. So hopefully someone who knows better will be able to tell you I'm talking rubbish if need be!)

bumpybecky

We've introduced another male to our stroppy boy cat and also a female cat and dog. All animals were neutered though. Whether they fight depends on the personality of the individuals and whether the new male will be submissive to the existing occupier.

In our case there was some fighting, well lots of hissing and yelling, no actual blood drawn!

If you do try and introduce them I'd suggest leaving them in different areas of the house for a few days, with separate water, food litter tray etc. Take things very slowly and try not to leave them alone with each other unsupervised until you're happy they won't go for each other!

good luck

mentaljessie

With 2 Toms together there could be territorial issues, I'm not a cat expert but my Mum has 14 cats (and is constantly poor) and they all co-exist fine. It may be best to introduce them gradually perhaps allowing the guest cat to stay in one room, so that your cat can get used to the idea of his new lodger. A cat pheromone plug in from the vets may help, it seems to work on my cats. Although your cat may be unhappy with his new pal, I think it is unlikely that he will find alternative accomadation. A good book to read is The cat whisperer by Vicky Hall it will give you a good insight into problems and how to work round them. My eldest cat (a girl) hates my younger 2 (boy and girl) with a vengence but with regular outside access, the pheromone plug in, toys and individual attention she is more tolerent of the situation now and she manages to live alongside them.

[Deleted User]

I took in my daughter`s puppy to join our (then) two dogs and two cats. No problems settling at all. All cats were neutered toms. 15 years later, we still have the dog. Be prepared to have your son`s cat for a lifetime

WeirdoMagnet

Try posting on the Cats and Other Animals page on Dog Rescue Pages - you will have to register to post, but I've never had a spam problem. Many of the people there are involved in rescuing cats (and dogs!) and so will have experience of introducing new cats and dogs to each other.

HTH

Georgina

twink

I have taken another tomcat into the house with no bother,with the warmer days your cat will be out most of the time if that is what it likes, in fact i was adopted by a big tomcat and the rest just seem to accept him or ignore him. Give it a try and see how they get on.

devoncat

Try looking at this site http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pets_introducingcat

It is from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. It describes how to introduce two cats.

Wizwoo

Lots of good advice already. We introduced a new tom cat to our 4 other cats (that included 1 other tom) as others have said they will take a while to get used to each other as we would.

Can't agree more with the advice on keeping the new cat in for the first few weeks - and just in one room for the first week or so.

They will be fine - if not best buddies they'll just keep their distance.

Good luck!

glen5213

We have six cats 4 toms all nutered introduce them slowly and feed them at the same time a short distance apart should get on fine