Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hello... We recently adopted a 2-year old cat. We already have 2 cats so now we have 3. We've always had 3 cats so this is not new to us. It's been between 3-4 weeks since we got her. She has her own room with all the comforts any cat could want. We're working on getting her socialized with the other 2 cats so she spends some time in the room and some time out. What's bothering me is our other 2 cats want nothing to do with her and hide when she's out. if she gets close they growl and hiss. So when she's out, they're hiding. When she's in her room, then they come out. Maybe I'm not being patient enough but I'm wondering how long it will take before they can co-exist in the same room! Any thoughts or advice? I was told to just leave her out and let what happens, happens as long as nobody is killing each other. Not sure what to do or just give it more time.

Sorry for short reply, it’s late and I should be in bed(!) but it's very early days at the moment, you can’t force these things. Keep giving the resident cats lots of love and reassurance, but allow them their space to retreat to. You might want to try using a dog crate to put your newbie into for short periods each day, it worked wonders with my two when resident cat had a huge huff about the new boy. I know others have found this very useful too.

Oh thank you for the reply and suggestion of a crate. I was thinking along those lines as an idea. From other reading I'm doing I think I'm too impatient and it's just going to take a while.