Canadian Hairless

How do you introduce 1 adult cat to a home that already has 2 adult cats?

I just moved into a home with my adult cat - the home already has two adult cats. The two cats and my cat are not getting along and are hissing and growling at eachother all the time. The two cats don't like my cat and my cat doesn't like them. Will they ever get along, will they learn to live with eachother? Is it safe to let them roam free while i'm out or should i separate them. Any tips or advice will be EXTREMELY appreciated.

Public Comments

1. they will learn to tolerate each other, but for now if you brought in one cat to the territory of two cats, I'd not leave your cat alone with them for a few weeks. They have to get used to each other and establish some sort of cat pecking order. I brought in a 3rd adult cat to a 2 cat household and the new cat and one cat are fine, but the original cat never accepted the 3rd cat and barely tolerates him.
2. Separating them so they can sniff each other under a door is best. Take a towel the others have laid on and let your cat use it, and one yours has laid on and give it to the other two, to exchange scents. Supervise every meeting for a while till you feel comfortable. Eventually they'll accept that the others aren't going away and will calm down. But the hissing may continue for, oh, a few years? When we brought in the latest adult cat, one of our girl cats wanted nothing more than his dead limp body laid in front of her -- we didn't do that for her so she had her hissy fits for a few months then grudgingly agreed he was there to stay. Fortunately he never pushed anything with her. She still hisses occasionally at him but he ignores her.
3. Time heals most rifts. What has happened is that in the home with two adult cats, they have already established which one is the alpha cat. Now, a third cat has been added to the mix, and the answer as to which cat now is the alpha cat has to start all over again. Hissing and growling is most common, as most of it is bluff. Even raising a paw might happen, but it is extremely rare for any blood to be spilled. If that happens, you do have a problem. If you are around for a weekend and only hear hissing and growling, you can be relatively certain that they can roam free to help establish the pecking order. I have done a number of introductions, always when I was able to be around for a decent period of time. My approach has always been: here they are, they are staying, so get used to it. It usually settles down fairly quickly, and they establish the pecking order as to who is the alpha cat. Remember, cats normally hate changes, and this is a big change so they are upset. But they will get over it. And which cat is alpha is not set in stone, and may change over time. Once the hissing calms down, you still may hear an occasional hissing; that is likely when one of the cats is startled by the other cat. Sometimes you can rub each cat with the same towel, transferring the scents to each other and fooling them into thinking they all smell the same. This works, however, generally when they do not recognize the other cat, such as coming back with the dreaded 'vet smell'. This is not quite your situation.
4. I'm totally on the same boat as you... except I think you have it worse. I'm introducing an young adult to a 5-month-old kitten. So far it's not been extremely bad, but not so good either. Chasing, hissing, two stressed cats and one stressed owner... I leave mine roaming free when I'm at work, and so far I've returned to two alive cats. I think all the above answers are helpful, and I don't have any better ideas to offer. Just wanted to let you know that you're not alone. Good luck to us both...