Moving with cats.

Jadsia

My husband and I have three cats and our soon to be room mate has one. We'd like our cats to get along but that seems like a hefty wish to grant. What can we do to help all of our furbabies live in peace? Also, where's the best place to keep litter boxes? They're unsightly and though cleaned regularly, pretty smelly.

meagkay

What my husband and I did was put once cat in one room, close the door and let the other cat roam around the house picking up on the other cats scent.  Then after a few hours switch them.  This helps the new cat get used to how the other cats smell and know where is their favorite place.  After a few days put them in the same room and see how they do.  Tad (my husband) slept with our new cat Millie in our guest room while Tobin (our oldest) slept with me in mine, we switched off every few nights.  Then after a week we let them go and let them have free range of the house at night to see how they would do.  It's timely but they are so lovey with eachother now it worked perfect!  Litter boxes we put in the laundry room (since ours is huge..).  Hope this helps!!

amberwsu

I work at a veterinary office, and have for 6 years. My suggestions are

1) Try pheromone treatments. Use a pheromone collars like NurturCalm on all the cats, to sooth the cats and make the move easier on all. There are collars & sprays, and wall plug-ins. They release a pheromone that is similar to the one released by the mother while she was lactating, it gives a calm soothing feeling to the cats. It usually takes ~48 hours for it to start working. Each collar last ~30 days. The Sprays & Collars ~$15-20 each, the Wall Plug-in ~$50 but works longer & better for a multiple cat house.

2) Switch bedding or something that smells like the other cat before moving letting them get acclimated to each others smell. switching items weekly so they still smell strong. Then the day before the new cat moves in put the other cat in a room all day, then when they move in remove the current cat & put the new cat in that room, and give the other cat the kennel that the other cats were moved in, to increase the acclimation to one another. When finally introducing them try to put one in a kennel so they can sniff noses but not hurt each other if either gets irritated. After a few hours you can let them out together but watch them closely the first few days.

3) Have one more litter box then you have cats (ex: 3 cats should have 4 litter boxes), and spread them throughout the house. There should also be at least 2 scratching posts. Cats can be very territorial of litter boxes & scratching posts and bully each other from using ones, the more opportunity they have to get to a litter box or use a scratching post, the less likely the are to use your floor, furniture, bed, or clothes for the deed.