Making a Multiple-Cat Home

About three weeks ago I “rescued” a big beautiful three year old black cat named Jamison for a friend in Florida.  He is intensely allergic to fleas and in spite of all attempts to control the fleas and allergies in Florida, he was just scratching relentlessly.  I offered to bring him to Ohio for treatment and to be my pal– never to return to Florida.

Well, I had also adopted a beautiful little kitten  from a good Samaritan client about five weeks prior. Nugget is a precious little thing and had come into my life to be my companion after I had lost my twenty-one year old, cherished cat Charcoal.  So the question was “How do I get them together?”

Here is what I did:

1) I put Jamison in the laundry room with the “used” litter pans, food and water and closed the door.

2) I took Jamison’s travel carrier to the living room so Nugget could get a good whiff of Jamison.

3) After about six hours of laundry room isolation, I let the boys get together.  They of course hissed, growled, ran, and rolled on the floor acting like demons but not biting too hard.  Boys will be boys!

In just a few hours, they were buddies for life; running, playing, biting, growling, and grooming each other.  In my situation, it only took a short time to introduce Jamison and Nugget because they both had a relatively new home.  In others, it could take a few days.  However, I am extremely happy it all worked out!  Nugget and Jamison– best of friends!

—Dr. Lonnie L. Davis, DVM