A Tale of Cats and Claws

finral

In a few days, I will have to introduce a 6 year old female cat and a 2 year old declawed female cat into the same house. Neither have ever lived with another cat before. I'm wondering if anyone knows of any particular concerns or has experience with introducing a declawed cat to a clawed cat. Should I be worried about the clawless one (well, she does have back claws) not being able to defend herself?

For the record, I had nothing to do with the declawing, and do not approve in the slightest.

Thanks

Elin

finral wrote:

In a few days, I will have to introduce a 6 year old female cat and a 2 year old declawed female cat into the same house. Neither have ever lived with another cat before. I'm wondering if anyone knows of any particular concerns or has experience with introducing a declawed cat to a clawed cat. Should I be worried about the clawless one (well, she does have back claws) not being able to defend herself?

For the record, I had nothing to do with the declawing, and do not approve in the slightest.

Thanks

If you're worried you can pick some Soft Paws and slap em on the clawed cat while they're getting to know each other. That should level the field.

minirhyder

Or clip the clawed cat's claws. If clipped nicely she shouldn't be able to do any damage with them.

finral

Great ideas! Thanks!

Esh

minirhyder wrote: »

Or clip the clawed cat's claws. If clipped nicely she shouldn't be able to do any damage with them.

This. Also be sure to introduce the two cats slowly. Under doors and such.

mts

Esh wrote: »

minirhyder wrote: »

Or clip the clawed cat's claws. If clipped nicely she shouldn't be able to do any damage with them.

This. Also be sure to introduce the two cats slowly. Under doors and such.

eh, i am huge proponent of thunderdome intros. let them sniff through a crate at first and if no major hissing/gonna kill you sounds come, just let them go at it. keep some blankets and spray bottles and maybe some kitchen mits on hand in case it turns sour.


have done this a couple times and works out great, but it really depends on the cats.

also, being declawed doesn't make the cat helpless. one of the most badass cats i know is a tiny tiny declawed cat.

Elin

mts wrote: »

Esh wrote: »

minirhyder wrote: »

Or clip the clawed cat's claws. If clipped nicely she shouldn't be able to do any damage with them.

This. Also be sure to introduce the two cats slowly. Under doors and such.

eh, i am huge proponent of thunderdome intros. let them sniff through a crate at first and if no major hissing/gonna kill you sounds come, just let them go at it. keep some blankets and spray bottles and maybe some kitchen mits on hand in case it turns sour.


have done this a couple times and works out great, but it really depends on the cats.

also, being declawed doesn't make the cat helpless. one of the most badass cats i know is a tiny tiny declawed cat.

I've always taken the same approach as MTS. Had a 15 lb male persian. Brought home a tiny fluff of a siamese. Siamese kitten kicked persians ass, he was a huge pacifist. It all worked out. Esh does have the vet approved way of doing it though.

bowen

Kittens like to have their own safety area, mostly. If you don't do it slowly like Esh suggested you can end up with a skiddish cat sometimes.

azith28

Kittens are different... bringing two grown cats together is more problematic and i suggest a slower approach then thunderdome.

First, sequester the new cat somewhere your current cat does not go often, and give it a bed with a towel or blanket on top, let it sleep there a few days, and at the same time, take something your existing cat sleeps on alot and put it in the room with the new cat. take the new cats towel/blanket and put it where the existing cat can get use to the scent. I suggest letting them get use to each other under the door and through the scent for a good week before any kind of face to face meeting. The problem isnt that they might fight, but if the existing one suddenly starts detecting scent markers the possibility of her 'marking' territory exists (yes even if they are female).

finral

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to go with the slow approach, although I like the idea of kitty thunderdome. I would definitely like to avoid the marking territory issue, and will be trying the cat fabric swap technique.

I'll update with the obligatory kitty pics when all is settled.

Stormwatcher

I want pictures now!
But seriously, the scent swap thing is aces.