Before you bring any cat into your house you need to be sure that it has been fully vetted and does not pose a risk to your own cat. For adults and kittens this involves making sure that the new cat has been fully vaccinated, de-wormed and treated for fleas. New cats over 6 months old should be tested for feline leukemia and FIV. For more information on both diseases, please see that section of the FAQ. If you are adopting a new kitten and have an adult cat in your house, you may want to consider having your resident cat vaccinated for feline leukemia. FIv and feline leukemia tests are not reliable for kittens. The tests manufacturers fully admit that the tests frequently test false positive for kittens, but false negatives are not as rare as the manufacturers report. Several Pets board members have had false negative feline leukemia results with kittens.


When picking a new cat try to find a cat who will be a good compliment to yours. Kittens are a great choice for cats who are active and want a playmate. They tend to be less ideal for adult cats who are well settled and lazy. In general, the older your cat is, the more challenging it can be for the cat to go from an only cat to a house with other kitties. It can be notoriously difficult to introduce a new cat to an older female cat, as they tend to be more territorial. Generally, male cats tend to be less territorial and to adjust to homes with other cats more easily. I realize this seems counter intuitive, but it's well recognize in the rescue and cat behavioral communities. Please keep in mind this is GENERALLY speaking, your 13 year old female might love a psychotically hyper kitten. Also consider personalities. If your cat has a lot of energy, pick a cat with a lot of energy. If your cat, is shyer or more submissive, he'll probably want a calmer cat to be his friend. Cats to tend to be either dominant or submissive personalities. Two dominant personalities is going to make your life difficult, so try and avoid it if you can. Outgoing cats tend to make very good companions for shy cats; having another cat to follow and learn from will generally help a shy cat come out of his shell. Lastly, if you can, try to pick a cat who is in a foster home with other cats or living in communal housing at the shelter. That way you know that the new cat can live with other cats successfully.


To introduce cats, read the book cat vs. cat. It's cheap, an easy read, and will describe everything in much more detail. In particular, the book is helpful for learning to read your cat's body language. Often times, cats send signals with their body language to one another that we, as humans, don't pick up on. Knowing what to look for will help you introduce them. NEVER THROW CATS INTO THE SAME ROOM AND EXPECT THEM TO BE BEST FRIENDS. Cats are slow to adjust to new situations and you need to be respectful of that. Put the new kitty in his own room, with food, litter and water. Take a damp washcloth and wipe each cat down with it. Swap washcloths so they can smell one another. Give them comfy blankets to sleep on and swap those, so their scents mingle and they can smell one another. Let the new kitty out of confinement to explore the house, and put the other kitty in confinement for a little while. This will give them another chance to smell one another, and the new kitty a chance to explore without having to navigate another cat. Feed them on either side of the door, so they can smell each other and associate that smell with something good (food). You can also put a washcloth or something that smells like the other cat under each of their food bowls. When they start pawing at the door of the confinement room, let them meet for short periods of time. Hissing and raised fur is ok. Screaming and fur flying fights are not ok. If the cats are fighting, do not separate them unless you pick the cat up with a blanket or a towel. An upset cat will turn on you and hurt you easily if it's already agitated (they're not trying to be mean, they're just freaked). Try not to interfere too much and let them sort things out. To help cats calm down, Rescue Remedy (also sold as cat calmant at petsmart) and Feliway plug ins can be very helpful. They are natural, you do not need a prescription, and they will not hurt your cat. Normal cats will be ok with each other in 1 to 6 weeks, but it can take up to six months for them to fully adjust and develop their hierarchy. Vertical territory is very important to cats, so I highly recommend making window ledges, a cat tree, and other high up spots available to them. Also, try not to feed your cats right next to one another where they can see each other. It makes them feel competitive for food. If possible separate them when they're eating so they can each eat in peace.


Most of all, be patient and don't get upset. I have a male cat who was labelled in foster care as other cat aggressive. He almost killed my parents' cat when she broke him out of confinement one day. When we adopted a second cat (emergency, stray situation) we introduced them over 6 months. They tolerate one another today, but he loves our other cat, loves when we have foster kittens, and doesn't bother adult fosters. He has made me a firm believer that most cats can get along if they are properly and patiently introduced. And despite what he originally thought, our cat is far happier having friends to snuggle and play with than he was as an only child.

Declawing is an invasive procedure that should only be done when absolutely medically necessary. To help save your furniture, consider these following tips:

1. Regularly trim your cat's nails.
2. Provide several scratching posts. If your cat doesn't seem interested try a different type of scratching post (carpet vs cardboard, vertical vs horizontal).
3. Softpaws
4. Water bottle to discourage them from scratching where they shouldn't.
5. Double-sided sticky tape where the cat is scratching.