ForestWind Siberian Cats

Cats can get their tails in a twist over anything strange, and this is especially true of introducing a new feline into an established cat hierarchy.

Put yourself in your Siberian's paws ... would you share your dinner plate, toilet, and pillow with a funny-smelling stranger off the street? Proper cat integration reduces kitty stress, prevents behavior problems, and strengthens bonding.

Stranger Danger In the wild, cats who are unable to recognize danger don’t survive. Savvy felines identify anything “new” to be a potential danger, until proven otherwise.

Good early socialization—when kittens learn what to trust or fear—builds confidence and makes cats more accepting of changes. But most adult felines remain cautious, especially of new housemates.

Negative Expectations: 

Cats generalize one bad experience—feeling upset when they see the new cat— to future encounters, assuming that they will be the same. This can lead to automatic attack (or diving under a bed to hide) at the mere sight of the other kitty, even with no provocation happening.

Reduce Sensory Input to Reduce Arousal

Cats get hissy when sensory input exceeds their tolerance threshold. The sight, sound, and smell of a strange cat can be emotionally arousing and push one or both into a “fight or flight” mode. But blocking one sense (sight of each other) reduces arousal, and can allow strange cats to tolerate each other.

A cornerstone of cat-to-cat introductions includes initially separating the cats.

Preserving Personal Real Estate Matters to Cats

Felines hate interlopers trespassing on their turf. Respect your resident cat’s prior claim to territory. Confine the new kitty in a single “transition room” so your "householder" cat understands only part of her territory has been invaded.

A Transition Room also soothes the new cat by providing a (soon to be familiar) retreat. Provide a litter box, food and water bowls, toys, scratch post and other kitty paraphernalia in your Siberian kitten's transition room.

Keep the door to the Transition Room closed. Be sure the door is solid (not a glass french door or sliding door, for example).  Keep the door closed for at least a week, but two or three weeks may be necessary before the first nose-to-nose meeting. Monitor your kitties' sniffing and paw pats underneath the door.

Your pets will come to “know” each other by scent before they ever set eyes on each other. Expect normal posturing, fluffed fur and hissing and when that begins to fade, you’re ready for the next step.

The Family That Smells Together, Stays Together... Felines identify their family group by a communal scent, shared when they groom each other and sleep together. So feed your kitties at the same time on opposite sides of theTransition Room door, to associate each other’s smell with good things. After each cat has had a meal, switch out the plates temporarily so that they can sniff the bowls and become even more familiar with each other. It’s even better when a bit of food is left, because that helps the cats identify good stuff—food—with the other animal.

Trade Spaces for a Cat-Friendly Environment  After Stage One Transition is completed, remove your Siberian from her safe room and keep her with you in another area of the house - say the kitchen - while your householder has free access to the kitten's Transition Room.

To accomplish this, remember that your new kitten will have no interest in meeting new people or pets unless she feels comfortable with her environment.

After several days of this, segregate your # 1 feline in another room, then open the Tansition Room door so your Siberian kitten has private time to cheek rub household furniture, find good hiding and sleeping places, and otherwise become familiar with her new home.

While your kitten is exploring, leave briefly and again let your householder into the Transition Room. This helps each feline become familiar with the other - at a distance.

House of Plenty  The best way to reduce cat controversy is to provide all your cats with so much good stuff, there’s no need to fight over it. Place multiple litter boxes and feeding stations in different locations so that one cat can’t own and “guard” the facilities. Increase territory with extra cat trees, shelves to lounge on, tunnels and boxes to hide, and toys galore.

Nose-To-Nose At Last  Finally, your babies are ready for a meeting. Don’t make a big deal of this. Simply open the “safe room” door, stand back, and watch what happens. Allow the cats to ignore each other, meet, or otherwise interact at their own pace. Remember, the first face-to-face between cats should be one pair at a time, so if you have more than one resident cat, confine the others until a private meeting is possible. Introduce the friendliest resident cat to the newcomer first, so they have a chance to form a bond and can offer a positive example to the others.

Supervise!  Be prepared to stop any all-out altercations by tossing a towel or blanket over top of the wrangling cats. *Do NOT* use your hands or arms - you could be badly hurt. Distract them from  hissing by petting and introducing active play.  Remember felines' long memories and help them avoid "setting in stone" negative feelings about the other by hoping they will simply "work it out," as used to be recommended in the past.

Distract your kitties by feeding them a beloved treat (a bit of canned mackerel, perhaps?), or playing a game at the same time, but on opposite sides of the room. It can be love at first sight, or may take weeks or months to accept somebody new into the family. It is rare for cats not to accept each other if both Transition Stages are completed patiently and correctly. 

Exercise Care until you are satisfied no fur will fly, keep your new Siberian in her Transition Room whenever you can’t supervise.