Monday, August 17, 2015

How To Make Sure Your First Cat Doesn't Hate Your New Cat

I was hesitant on bringing in another cat.

I admit it.

It's probably because I watch too many episodes of My Cat From Hell. If you don't know what it is, it's basically about this guy, Jackson Galaxy, who helps cat owners get their cats to calm down. Sometimes the cats scratch everything. Sometimes the cats pee everywhere. Sometimes the cats attack people.

We got lucky with Max. He wasn't Crazy. But what if the next cat was? And then I worried that Max would HATE the other cat. In My Cat From Hell, sometimes cats act out if a new one is brought in.

I did not want chaos to ensue, so here are things we did to make sure Max wouldn't hate Ruby.





1. We didn't shove Ruby in front of Max constantly. We let Max come to Ruby. He'd sniff her, hiss, and then sniff her some more. When he wanted to. (Also, Ruby doesn't put up with nonsense. If he sniffed her too long, she'd slap him.)




2. We got the cats another jungle gym. We had one, but we figured another would be best. It was a good idea, because Max enjoys it:





And so does Ruby:




3. Each cat has their own food dishes. However, I think each cat eats out of both. But still. They know they can have their own if they want.


4. We made sure to give Max extra love. We didn't want him to feel replaced.



In the end our ideas seemed to work. Max only hisses at Ruby if she gets too close to him when he's trying to eat. I understand. I growl if my kids get too close to me when I'M trying to eat too.

And now they are friends.



14 comments:

  1. Aww! Glad they like each other in the end! ;)

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  2. It was the same way when we got BabyBelle. Everyone was grumpy for about a week and then besties!

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  3. Aww, so glad it's all worked out - and so quickly! When I got my second cat (also a female to add to the male I already had), I was SUPER worried, but my male cat is SUPER chill... they were cuddling within an hour! Crazy! But when we got our dog, it was definitely a different story, haha.

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  4. So glad it worked out! We tried to get a kitten a few years ago and our cat lost his mind! I've never heard a cat growl before.

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  5. Since my new one is a baby, we kept her in a room by herself for a few days and then slowly started letting the other animals around her. I still don't feel comfortable leaving her out around them by herself. She's still so tiny.

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  6. Max and Ruby, Ruby and Max!

    My boys want a second cat, but I told them to wait a while.

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  7. I wish we could have cats. We had to do this with our dogs though. Great tips.

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  8. I wish we could have cats. We had to do this with our dogs though. Great tips.

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  9. Aw! We are lucky too. Dinah is not crazy at all. I couldn't handle a crazy cat but I give credit to the cat owners seeking help rather than just evicting their crazy cats!
    When we had two, they had two food bowls and even two litterboxes although they both used both boxes.

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  10. So glad they like each other. It is always good to introduce them separately giving them time to adjust.

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  11. Great suggestions. It's always hard wondering how the new family member will get along with everyone else. Cute kitties!

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  12. They look adorably happy together. I have a cat that hates every other animal that enters our house with might(or every living thing in general, but i do not want to sound mean) she hates the other two cats, our dog when she lived here (now she is at my mom's), our birds and our fishes. Yes, we have that many animals.
    But the point is our other two cats spend all their day playing with each other, sleeping together, and being very nice to one another. They do not hiss or make weird exorcist sounds or walk sideways like they had a stroke, when the see another animal passing through. I wonder what the people of that show would say about our cat....

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  13. bahaha, i love cats and miss having one. I suppose it's like anything else you bring into the family when you already have one, just let it happen in its own time.

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  14. These are great suggestions! I would love cats someday and these ideas make sense. Especially about the separate gyms and food bowls.

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Thanks for the comment!

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