🐈introducing a new cat without starting a war

did this twice now (3 cats total). every step here exists because I skipped it the first time and paid for it

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keep the new cat in one separate room for at least 3-4 days, full stop

she said no the first time I tried a faster timeline and I believed her

feed both cats on either side of the closed door, bowls a little closer each meal

food = good things happening near the scary smell

scent swap before any visual contact: rub a sock on one cat's cheeks, leave it near the other

swap their bedding too if you can stand the smell for a few days

let the resident cats sniff a blanket from the new cat's room, don't force noses onto it

do the same in reverse: something from the resident cats' space goes into the new cat's room

crack the door for supervised sniffing only once everyone's calm around the scent swaps, not before

this is the step people rush and it undoes the whole scent-swap phase

first face-to-face is short, behind a baby gate or door cracked with a doorstop, food on both sides

watch body language, not just hissing

a hard stare and a slow-swishing tail is worse than a hiss, hissing just means "back off" (vet approved read, not just my opinion)

end every session before anyone gets tense, even if it's going fine

increase time together gradually over 1-3 weeks, don't jump to full access on a good day

one good afternoon isn't proof, three good days in a row is

keep separate litter boxes and a spare, even after everyone's fine

if there's a full-on fight, go back to the last step that worked and slow down again

we regressed to scent-swap only for a week after cat #3 hissed for two straight days. worth it

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