Cats appreciate stability in their lives. Changes in their surroundings or routine can influence their behavior. Cats can adapt to new surroundings; it may just take a while.
Introducing a new Ragdoll cat into your home can be stressful for your existing pets. Your existing cat may hide or ignore the new cat; some act up to try and force the new animal away. There are steps you can take to ease the introduction.
Provide your new Ragdoll cat an area where they can hide if threatened by your other pets. You may want to isolate your new cat in a room of your house with the door closed. This will allow all your pets to adjust to their scents without coming in contact with each other. Provide a separate food and water and litter box in this isolated area.
It is a good idea to maintain separate litter boxes in households with multiple cats to prevent disputes over territory. You should also provide scratching posts in as many rooms of your house as possible.
Related Articles Other People Have Read:
- Integrating Your Ragdoll Cat Into Your Home
- Elderly Ragdoll Cats and the Litter Box
- More on Cat Litter Box Problems
- Getting to Know Your Newly Adopted Ragdoll Cat
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello. I have a beautifull Ragdoll female cat, Candy. Really soon, I will take home another cat, a male, a Cornish Rex. I’m concerned about socializing.
What if they will not get along? Is there a set of rules that I have to take in consideration? I mention that my Candy has 11 months, she is very sweet, young, but still the owner of the house. He is 3 or 4 months old, very calm and easygoing.
I want to take this step, because Candy is home alone most of the time and I feel her lonelyness. Ofcourse that cats don’t feel like humains, but still I’m afraid she will change if she continues to stay alone. Do you think I am doing the right thing? What are the things I should do now? Thank you very much. Keep doing the right things you do.
Hi Samira. Congratulations on your new kitty.
Here are my observations from having introduced several new cats to each other over the years. First, assume that the new introduction will take 1-2 months. Your cats may start to get along well sooner, but it’s easier to be patient if you plan to be VERY patient. As suggested above, set up the new kitten in a room of his own, complete with new cat bed, new toys, and new litter box. Try to choose a comfortable room that your current cat does not favor. If possible, schedule the initial introduction for a time when you have a school vacation or can take time off work. You want to be able to spend a lot of time socializing with the new cat without making the current cat jealous — or, at least, not any more jealous than you can help.
For the first 5-7 days, keep both cats well separated with a solid door between the new cat’s “territory” and the rest of the house. New kittens sometimes come down with a virus due to stress, and you won’t want the older cat to get sick too, if that happens. Even if the new cat seems to be 100% healthy, have him checked out by your vet during this time. You will probably notice that your older cat spends a lot of time near the door of the newcomer’s room. To encourage a positive association with the new cat, supervise indirect play by passing a sturdy long cord though the gap under the door. With some encouragement by you, they will start an under-the-door tug-of war. My two cats, now buddies, still enjoy this game.
After the first week, both cats will be very curious about each other. Let them get glimpses of each other through a glass or screen door, if possible. If not, you can hold open the connecting door just a little and supervise the initial interaction. Again, encourage mutual play with a string or other cat toy dangled between the door while preventing cat-to-cat contact. At this stage, even with the door closed, our cats started to play by extending paws under the door.
The next step is to let each cat sniff toys or other belongings (bedding, etc.) of the other cat while still in the safety of its own territory. We switched out less-favorite toys, so neither cat would feel deprived. After a couple of days, put the toys back and switch the cats into each others’ territory. Give each cat increasing amounts of time in the other cat’s territory. Pet and praise each cat while it’s in the other’s territory; it helps at this point if you have a partner or a friend so that the cats can get simultaneous positive reinforcement. If there is a lot of hissing by the older cat (some is normal), continue this process but go relatively slowly.
When both cats can act relaxed in the other’s territory, put them together for some supervised play in relatively neutral territory, for instance, a room that the older cat doesn’t sleep in. Feather toys are good for initiating play. Another fun game is to throw a crumpled up piece of paper into a box with some holes punched into it. Our kitten jumped into the box, and then the cats played pawsies through the holes. Don’t overdo the togetherness. If one cat (generally the older one) starts acting cranky, take away the new games, and return the new cat to “his” room. On subsequent days, you also can feed the two cats a special treat from separate bowls. If the older cat starts aggressive hissing or batting (a little is normal, shows the upstart who’s boss), remove both the treat and the new cat. You want to build positive associations, so that both cats associate good times with being together. Because both your cats are pretty young, my guess is that they will be best friends, or least willing to ignore each other, within just 2-3 weeks.
This process may seem to take too long, but I urge you to be patient. We once made a too-quick introduction, and the new kitten was chased by the older cat for months. We didn’t realize how scared he must have been until we discovered that he was relieving himself under a cabinet, instead of making his way to the litterbox.
Which reminds me: In a two-cat family, you want 3 litter boxes: hers, his, and a new one, so that each cat has a choice. After a while, you will probably be able to remove the 3rd box, but it’s good insurance against “accidents” in the first few months after your cats start to occupy the same territory.
Good luck, and enjoy your new kitten.