My outdoor cat has yet to meet new indoor cat, anything I should know?
I have an outdoor cat who ONLY lives outdoors and an indoor cat who lives ONLY indoors who I only got 3 days ago. They both are 4 year old males. The only contact they will ever have is between a sliding glass door. The outdoor cat is unsterilized (I’m going to take care of it within the next few months when I have time but at the moment my human needs are more important monetarily and time-wise ) whereas the indoor cat is sterilized.
First, because the new cat (Drew) is only inside and the outdoor cat (M2) lives only outdoors and only comes over every few days or every week to grab some food and clean himself off for a few minutes, would M2 be territorial? I mean, it really isn’t his territory anymore, right? He hasn’t been inside in years. Will he want to fight my new cat
Will M2 get intimidated or scared and not come back? Will he want to fight my new cat? He is a pretty vicious cat and will stand up for himself whereas Drew is a calm, peaceful, neutered indoor cat.
What about Drew, will he get scared and not want to approach the glass door anymore?
Here is the history of M2 if it’s needed:
He comes about every couple of days to grab some food for 4 years except for a period of 6-8 months in 2006 where we thought he died. For the next 6 months he enjoyed a good petting session but then he came less frequently starting in January and ever sicne then he hasn’t really taken much to petting AFTER he eats and would rather be alone and walks away if I approach him. What would happen if he sees we have another cat on his ground?
Here’s something cool. Drew actually was watching M2 eat yesterday morning but M2 didn’t see him. Drew was just watching and seeing what was up. Drew is from the Humane Society, so he is used to being around a lot of cats.
Filed under: Cat Furniture
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Cats are generally territorial and will hiss at each other. I think you should bond with Drew first, because if he finds out there is another cat, he might be scared away from you and M2. Give it some time. After awhile, use your sliding and glass door method. I’m guessing one of it will be running away from it after a glance or so, but keep trying. You could try feeding them food at the same time. If they’re unfriendly, you should separate them for some time. M2, probably won’t be territorial indoors, but the problem is that Drew might think its his place. Some cats will be scared away and never dare approach anymore, so really be catious. Until you are sure they can be good friends without fighting, always supervise. Neuter M2 first, that’ll get rid of some aggression problems. There is a slight chance that they can be good friends, just a heads up.
It’s good to keep them separate. Cats are so territorial! Even though one may seem content with his space, he is always trying to enlarge it. So yes, this will cause conflict. Don’t ever let the opposites in or out.
You know, that is a really good question. But I would think that there might be some slight "terrorital" problems; but it depends on the cat’s actual personalities. But I don’t know… I would get M2 fixed before I tried to introduce the two to one another.
Make sure outdoor kitty is tested for Calci virus, FIP, herpes, and given leukemia, rabies, etc. shots before exposing to indoor kitty.
Make sure you take it very slowly, eventually they should be ok, but this can take awhile
I have three cats and they all came to us a year apart from one another, the last cat took a good two weeks before they wouldnt hiss at her. Then another few weeks under the bed and skirting around the house trying to avoid the older two.