Jen Rinaldi

As the cold settles in on the mountain and outdoor activities can be limited, our minds turn to our interior spaces. If you’re like us and have lost a pet recently, fall and winter, when we are inside for longer stretches, make for the perfect time to introduce a new furry family member.

We lost our beloved cat, Oscar, in September of last year and noticed that our other cat Elle began losing weight and just seemed “off.” Not wanting to take a chance with her health, we had her examined by our vet who found nothing medically amiss. It was then we decided that our 2 year old cat must be lonely. 

It was then that my friend Marci, and fellow board member at Pet Allies, showed my husband and I a picture of the litter of kittens she was fostering. We made an appointment to meet the kittens and decided on a little male that she had named Chandler. He was around 7 weeks old and seemed outgoing enough to handle another cat and a dog. 

Having a few days before we could adopt him, we prepared for his homecoming. John and I have been through this process numerous times over the years so we recognize the importance of making sure that everything is ready for the newcomer and that proper, polite introductions can be made correctly.

The first thing we did was dig out our baby gates. We needed to create a barrier that would allow our dog and our other cat Elle to see the kitten without contact.

We had an extra tall, and wide-model gate that would work in the doorway to the guest room where the kitten would reside.

Our modifications included hot gluing window screen and wooden cross bars to the inside of the gate. The barrier allowed him to hear household sounds such as vacuums, doorbells, and voices from the safety of his room. 

Other preparations included a medium sized dog kennel that I had kept when our dog was a puppy. I placed this in the guest room where Chandler, now named Zach, would stay confined in private for his first week or so. Before we brought him home, we allowed our cat and dog to explore our preparations so that they would leave their scent in the room.

The kennel would serve as nighttime quarters for our kitten so that he would begin to understand our schedule and learn to sleep when we did. Since cats are corpuscular (meaning that they are most active at dawn and dusk) this step was very important for the peace of our household. A kitten who decides to play at 2 AM will disrupt all the others, not to mention we humans.  

Inside our kitten’s “bedroom” we placed his bed, water, food, and a small litter pan. Our kitten, Zach, surprised us after the second evening when he went to his bed on his own. I closed the door to the kennel, and he slept straight through until 6AM. 

We didn’t want him to meet the other pets right away, since he needed time to settle in and become comfortable in his room, but on the third night our cat Elle needed to investigate, and while the kitten was sleeping in his kennel and the baby gate was closed, she jumped the gate and wandered in. 

The next night we put another gate on top of the first one to deter her. What we learned was that cats, especially our Elle who is a very athletic cat, can and will find a way over gates if given the time, so we learned to keep doors closed when we could not supervise contact. 

After a week of quarantine and recovery from his neutering it was time to begin working on solid introductions. With double gates in place and one of us on either side of the barrier we allowed nose to nose contact between our new kitten and our dog and cat.

Keeping in mind that there will be some posturing, we watched carefully for aggressive body language such as arched back, ears flat, and unwavering stares. I never put my hands near animals displaying such behavior as they are easily startled and can attack without forethought. We had toys such as a cat wand or laser pointer to distract either or both animals. Another strategy that works well is to feed both animals at the same time on both sides of the barrier.

 Since the cat wand worked for us, we continued to do small sessions throughout the day encouraging both animals to play on either side until they were nose to nose playing together without aggression. Keeping the sessions short and allowing rest in between allowed both cats to feel secure. In a few days they began to look forward to seeing one another, Elle meowing at the closed door to initiate contact.

The introduction to our dog was quick, as our dog has never liked to make eye contact with cats. The trick with him was to make his experience pleasant by giving him plenty of treats while he approached the kitten. The little guy was unafraid and curious, but arched and bristled when Sully got too close, they soon learned how to ignore each other keeping a safe distance from one another.

We would have preferred to keep Zach confined longer, but as he grew and became confident, the gates were no longer effective. He surprised us by climbing two gates when he heard the “pop” of a cat food can opening in the kitchen one afternoon — his way of telling us he was ready to wander.

He held his own and explored with Elle following his every step. Every now and again she would assert her dominance over him, although she never drew her claws when she batted at him. She did elicit a squeak from him occasionally, but he was never harmed. We still didn’t allow unsupervised contact in case things between them escalated, and we did give them both time outs throughout the day, closing him in the guest room, allowing both cats to rest peacefully.

We still confined him at night in his room with food, litter and bed, but did away with the kennel and kept to our schedule of lights out at a specific time.

The whole process took roughly 2 months, and now he is fully integrated and free to roam our whole house. We still watch him closely around plants and other household hazards taking care to teach him to use one of the numerous scratching posts instead of clawing furniture. 

 He has become a loving, rambunctious addition and has added life and companionship to our other animals. Adopting him has been good for all of us!

If you wish to adopt your own new friend Pet Allies is located @ 1321 N. 16th St.

Show Low, Arizona 85901

Phone (928) 537-8009 Shelter

https://petalliesaz.org/