Tips on socializing a young female siamese into a new home with another siamese and a dog?
Sunday, February 21st, 2010 at
2:17 pm
I am hoping to adopt a 2 1/2 year old lynx point siamese this weekend and introduce her into a home with a 6 year old siamese and a 6 year old dog. The dog is great with other animals, the cat is better with other dogs but ok with other cats after a while. They have been together since they were 10 weeks old. The kitty I’m hoping to introduce seems a bit traumatized and was separated from her littermate after they were taken to the rescue. She has no expereicne with dogs.
Filed under: Cat Breeds
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Cats are territorial and need a slow, gradual introduction following a sequence of steps over many days or even weeks. I have written an article on how to integrate cats for the least amount of stess and the best chance of a good outcome. See: http://www.wvcats.com/integrating_cats.htm
In brief, the steps for introducing cats are: 1) Isolation Isolate the new cat completely for a few days. 2) Scent Familiarization Scent familiarization with items, such as towels rubbed on each cat, then left in the area of the other cat. 3) Visual Familiarization Seeing each other with no physical contact, such as from a slightly cracked opened door. 4) Room Swapping Switching the cats’ places for a while every day, with no physical contact between them. 5) Developing Positive Associations Start developing positive associations with no physical contact, such as by feeding the cats on opposite sides of a door when cracked opened and even when it is shut. 6) Short Supervised Visits Brief, highly supervised visits paired with food or treats. 7) Separation at Signs of Hostilities Separate the cats at signs of hostilities, or great fear. Learn cat body language to tell when a problem is starting.
Longer, Carefully Supervised Visits Mingling under very careful supervision for up to a few hours, before total separation again. Adjust the length of time depending upon whether there are any signs of hostilities or stress, but no matter how well things seem, do not yet permit 24/7 free mingling. 9) Limited Free Mingling Free mingling except when the people are not home or asleep, so quick intervention can be done if needed. 10) Free Mingling Full Time The cats are let together freely all the time when all the above steps have gone well. Backtrack to the limited mingling if the cats weren’t quite ready to be together all the time.
To introduce cats and dogs, see: http://www.hssv.org/LIBRARY/PDF/Behavior/dog_to_cat.pdf
Similar things to introducing cats to cats would be used, with some important differences focusing on the dog.
kill the cats, and let the dog play with both of the cats
my siamese is very social with my other cats-and she was the youngest when i brought her into my home-she adapted very early and very quickly (thank goodness) i don’t know what i would have done if she didn’t, i suppose just deal with having 4 cats with 4 different personalities, (it sounds easy, but at first, you don’t know what to expect!)
Good luck with this, I have a 6 month old seal point siamese and she fitted in very well with my 1 year old moggie and my 4 year old dog, she is definitely now boss! I made sure when she moved in to keep her by herself for a few days in my room and gave her lots of attention so she bonded to me, and of course she could smell the other pets on me. Then when she was happy to be with me I let her get to know the others and after a little hissing and jumping on my lap she got to know they belonged there too. Your lovely cat will need lots of love to start off with, but siamese adore people so she’ll be ok.
When I adopted "Mao" Se Tung, a Siamese, I put her in a giant sky kennel. I let the other animals get used to her through the kennel door in the family room for a couple of days. I took her out for loving time but locked her in a spare room by herself when I could not give her my full attention. Gradually, she felt safe and wanted to be around the rest of the brood. She started to join the other animals on her own. Now, they are all best of buddies and she sleeps with the dog.