Firstly I will not lie to you, this has been a stressful process not only for the boys (Gatsby and Earl) but for the rest of the household too.  In this blog post i’m going to let you know what I did and how it’s going so far.

Week One

The first week was all about scent, we stroked each Cat with a sock then we exchanged and let the other smell the other cats scent.  Scent is an important communication devise between cats.   Cats produce pheromones to create a social bond between us humans and other cats.  The pheromones are produced from their cheeks, chin and also their paw pads. When your cat brushes their head against you they are actually marking you as their territory.  When your cat is scratching, not only are they filing their precious claws but they are also leaving their scent.  If a cat rubs against another, this shows that they are friends.  As I knew the importance of happy pheromones I purchased four Feliways they are expensive but worth the money.  They plug into a socket and produce happy pheromones to help relax your cats for all sorts of stressful situations.   I have them plugged into sockets upstairs as well as downstairs.  Wherever they both hang out.

We started feeding the two cats behind a closed door, we had no trouble with Earl but Gatsby was reluctant at first so his dish was far back.  During each meal time we would move the dish closer and closer and at times, we had to start further back.  We had to go slow and build up confidence.  All of week one was behind closed doors with no visual contact, then I would scent swap each room, put one cat in the room the other was shut in.

Week Two

We arranged meetings with the two cats, Earl was placed in his cat carrier while Gatsby inspected.

At the time I though this was the safest method and the right thing to do and to my defence this is how several websites recommended introductions.  However, I didn’t think of the physiological affect it may be having on Earl until one of my Instagram followers watched.  They stated how stressful this situation may be for Earl, this meeting wasn’t on common grounds so my husband made the cats a divider to separate them.  This divider had chicken wire we used for the cat enclosure, they could still see each other in safety.

They were supervised, ate at each meal time by that divider, played and received treats.  Then Earl started to try jumping over the divider.   This is when we knew it was time to start moving the process along a bit further.

Meal times were then together with no barriers, once they had finished eating with each other we observed them to see how they interacted.   Gatsby started stalking Earl,  the interactions didn’t appear positive so they were separated again, when things started to heat up.  I didn’t want anything bad to happen, after we had made such good progress.  My husband made another divider to stop Earl from jumping over which is inserted into the door frame.  This divider is awesome, we can go to work and the cats can do their own meet and greets without the worry of anything happening.

Week Three – Current

We will be on week three this Monday, meal times are good.  In fact when Gatsby doesn’t eat all his food Earl finishes it!  I can have them in a room together but when one is in the cat tree, the other also wants to be there.  At times this causes batting heads and disagreements  The other day both cats were in the same tree TOGETHER.  I could have cried with happiness when I saw it.   No cat was backing down and things settled.

There is obviously a dominance situation going on between the two of them.  What I think is going on is that they both need to learn how to live in the same house knowing the other is around somewhere.  Gatsby is generally in Earls face too much and this annoys Earl so there is a bit of batting heads.  I prefer this to the initial, hissing and growling that went on at the start.  Earl can really pack a punch on Gatsby’s head and Gatsby just sits there and takes it.

On a couple of occasions Gatsby has grabbed and pulled Earls fur out.  Gatsby receives a timeout when this happens as this isn’t acceptable.  When I researched this, it can happen if kittens are taken away from their mothers too early.  For the first seven weeks their mothers teach them what’s acceptable “play” fighting and what isn’t.  I know that Gatsby has social issues, and he can’t pick up on signs or behaviours.  With this understanding I can help him through what he’s allowed to do and what he isn’t, cats are very trainable and intelligent.

At this point we are still separating then, one stays in the master bedroom while the other gets free run of the house, then they are swapped.   This will continue until they appear to understand an awareness of space for each other, or the slight tension I still see between the pair dies down.  This process has been very rewarding, understanding the warning signs with two cats was imperative for this introduction.  I did so much research and reading and received so much support and advise from my Instagram followers its been overwhelming that all these people were there for me.  I would like to thank all of you!

I pondered for a long time about getting a second cat, i’m truly happy I did it.  I’m not telling you that it’s easy because it wasn’t.  It is draining, you do at times appear to take steps back but if you want to create a true relationship between two cats, rushing things will not be good.  Everything has happened when the cats want it to happen.  Earl is sometimes timid, so what I do now is sit in my master bedroom with Gatsby and watch tv, when Earl meows to come in I let him in.  That way I know Earl has prepared himself for his own meeting not just me bringing him to a situation he doesn’t want to be.

Just as I was creating this blog Earl asked to come in.  Gatsby was asleep in his box then noticed Earl.  Thy both looked at each other, Earl made his way up the cat tree then Gatsby wanted to be there.  Earl was not giving up his place, batted head started on Gatsby.  Gatsby ignored the signs and still tried to get up, I think Earl did a nip on Gatsby’s neck then Gatsby took the message and went back to his box.  Put of it is just boundaries, like i’ve stated.

One tip that i’m glad I stuck to was no free feeding, meal times were always next to or near the other cat.  This was the only tool I had to bring them closer together, Gatsby was usually the one that didn’t eat all his food,  he generally left half.  It was hard to do but I disposed of the food he didn’t eat, personally I hit two birds with one stone.  Gatsby does need to lose some weight, plus I needed him to have a reason to be by Earl.

Another tip, I took both cats to the vets for check ups to make sure they are both in good health and that there are no underlining health concerns.  I wanted to be sure that at times Gatsby was just being grumpy.

This process as you can read is a current work in progress, hopefully they will be grooming and sleeping with each other in no time.  If you would like to offer any recommendations please leave a comment, I love reading them and love that you guys are so supportive of my two boys.