Just adopted a new kitty!!!

[veegan]

I mostly hang out in Dog General, but I do have a kitty too! lol For those of you who dont know me/my kiki, this is the love of my life, Felix:















anyhoo believe it or not, he is not the point of this thread.. lol As some of you may know, I recently moved away from home, and the cat Felix has lived with for all but the first year & a half of his 7 year life (Felicity, my mom's cat) stayed with my parents, so Felix has been alone. He basically stays in my room all the time (he's a scardey cat so he doesnt care to explore the rest of the apartment) and for at least a month now Ive been wanting to get him a friend. Originally I was planning on adopting a kitten, but today I went into Petsmart for bunny food, and well, came out with THIS beauty!



I will be sure to take/post more photos in a few days (I loaned my digital cam to a friend for the day assuming Id have nothing important to photograph tonight- go figure! lol) His previous owners named him Mr. Wiggles, which doesnt suit him AT ALL. (he isnt wiggly in the least! lol He is super mellow, outgoing, calm, SWEET and cuddly). Nothing has been decided for sure yet, but I think Im going to call him Linus.

Felix is fairly.. unhappy (to say the least) with this new addition to his territory though. Anyone have any suggestions on easing the adjustment?? Thank you in advance for any suggestions/stories!

[BCBlondie]

Felix is such a beautiful kitty!!!! and your new kitty, Linus/Mr. Wiggles has beautiful blue eyes.

I'm not sure how to introduce cats to each other.. I've always been more around dogs, and my two kitties are brother and sister so they grew up with each other... Sorry I'm not much help!

[wolf_Q]

Congratulations!!!! I love those blue eyes, what a handsome boy!! (Felix is handsome too of course!)

[krazyaboutkatz]

Congrats on your new addition!!! Linus aka Mr. Wiggles is gorgeous and it sounds like he has a great personality too. I've always wanted a flamepoint and may adopt one some day.

The key to introducing two cats is to take it very slowly. You can rub both cats with a towel so that they can get used to each others scents. You can also let them sniff each other through a closed door and see how they react. Hissing and growling is normal. I don't know how large your place is but if you can give Linus his own room or space for about 1-2 weeks this would be ideal. When they are out together, you should supervise them until you're confident that they're okay to be alone together. You should also let them work things out unless there is bloodshed. Good luck and please keep us updated.

[davidpizzica]

Felix and Mr, Wiggles(glad you're changing the name) are both gorgeous kitties. KAK had excellent advice on introducing the two kitties. I'm happy that you adopted an older cat that needed a furever home!

[jenluckenbach]

I am glad we finally got to meet Felix. What a sweetie! And Linus looks like he will be a great addition. He is very beautiful.

Congratulations!!!!!!

[PayItForward]

Wow, look at those baby blue eyes I am in love

This is how I introduce my cats...
http://www.piftails.com/introducingnewcat.html

[auggie]

Congratulations on the new kitty!
Felix and Mr. Wiggles are both gorgeous.
Good luck with the introduction. I can’t give you any advice, because my cats still barely tolerate each other after living together for over 10 years.
Your Aussie is so beautiful!

[catnapper]

What a gorgeous young man you just adopted! Mr. Wiggles is a silly name! Linus suits him nicely.

Do you know what this means? It means you need to spend more time over here on the cat side now! AND that you'll need to fulfill your PT duty of posting lots and lots of pictures of the two.

[Craftlady]

What an adorable kitty. Thank you for using PetSmart adoption area. We have a warm spot in our hearts for that area. We got Thumper there 3 yrs ago Nov. and just this Friday for Eleanor.

[CatMama78]

Too cute . Felix sure has a kissy spot on is nose (freckle) and Mr. Wiggles is gorgeous! In the long run, I'm sure they will become best buddies. From what I've read the key is getting each other familiar with their scents, without having them have direct contact all the time. As mentioned, keeping them in separate rooms, and in their respective rooms place an article of clothing or toy that has been rubbed on the other. this way they become familiar with each other's scents and can get associated under the door. Then for a day or two switch them. All the while you should let them together when you are home and can supervise. I'm definitely not an expert, so I recommend doing more reseach. Here's a couple of links I found with a quick Google.

http://www.catcaresociety.org/intro.htm

http://www.homevet.com/petcare/petmeet.html

Good Luck and keep us updated on these gorgeous guys!

[catlady1945]

"Linus" is a beautiful cat.

Apparently the rubbing with each others scents seems to work. I'm sure eventually Felix will be happy to have a little companion.

[sirrahbed]

awww BOTH kitties are just beautiful. I like the name Linus. Felix looks like a playful and fun kitty so I hope he gets back to being a happy kitty!!!
We never had any guideline to introducing cats over the years so just went with *gut* feelings and never a problem. Normally we kept the newcomer in a carrier and let the others sniff while we ignored the newcomer and lavished attention on the residents. If there was no or minimal hissing, etc we opened the door and let them out a bit at a time. There are always hiding spots. We only gave attention to newcomer when residents were busy. Guess we were lucky because no blood was ever shed. One pair took about a year to become friends. Our newest, Dylan, took over the house the 2nd day here, while the resident twins followed him around like little niece and nephew!! We were on hand like hawks with squirt bottle in the beginning and would have isolated them if fights broke out but they never did!! I always just played it by feeling. But, guidelines are good to follow, too. I just did not have them - but still figure break the rules if things are going well.

[rg_girlca]

Well Veegan, welcome to the Cat side. I hope we see and hear more from you now that we have seen your absolute gorgeous Felix and beautiful Linus with those fabulous yellow markings and mesmerizing blue eyes.

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

They are both so gorgeous!! In my (very limited) exoerience the best thing is to take things SLOWLY. Jen (PayItForward) has posted the link to her great website, and has some great advice on handling the intros!