Free AdviceGet Free Advice
Home | Get advice | Give advice | Topics | Columnists | - !START HERE! -
Make Suggestions | Sitemap

Get Advice


Search Questions

Ask A Question

Browse Advice Columnists

Search Advice Columnists

Chat Room

Give Advice

View Questions
Search Questions
Advice Topics

Login

Username:
Password:
Remember me
Register for free!
Lost Password?

Want to give Advice?

Sign Up Now
(It's FREE!)

Miscellaneous

Shirts and Stuff
Page Backgrounds
Make Suggestions
Site News
Link To Us
About Us
Terms of Service
Help/FAQ
Sitemap
Contact Us


2 male cats


Question Posted Thursday October 15 2009, 12:02 pm

How will 2 male cats get along, one is 14 years old and one would be 6 months old?

[ Answer this question ]
Want to answer more questions in the Domesticity category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Pets?


isis answered Saturday October 17 2009, 4:44 am:
It's always difficult introducing another cat to the home of an established pet, but it will partly depend on their individual natures.

Have they both been neutured? If not, it may be a good idea to have this done as it will not only calm them down bit will avoid certain health issues in later life. You will need to keep the new car shut away for a few days until he settles down and feels happier about the move. The first cat will hang around as he can smell the new one and is keeping an eye out to see why there is an invader on his territory. The resident cat has been placed in a potentially dangerous position, (according to him) and will possibly be stressed for a while.

This is likely to be a long process so you need to be prepared to have patience with them. You will also need to keep the new cat indoors for at least a couple of weeks so that he settles down, accepts his new home and won't disappear, never to be seen again as soon as he is let out!

They need to stay separated for the time being as forced interaction could lead to some serious problems. When the resident cat is also feeling more settled with the situation, you start off by stroking the other cat with a soft piece of material and then stroking it on first cat, then vice versa. This will get them used to scent of each other without meeting. As they groom themselves they will 'taste' the other one's scent as it mingles with their own. They are still likely to be upset but should calm down after a few days of doing this repeatedly.

Next, you could feed them on each side of a connecting door. Start off with the bowls some distance away and over several days, gradually move them closer to the door. They should start to accept each other's scent and associate it with the very enjoyable occupation of eating. Eventually, you could prop the door open enough for them to see each other, (but not wide enough for them to get through), as they are eating. The first time you do this, it may be worth feeding them a special treat so that they are more interested in the food than each other.

When they seem happy with this, try switching the cats to the other's space for a day or a night. This gives them the chance to have a really good sniff around and get more used to the smell of each other. If they are ok with this and settle with each other's bedding, you're ready for the next step.

When you are happy they are ok with this, you can let them see and smell each other without being close enough to feel threatened. Whether this is in the arms of family members, trusted friends or through a gate is your choice. However, they both need to feel safe at this time.

If they then accept this and you're sure they're happier with each other, you could let them meet up on neutral territory where you can intervene if things look like getting nasty. Maybe a bathroom or another room that the original cat does not regard as 'his'? Don't worry if they have a small disagreement, they need to set their own boundaries and learn each others signals. If they decide to have a full-on fight, don't try to pick them up, you're likely to get damaged. Have a water squirter to hand and spray them. It doesn't hurt, they probably won't realise it came from you and may even associate it with fighting! Give them some time to calm down before trying again. Let them have their own bolt holes to go to.

If all this does not work and they are going to continue to fight, sadly, you may need to look at rehoming the more recent of them.

If this does work and they do decide to tolerate each other, ensure they have a litter tray each and they are kept clean. You also need to make sure that whichever one is going to be the dominant cat is not able to ambush the other one when they are in the litter tray. This is when cats are at their most vulnerable as they can't run away when they are toileting. They will also need separate feeding and water bowls, with you keeping an eye on them, to start with to check that the dominant one does not take the food of the other.

You could also look at having several toys as a distraction for them and a variety of sleeping places at different heights. They need opportunities to be able to escape from each other when they want to.

Lastly, keep in mind that cats are very territorial and this process could take weeks or even months. Even when you think they are settling in together, it may not wise to give them free range for several months when there is no one at home. Put the addition back in a room on his own until someone is there to keep an eye on them.

You will need to put a lot of time and patience into this but if it works it will be worth it. You'll have a happy home with two cats that get on with each other.

[ isis's advice column | Ask isis A Question
]




sia answered Saturday October 17 2009, 4:00 am:
you need to get them nuted..like snipped at the vet. especially around this month due to their male hormones increasing through their body.theyr going to fight because theyr trying to show whos bigger and better and protecting what they think to be their land/ home...

i mean you never knwo they could get use to eachother but i doubt it, ask a vertrenarian

[ sia's advice column | Ask sia A Question
]

More Questions:

<<< Previous Question: Splitting the check
Next Question >>> big alphabet letters

Recent popular questions:
Want to give advice?

Click here to start your own advice column!

What happened here with my gamer friends?

All content on this page posted by members of advicenators.com is the responsibility those individual members. Other content © 2003-2014 advicenators.com. We do not promise accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any advice and are not responsible for content.

Attention: NOTHING on this site may be reproduced in any fashion whatsoever without explicit consent (in writing) of the owner of said material, unless otherwise stated on the page where the content originated. Search engines are free to index and cache our content.
Users who post their account names or personal information in their questions have no expectation of privacy beyond that point for anything they disclose. Questions are otherwise considered anonymous to the general public.

[Valid RSS] eXTReMe Tracker