Two cats, one house (maybe) UPDATED WITH PICS

Jaded

So here’s the deal.
My girlfriend left her cat (Salem) with a friend when we moved because the cat I have (Alias) does not take kindly to other animals.
I know it was a dick move asking her to leave Salem behind and I do honestly regret it… I just didn’t want to see him hurt, I love animals and would be happy to have more around.
Regardless, the fellow we left Salem was (we thought) a responsible fellow who had a couple animals of his own. He agreed to take Salem off our hands and care for him.

My girlfriend got a call today from the pound in the city where we used to live saying they had picked Salem up. No one can get a hold of the fellow we left Salem with, he seems to have disappeared.
The pound where Salem is resides 200 kilometres away from us and will euthanize pets after 7 days.

There is a slight chance (very slight) my parents will take Salem in as their own. They’ve always wanted a pet and now that they are both retired it is a good time for them. The reason they never got one in the past was because they have all leather furniture, however Salem is completely declawed (front and back).

Also, before anyone goes off about this, please, I know it’s cruel to declaw animals, hence why Alias has all hers. My girlfriend and her exhusband had Salem declawed because they had very young children (newborn) in the house and were trying to be as cautious as possible.

The other option is that I told my girlfriend that we can bring Salem into our home. This would honestly make me very happy, aside from the fact that I worry about his safety with Alias around.
If we bring Salem into our home how do I go about adjusting Alias to a new cat in the house?

Cat Facts for Alias:

Female
Used to have a small dog living with her who she adjusted to and more or less ignored.
Around 7 years old
Fixed
Has all claws
Likes adults
Dislikes children
Overweight

Cat Facts for Salem:

Male
Around 7 years old
Fixed
Has NO claws (front or back)
Likes adults
Likes children
Last we saw him he was in good shape

Also, cat pictures to follow when I am not at work.

Edit: I know both their shots will have to be caught up.

Alias:

Salem:

Richard_Dastardly

I've fostered some cats and have four right now. Once the new cat is checked for diseases, I'd just let them both roam the house and let them figure things out on their own. It's worked fine for me on several occasions, but then the cats I've done this with were under three years old, had all their claws and had, at some point in their lives, been around other cats.

How come the cat doesn't have back claws?

Edit: N/M, missed the spoiler

Jaded

As mentioned they (my gf and her exhusband) were overly cautious when they had a child. The cat was fairly young at the time (less then a year) so the vet took out the back and front claws.

Tofystedeth

They'll probably be fine together.

It'll probably take a while before that happens though. You'll need to keep them separated for the first day or so usually. They'll each know the other is there, and will probably make a lot of noise. Gradually let them get used to each other. Bring objects they sleep on from one room into the other so they can used to the smell. After a little while, give them supervised visits with each other. They'll probably hiss, and swat, and chase. Let them, but don't let it get too rough. A little light smacking is to be expected to establish dominance. If they're tackling and biting, you'll probably wanna separate them and let them cool off.
Let them both know you still love them. Jealousy can be an issue, and giving them plenty of cuddling (you with yours, and your girlfriend with hers mostly) can help alieviate this.

We got our cat acclimated to the one we adopted in about 2-3 days this way.

If yours dealt with a dog, she'll probably get over having another cat.

onceling

This is how I introduce new cats, both fosters and my current 2 cats who were from different litters:

http://www.floppycats.com/how-to-introduce-cats.html

The process may take weeks. Be vigilant with swapping over their smells constantly.

Some cats bond, others don't. My current cats still pounce, growl, hiss and swat each other during playtime. They are not cuddly best friends but they get along great. When Molly hides, Desmond mrow mrow mrows everywhere until he finds her. Taking one to the vet and leaving the other causes howling.

You will know when cats are in a "real" fight because of the awful screaming, the backwards ears hissing and serious claws. Because Salem has no claws, its very likely he will use a lot more teeth, just be aware of that. It's normal when a cat is deprived of one defense to take up another.

There's no need to do any corrections, if a meeting between the two cats goes poorly, quickly and gently separate them, don't do any punishments, loud shouting or words. They should only associate good / neutral reactions from you when meeting the other cat. It's usually best if you and your g/f just have a couple of old towels handy during the first face-to-face meeting (possibly a week or so after swapping smells since you are concerned that Alias is not friendly with other cats).

It's fine for the cats to growl, hiss and swat at each other, you only need to intervene if an awful fight breaks out. If it does, each of you just grab the cat using the towel and take them back to their respective spaces. Don't leave them alone, just separate and then go about your regular business in the space.

Here is normal cat fighting (no concern):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NJQvswrSPg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZIelVK-Glw

See how their ears are either front-facing or sideways (uncertain but not freaked out)? Thats perfectly fine wrestling, growling, hissing. Unless one cat is making noises of fear/pain they should be allowed to have supervised introduction time.

Here's some cats that are making "not ok" noises and have flattened, backwards ears that is generally a sign to stop. Notice how their ears are completely flattened, consistently:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF88IYF2MHY&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwAd8VOM8mI&feature=related

Also note the terrible screaming.

Bionic Monkey

My 5-year-old Maine Coon recently got a 4-month-old kitten as a new roommate. For the first couple weeks, we'd let them hang out together under supervision, and then lock the kitten up in a separate room at night, and when we were at work. Eventually, the kitten managed to get free sometime during the day when we were both gone, and they were both just chilling when we got home.

They still fight quite a bit, which was a concern for me, but their fighting is usually like the first two videos Onceling posted, which is apparently normal, so I'm going to try and stop breaking them up.

rnbguru

It definitely isn't always easy. When we got our second cat, it really quieted the first cat who became a recluse and would no longer come out at all.

Some definitely don't take well to people.

mts

have you ever had another cat with Alias wth another cat? you would be surprised how some cats react to new cats. we have two cats. our oldest loves new cats and we used to have cat play dates for him. our youngest hisses and gets all pissy (figuratively and literally) at first but after a week or so got over it if not played a bit rough

just supervise them and seperate them when you can't observe them and slowly increase the together time. might take a couple weeks might take a day. alias might live Salem and take to him right awy. also. keep a squirt bottle handy and don't reach in.

Jaded

Our neighbours cat likes to jump into the backyard when we are out there working.
Alias is fine as long as shadow is no closer then about 6 feet away.
Any closer... all bets are cancelled.
Also alias will run up to the fence and bat through the boards at shadow when shadow is in his own yard.

LadyM

You probably already know this, but I'm going to say it anyway . . . Don't let your girlfriend's cat outside since he's declawed.

As for introducing cats, it will depend on the cats' personalities. I adopted a stray and integrated her with my two cats, who were best of friend.

Stray Cat: Very friendly towards my cats.
My Cat #1: Meh, whatever. *shrug*
My Cat #2: INVADER!!!! HOW DARE YOU CROSS MY THRESHOLD! I WILL KEEL YOUUUUUU!

Eventually we achieved equilibrium but it took a few weeks. I kept the new cat in the bathroom until I could be sure they wouldn't fight.

Jaded

Oh yes, Salem does not go outside.
He likes to think he gets to, but he does not get to.

mts

yea eventually every cat will come to some form of understanding no matter how vicious they first seem. it just takes time

Dog

I lived with two cats during college, one of them for three years, the other for two. When the second one came to the house (a gigantic 20 pound cat), the original cat (a very tiny kitten) hissed, swatted the big guy, and the big cat proceeded to piss himself.

They became good friends immediately after, and aside from some occasional playful fighting just layed around all day.

Jaded

Salem is home with us now. We've decided to let him walk around and see the place.
When we first brought him in we let Alias sniff him through the cat carrier. She hissed but her ears are not flattened.

Alias has spent a bit of time away from us sulking I believe, I'm going to see her constantly though so she knows we still love her! She's not normally a cuddly cat so this amount of attention is no real surprise... but she does seem a little ticked.

He on the other hand doesn't seem to care at all that she is around. He walked by her all non-chalant like whenever he wants to check something out. They've been about 3 feet apart from each other a couple times and aside from Alias hissing at him there are no issues so far.

I'd like to update this for a couple days and keep you guys (who have been so helpful, thank you!) in the loop on how things progress.

Poor little Salem, he's so matted and thin. Last we saw him a couple years ago he was around 14 pounds, the vet weighed him today when he got his rabies shot and he was 7.2 pounds and majorly constipated. The emergency clinic vet said to make sure he eats and drinks a fair bit today and it he hasn't had a good BM to bring him back in and they will sedate him and clean his little furry butt out.

Awk

Jaded wrote: »

they will sedate him and clean his little furry butt out.

d'awwww

mts

you can give him some hairball stuff and that helps increase intestinal motility.

SkyCaptain

I'm glad you got the kitty back before something really bad happened to them. I could never work in a shelter or rescue. I'd never turn away a cat or let them go.

onceling

Good ol' Solid Gold cat tuna is a great stinky favorite of most cats, and its very nutritionally sound as well, you might want to pick some up to help him pack back on the pounds. I mix it with dry food too, since it tricks em into eating both. Since it's canned tuna it's good source of hydration as well for cats that don't drink much.

Bionic Monkey

onceling wrote: »

Good ol' Solid Gold cat tuna is a great stinky favorite of most cats, and its very nutritionally sound as well, you might want to pick some up to help him pack back on the pounds. I mix it with dry food too, since it tricks em into eating both. Since it's canned tuna it's good source of hydration as well for cats that don't drink much.

I'd only recommend doing this if it's something you think you'll give to him regularly. Tuna is like fucking crack-cocaine to cats. Give it to them once, and they'll follow you into the kitchen every time for the next three weeks begging for more.

There's probably a good high fat, high nutrition food that you can pick up. Have you talked with your vet about getting the weight back on?

Tofystedeth

That and every time you open a can, any can, they'll come to your feet meowing at you, thinking it is tuna.

mts

you can always go for the nutro EVO, they use that to keep weight on cancer animals

Neyla

Well Salem isn't severally under weight (according to the Vet) only he needs to gain abit of weight. He has been eating fine. The vet recommened wet cat food since it is both soft and loaded with moisture. She only recommended that we don't have weight reduction food out in case he eats that (alias is 20lbs) and just let him eat to his hearts content.

But we may have to take him back to the Vet soon if he doesn't have a regular BM, which is hard to tell since he has the mentality "all litter box r belong to me".

Jaded

Last update:
Thank you all for your helpful advice! The cats are still trying to set up their pecking order in the house.
I think Alias is intimated by the fact that Salem doesn't run in absolute terror when she hisses at him.
We still keep him behind closed door sduring the day, just to make sure nothing really nasty happens when we can't break it up.

We attempted to let them both walk about the house last night and see what would happen. Salem jumped up on the bed and crashed in Alias' spot when she was eatting... she jumped back on the bed and hissed at him from across Neyla and my legs.

About 30 minutes (or so) later I guess (Neyla woke me) she got out of bed and was laughing as Salem had Alias cornered somewhere on the main floor... little bugger thinks he should be the alpha. Is it time to let them settle it once and for all (as long as no blood / evil ears back happen)?

GothicLargo

I'd recommend going a couple weeks with leaving them free at night before leaving them together for a day. If they're going to settle something, they're just as apt to settle it at night as during the day, and if they do anything serious, the noise will wake you up.