This post is sponsored by Ceva Animal Health, makers of FELIWAY® for cats. All statements and opinions are entirely our own. As always, we only share products that we use with our own pets!
June is Adopt-a-Cat Month, a time to remember the millions of homeless cats waiting for a forever home. Spring’s kitten season means extra busy summer months at shelters everywhere so, if you’re considering adding to your furry family, there’s no better time than now to visit a shelter and have a look.
Last September, we welcomed Jetty to our house, adopting her from Austin Pets Alive; she was one of thousands of pets evacuated from Hurricane Harvey-struck areas. Jetty came into our home to join with our two other cats and two dogs, but not before some careful preparation and slow, careful introductions. Here are seven tips for helping your new cat feel calm after adoption:
Prepare for your new cat’s arrival in advance of the big day.
Prepare a small room for your new cat to enjoy BEFORE she arrives at your home. A quiet bathroom, guest room, or any small room that’s out of the main stream of your home’s traffic will work. You’ll want to cat-proof the room, removing anything that could be harmful, then add all the essentials: a water bowl, food dish, litterbox, and cat bed. Plug in a FELIWAY® CLASSIC Diffuser (one diffuser covers an area of about 700 square feet) to comfort your new cat. Odorless to humans and dogs, this pheromone product provides a continuous calming effect.
Create an activity center for your cat.
Along with a litterbox, water bowl, feeding dish, and cat bed, be sure to add some activities to amuse your cat. Add some cat toys (ones with bells will allow you to know your new cat is happily playing, when you’re in the next room but don’t want to interrupt her by opening the door). A cat tree is fun for providing some vertical space, and a cat scratcher is a great way to get her off on the right paw in your house, setting the groundwork for showing her that scratching, a totally normal feline behavior, is great and is done on a scratching post or scratcher. The new FELISCRATCH by FELIWAY® helps redirect scratching onto the scratcher and helps reduce or stop unwanted scratching in the home.
Prepare your carrier before you head to the shelter.
After you adopt your new cat, you’ll need a way to transport her home safely. While some shelters offer temporary cardboard carriers, most rely on you to bring a carrier. If you don’t have a carrier, purchase either a soft or hard carrier that’s large enough for a cat to lie down in as well as room to stand up and turn around. If you already have a carrier from a previous cat, give it a good cleaning, especially important to remove the scent of previous vet visits and stress hormones.
Once your carrier is dry and clean, spray with FELIWAY® CLASSIC Spray before you leave for the shelter. (Never spray into the carrier when your cat is inside.) The spray mimics natural feline reassuring messages to help your new cat feel calm when she enters the carrier.
Make the ride home uneventful and head straight to your cat’s new quiet place.
Make the ride home from the shelter as uneventful as possible, keeping the radio low and talking in a happy voice to your cat as you drive home. Be sure the carrier is secured in the car so your cat is riding home safely and has the feeling of a firmly grounded carrier. When you arrive home, head straight to the room you’ve set up for your new cat. As tempting as it is to show your cat around the house, now’s not the time.
Give your new cat time to decompress.
Once you’re in the cat’s new room, open the carrier and allow your cat out to explore. You might leave the carrier open for your cat to return to as a safe place when she’s alone as well.
When we brought Jetty home, she had been with Austin Pets Alive just a few days before we adopted her. She’d arrived in a transport of kittens rescued from the floodwaters of Hurricane Harvey down near the coast. Between a hurricane, flood, transport, and several shelter stops in between, we knew that Jetty needed to decompress when she arrived at our house. Regardless of what situations your new cat may have experienced before she heads home with you, change means stress for your new cat. Just as we want and need to rest after a stressful situation, so do our cats.
Make interactions fun and happy.
Now’s not the time for nail trims, teeth checks, or anything else your new cat might find unappealing. Make the first few weeks of interactions with you as fun as they can be. Bring special treats into the room with you on each visit. Spend time playing and talking in a sweet voice as the bond grows between you and your new best friend.
Make introductions slowly.
When we adopted Ochi in August 2016, we cut a hole in the door leading from “her” room to the rest of the house. With an insert of hardware cloth, the opening became the perfect spot for introductions to our other pets, allowing her to meet both the dogs and the cats safely. While safety is a primary concern with the introductions to the dogs, in many ways the introduction to other cats is just as important if not more so. Begin by brushing your resident cat then your new cat–and then the resident cat, all with the same brush to share that scent and to begin to form a family scent. After several days of this virtual shared grooming, let the cats switch rooms. Let your new cat explore the house while the resident cat explores the new cat room. Give them a few hours to acclimate to these new smells and experiences, then switch the cats back to their original places. Repeat the process for several days. Don’t rush this introductory period; some cats require a month or longer of non-face to face interactions before they gradually begin meeting each other.
FELIWAY® MultiCat, a diffuser which can help reduce tension and conflict between cats, is a great way to keep both resident and new cat calm during these early weeks and also in the months beyond as they share their home together.
Although it may seem like this introductory period takes a long time, you’re laying the foundation for years of happiness and, as much as you can, stress-free living for your cat. And that, after all, is what being a best friend is all about.
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