How to introduce a new cat to your home and to your other cats

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Cats are territorial, and a new home or a new housemate is a big change for them. Rushing the first meeting is the most common reason introductions go wrong, and a bad start can take months to repair. A slow, structured introduction takes more patience at the start and usually saves a great deal of trouble later.

Prepare a safe room

Before the new cat arrives, set up one quiet room where it will live at first: a spare bedroom or study works well.

Food and water, placed away from the litter tray.
A litter tray, with the type of litter the cat is used to if you know it.
Hiding places, such as a covered bed or a cardboard box on its side, plus somewhere high to sit.
A scratching post, a few toys and something that smells of its previous home if possible.

Let the cat come out of the carrier in its own time. Hiding under the bed for a day or two is normal. Sit quietly in the room, talk softly and let the cat approach you.

If there are no other pets

Once the cat is eating, using the tray and approaching you confidently, open the door and let it explore the rest of the home gradually, while keeping the safe room available as a retreat. For a nervous cat this can take a week or more. Keep windows and outside doors closed, and if your cat will go outdoors, wait several weeks before letting it out.

Introducing it to your other cats: scent first

Cats get to know each other by smell long before they are comfortable seeing each other.

Keep them completely apart for the first several days. The resident cat should be able to smell that someone new is there, but not see it.
Swap scent: rub a soft cloth on each cat's cheeks and leave it near the other cat's food. Swap bedding between them.
Swap spaces: let the new cat explore the house while the resident cat is shut in another room, then let the resident cat sniff around the safe room.
Feed on either side of the closed door, moving the bowls slightly closer over several days.

Then gradual visual contact

When both cats eat calmly near the door and show no strong reaction to each other's scent, let them see each other.

Use a baby gate, a screen door or a door opened a few centimetres and wedged.
Keep sessions short and positive: meals, treats or play with a wand toy while they can see each other.
End each session before anyone gets upset.
Gradually make the sessions longer, then allow supervised time in the same room.

Keep plenty of resources so no one has to compete: separate food bowls, more than one water point, and as a common rule of thumb, one litter tray per cat plus one extra, in different locations.

Signs of stress to watch for

Hissing, growling, flattened ears, puffed-up fur or a lashing tail.
Hiding all the time, or not eating.
Urinating or soiling outside the tray.
Over-grooming, or one cat stalking or blocking the other from food, trays or doorways.

A little hissing early on is normal. If you see it, go back one step and slow down rather than pushing forward.

How long does it take?

Some cats accept each other within a week or two. Many take several weeks, and some take months. Let the cats set the pace. The goal is not that they become best friends, but that they can share the home calmly.

When to call a vet or behaviourist

A new cat that has not eaten for a day or so, or is not using the litter tray.
Fighting that causes injuries, or one cat being chased and cornered repeatedly.
Stress signs that continue for weeks despite slowing down.
Any sudden change in behaviour, which can be a sign of illness.

A vet can rule out medical problems, and a qualified feline behaviourist can design a plan for your particular home. How did your introductions go, and what worked for your cats? Share your story or ask a question in the comments.