Introduce new cat to current one

Many of you know that I lost my precious Koko the Siamese kitty on 5/10; he was 18 yrs, 1 mth old. I decided that my current rescued kitty Nugget (very petite Tortie) needed a younger friend for when I am at work, so over the weekend I adopted a 2-3 yr old orange tabby, Murphy, who is much bigger than she is, and a lot more "cat friendly". I would like to know the best way to get them together. I took Murphy out of his bedroom yesterday to explore the house a bit. He and Nugget bumped noses a couple of times, then Nugget hissed a lot at him, so back in his bedroom he went. I am purchasing a baby gate on Ebay to put in the bedroom doorway so that they will be able to see each other but not get to each other. He is a really friendly cat, she, not so much. When they were together, he ignored her, but she was agitated. Help!

The baby gate is exactly what I was going to suggest. Remember they can jump the gate, so you want to watch them.
Just take it slow. Don't leave them out together while you are gone until you are sure they get along fine.
Let them mingle while you can supervise them. Don't jump and put Murphy away if Nugget hisses. Let them work it out (unless they get into serious fighting, of course).
There will be hissing and maybe even a swat or two. That's normal.

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Originally Posted by Taz_Zoee

The baby gate is exactly what I was going to suggest. Remember they can jump the gate, so you want to watch them.
Just take it slow. Don't leave them out together while you are gone until you are sure they get along fine.
Let them mingle while you can supervise them. Don't jump and put Murphy away if Nugget hisses. Let them work it out (unless they get into serious fighting, of course).
There will be hissing and maybe even a swat or two. That's normal.

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Thank you for your response, all good ideas!

Yes, slowly, and make sure each kitty can smell each other. When you introduce them for the first time, don;t worry about any hissing and spitting - that's kitty boundary setting, and completely to be expected! Swapping toys so each can interact with something with the "stranger's" scent on it is also good!

I agree about taking things slowly, although my experiences with with introducing cats went a bit faster than the norm.

When I brought Casey home, Chessie was more curious than anything. Casey, being in a new home around a new cat (way different from my parents' dog), was the one who was a bit more upset with things. They were introduced on a Saturday evening, being kept apart when I wasn't around. By that Monday evening, they were starting to touch noses. By Tuesday evening, they were sitting right next to each other eating out of the feeder.

Things were a little different when Smokey came home after Chessie had passed away. Casey was constantly hissing and growling at Smokey. Smokey, on the other hand, couldn't figure out why Casey was being so mean since Smokey was wanting to check Casey out. One thing I kept doing when they were near each other is make over both of them at the same time so that they could both see that I loved them both.

Smokey came home on a Monday night after work. By Wednesday, things were still the same as when he'd come home.

That evening, I saw how protective of me and his home that Casey was. I was making dinner, and Smokey was on the lid of the food bin near me. He wanted to get a closer look and jumped onto my thigh, digging all of his claws through my jeans into my leg. I shouted in pain and put him back on the food bin laughing. Casey, who had seen the little stunt, came running over between us and started hissing like crazy at Smokey. Apparently, he though Smokey had attacked me and came over to protect me.

By that Friday morning, Casey was still upset, and while I knew things wouldn't always go as smoothly as it had when he'd been introduced with Chessie, I was starting to wonder if Casey would even learn to accept Smokey.

That evening, I came home from work, brought the groceries in, and went upstairs to let Smokey out of his temporary sleeping quarters in my office. He walked right by Casey as he came out, and Casey didn't make a sound. We all went downstairs, and while putting groceries away, Smokey was watching me, sitting in the middle of the floor. Casey came in, sat next to Smokey, and wrapped a front leg around him. I started to move towards them to separate what I thought was the start of a cat fight, but then Casey started grooming Smokey's face. It was like a switch had been flipped. They then went over to the feeder and water bowl together. And they've been best friends ever since. :)

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Originally Posted by Karen

Yes, slowly, and make sure each kitty can smell each other. When you introduce them for the first time, don;t worry about any hissing and spitting - that's kitty boundary setting, and completely to be expected! Swapping toys so each can interact with something with the "stranger's" scent on it is also good!

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Thank you so much for your advice!

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Originally Posted by Karen

Yes, slowly, and make sure each kitty can smell each other. When you introduce them for the first time, don;t worry about any hissing and spitting - that's kitty boundary setting, and completely to be expected! Swapping toys so each can interact with something with the "stranger's" scent on it is also good!

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Thanks so much for responding!

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Originally Posted by Chatanuga

I agree about taking things slowly, although my experiences with with introducing cats went a bit faster than the norm.

When I brought Casey home, Chessie was more curious than anything. Casey, being in a new home around a new cat (way different from my parents' dog), was the one who was a bit more upset with things. They were introduced on a Saturday evening, being kept apart when I wasn't around. By that Monday evening, they were starting to touch noses. By Tuesday evening, they were sitting right next to each other eating out of the feeder.

Things were a little different when Smokey came home after Chessie had passed away. Casey was constantly hissing and growling at Smokey. Smokey, on the other hand, couldn't figure out why Casey was being so mean since Smokey was wanting to check Casey out. One thing I kept doing when they were near each other is make over both of them at the same time so that they could both see that I loved them both.

Smokey came home on a Monday night after work. By Wednesday, things were still the same as when he'd come home.

That evening, I saw how protective of me and his home that Casey was. I was making dinner, and Smokey was on the lid of the food bin near me. He wanted to get a closer look and jumped onto my thigh, digging all of his claws through my jeans into my leg. I shouted in pain and put him back on the food bin laughing. Casey, who had seen the little stunt, came running over between us and started hissing like crazy at Smokey. Apparently, he though Smokey had attacked me and came over to protect me.

By that Friday morning, Casey was still upset, and while I knew things wouldn't always go as smoothly as it had when he'd been introduced with Chessie, I was starting to wonder if Casey would even learn to accept Smokey.

That evening, I came home from work, brought the groceries in, and went upstairs to let Smokey out of his temporary sleeping quarters in my office. He walked right by Casey as he came out, and Casey didn't make a sound. We all went downstairs, and while putting groceries away, Smokey was watching me, sitting in the middle of the floor. Casey came in, sat next to Smokey, and wrapped a front leg around him. I started to move towards them to separate what I thought was the start of a cat fight, but then Casey started grooming Smokey's face. It was like a switch had been flipped. They then went over to the feeder and water bowl together. And they've been best friends ever since. :)

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Wow, that is incredible. Well, Nugget touched noses with Murphy the other day, then hissed at him, so I took that as partially a good sign. I am getting a baby gate tonight so that they can actuall see each other with no real interaction, and when I am off work next week, I will try to get them together a bit more, face to face. Thanks for your story!