Tips for Re-Introducing Cats
For those of you who follow us on Facebook, you already know that I re-introduced my 6-year old Ragdoll cats, Charlie and Trigg, to my parents’ 11-year old Ragdoll cats, Caymus and Murphy last week. Caymus and Murphy originally met Charlie and Trigg as kittens and have been with them at my parents’ house. However, my parents moved from their permanent home in April 2014 and have been in a rental house ever since. They finally found a home to buy, and are now moving again to their new home. As a result of the temporary situation, I chose not to introduce Charlie and Trigg to the house my parents were renting. Mostly, out of laziness and inconvenience. However, I thought it would be a good idea to introduce all four cats to the new place at the same time. My thought was that they would all be too cautious and uncomfortable with their surroundings to care what the other cat was doing. Worked like a charm.
I also posted a few videos on Facebook of them:
Some tips I have for re-introducing cats:
- Positive – Bring a positive attitude and energy
- Scent Exchange – I loaded my cats in my car, then went to my parents’ house and picked up Caymus and Murphy. They were all in their carriers, next to each other in the car ride over to the new house. So they could smell each other through the air on the way over.
- Breathe – a vet once told me that the ONLY time a cat has bitten her was when she held her breath.
- Clear Energy – I always clear the energy of each room with Epsom salts and alcohol. I fill a Pyrex dish with Epsom salts and rubbing alcohol, light it on fire and let it burn in a room until the flame goes out. I then repeat in all other rooms.
- Distract – If, for example, Charlie starts getting grumpy or hissy, I change what he’s doing or distract him to concentrate on something else. Like pick him up and take him to another room, or find something to play with.
- Talk – I think it’s so important to talk to your cats. Let them know what’s going on. Let them know you want them to get along. You’ll hear me in the video say, “Everybody’s friends.” (Poor English there, but you get my drift). Even if the cats don’t know the words you’re using, we subconsciously emit a feeling when we use certain words. Cats can pick up on that energy – that’s why it is important to stay positive.
- QuitIt – If worse comes to worse, a spray of a can of Quit It! will stop my cats dead in their tracks.
What tips do you have for introducing cats?
