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Updated 14th Mar 2025
First published 18th Mar 2024
Welcoming a new cat into your home can be an extremely rewarding experience, but, as with all things when it comes to our feline friends, time, care and patience are required to ensure it’s a stress-free experience for all – particularly if you have a resident cat.
Cats are naturally solitary animals, so it’s important to appreciate that introducing cats can be quite difficult. And, even when the utmost care is taken, some cats simply don’t want to live with other cats. Being able to recognise that this may be the case, and acting accordingly, is vital to ensuring all cats in your care have the best welfare possible in terms of both physical and mental wellbeing.
Slow, careful introductions give both cats the best chance of accepting each other and developing a positive relationship moving forward – so, don’t be tempted to rush this stage. Long term, you’ll be glad you took the time, as not only will you feel better, but you’ll also find the cats’ stress is reduced considerably.
Ready to get started? Read on for our simple steps to introducing cats.
Give your new cat time to settle in. To keep this as stress-free as possible for your new feline family member, we recommend choosing a room that your resident cat doesn’t use, and that you don’t need constant access to, and confining your new cat to this room initially. Set the room up with:
Food
Water
Comfortable resting areas with beds
Hiding places
A litter tray
Toys
A scratching post
These items need to either already belong to the new cat or be brand new. Using some of your resident cat’s belongings can cause stress – your new cat will smell another cat on the items, and your resident cat may become anxious at the loss of a resource, such as a litter tray. You may also find a synthetic feline facial pheromone helpful when used in your new cat’s room and in areas where your resident cat spends most of its time. This creates feelings of familiarity and security within the physical environment, speeding up the process of settling in for your new cat, and helping to prevent your resident cat from feeling as though its territory is being threatened.
Your new cat will need plenty of time to get used to its new home and allow its scent to become a part of its room. So, how does this happen?
Actively – by rubbing the scent gland areas on its face against furniture and on the corner of walls, and by scratching its scratching post.
Passively – by sleeping on bedding and playing with toys.
How long this acclimatisation period takes will depend on your cat, varying from several days to a week or two.
Signs that your cat is comfortable with its new environment include:
Friendly behaviour when you enter the room (rubbing against your legs, chirruping, purring, meowing).
Resting on its side with its belly exposed and rolling over.
Playing with toys.
Facial rubbing on furniture, walls, and other items in the room.
Normal eating, drinking, toileting and grooming behaviours.
If your new cat doesn’t seem comfortable with being confined in a single room, it’s worth considering whether you can give access to another room or corridor that your resident cat doesn’t use. If this isn’t possible, you may need to start the introduction process sooner.
Signs that your cat is frustrated with being confined to one room include:
Scratching/pawing at the door and windows.
Meowing consistently for several minutes at a time.
Pacing by the door.
Rearing up at the door.
Swiping at you when you try to leave the room.
Over time, as long as both cats are comfortable, the separate room can be left open, and the cats can come and go as they please. If at any point in the future you notice conflict, a single area can be made accessible to one cat only. This allows all resident cats access to the whole home, but the affected cat can use its own space and avoid the cat they’ve had conflict with if necessary. Using vertical space such as shelves and perches also allows cats to enjoy their own space. And remember – relationships between cats can change over time. It’s always important to monitor how your feline friends behave around one another and adapt accordingly.
Keen to learn more about how cats communicate with each other using pheromones and scents? Read our article on cat communication.
Cats use the scent of individual cats to recognise whether they’re in the same social group or not. The aim of scent swapping is for the cats to recognise one another as part of the same group by creating a communal scent. By doing this, both cats become fully comfortable with the smell of the other cat before physically meeting, giving a greater chance they’ll accept each other when they meet.
If scent swapping is a success, it’s time to move onto the next step. Start by briefly confining your resident cat to one area of the home (only do so if this won’t cause your cat distress) and allow your new feline friend the opportunity to explore the resident cat’s area of the home. You can then also take the new cat out of its room and allow your resident cat in to explore – only do this once your new cat is fully settled in and comfortable in its own space, however.
Once both cats are fully relaxed in the home in general, and comfortable with each other’s scent, the next step is to allow them to see each other.
This needs to happen through a physical barrier, for example:
A door that’s ajar that the cats can’t pass through
A stair gate
A mesh barrier
Both cats should create positive associations with being in each other’s visual presence. To do this, encourage each cat to play with a toy or offer treats. The cats should be happy going about their business, glancing occasionally at each other, and without it becoming a staring contest. You can allow the cats to sniff each other through the barrier, but any sign of negative behaviour (hissing, growling, rotating of ears with a tense body posture) should be distracted. Simply take something like a fishing rod toy to lure the instigator of the negative behaviour away. And remember, don’t ever punish your cat for negative behaviour – this will only frighten the cat more.
Once both cats are fully comfortable seeing one another through a barrier, you can quietly remove or open the barrier. Make sure you do this when both cats are involved in a positive activity, such as play or feeding. Don’t force the cats together. Our aim here is that the cats are comfortable in each other’s presence - they don’t need to be physically interacting. If there are any signs of distress or negativity towards one another, replace the barrier and go back a step. If both cats appear comfortable in each other’s company, repeat this step as often as possible.
Once you can get through Step 4 without any negative behaviours, you can allow free, unsupervised access for short periods of time - we recommend just a few minutes to begin with. Repeat this step as frequently as possible, with your new cat still being kept separate in between sessions. If both cats seem friendly and comfortable around each other, the length of time they spend together can be gradually increased – just make sure they can retreat to their own areas if needed. It’s important to make sure that each cat has their own resources (food and water bowls, beds, litter trays, scratching areas), plus one extra, spaced out around the house so that they don’t have to share or feel in competition with one another.
Over time, as long as both cats are comfortable, the separate room can be left open, and the cats can come and go as they please. If at any point in the future you notice conflict, a single area can be made accessible to one cat only. This allows all resident cats access to the whole home, but the affected cat can use their own space and avoid the cat they’ve had conflict with if necessary. Using vertical space, such as shelves and perches, also allows cats to enjoy their own space. And remember – relationships between cats can change over time. It’s always important to monitor how your cats behave around one another and adapt as needed.
If you’re struggling with introducing your cats, or there’s been a breakdown after an initially good introduction, we recommend seeking professional help. Get in touch with your veterinary team, who may be able to offer specific advice or recommend a local, qualified clinical animal behaviourist to help.
Synthetic feline pheromones - feline facial pheromones are important signals that are naturally produced by glands in a cat’s face. Synthetic versions of these pheromones are available as plug-in diffusers and sprays for use around the home. They can have a useful calming effect during stressful situations, such as introduction of a new cat or when moving house.
Remember to make sure all cats have plenty of resources. The less the cats feel they need to share, the more they are likely to get along.
Inappetence is a term used to describe a reduction in appetite, a common sign of illness in cats.
