Introducing a New Cat to a Home

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Feline Follies - Cat Behavior

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Anxiety Triggers

Going from the highest level of trauma to the least, here is a list of specific environmental changes that can cause anxiety in cats:

Moving into a new home.
Bringing home a new cat or dog.
Introducing into the home a new person, adult or child.
Having temporary workers around the home.
Bringing home a new piece of furniture.
Building on to the home.
Having houseguests.
New pets moving in next door.
Changing the home routine.
Someone leaving the household.
Household disharmony.

If these events do indeed cause anxiety, the cat will most often demonstrate it by:

Housesoiling and not using the litter box.
Spraying or marking walls and furniture.
Ceasing to eat.
Excessive grooming practices.
Excessive meowing.
Excessive destructiveness.
Becoming aggressive.

We address dealing with these specific symptoms of anxiety elsewhere in this book. However, it is most desirable, of course, to prevent the anxiety in the first place by helping your cat adjust to a new environment.

Smoothing the Transition

There are several steps we recommend a cat owner take when introducing a cat to a new home. In general, these work well whether you are introducing a current pet to a new home or a new pet to your existing home.

Before the actual move - as much as two weeks in advance, if possible -- bring items that smell of the new home and place them where the cat is currently sleeping and eating. This will help the cat make a positive association with its new environment and help it get used to the new scent.

Likewise, rub a towel or blanket on your cat, take it to the cat's future home, and rub it on floors, walls and furniture. When the cat arrives, it will recognize its own familiar scent and experience less anxiety.

As much as possible, place the cat's items and toys in the same locations as in its previous home. For example, if you fed and watered your cat in the kitchen and had its litter box in the downstairs bathroom, then place the cat's bowls in the kitchen of the new home and its litter box in the bathroom. This will help establish a "stable-sameness."

If the whole household is moving into a new home, do not bring your cat over until all the hectic moving is done and the movers and guests are gone. Then bring the cat to its new home safely, in a cat carrier that has openings, or little screen doors, on top as well as on one side. Be sure this is not the first time the cat has been in the carrier. (To get the cat used to the carrier, try feeding it in the carrier with the door open a few times before you actually move.)

Pick one room in the new home that your cat will make its "base camp" for two to four weeks. This can be your bedroom, an upstairs guestroom or a bathroom. Place its litter box on one end of the room on the floor, and its food and water up high on the opposite end of the room. Spread copious amounts of catnip, catnip-filled toys, Pounce treats and cheese treats around the floor. Include a "kitty condo" and/or scratching post. Your cat should remain in this room until it is showing signs of relaxation and comfort -- lying or perching out in the open, seeking you out and purring, eating on schedule, playing, and being back on its usual litter box schedule.

After the two to four-week period, add one new room per week, letting your cat explore -- either freely, in a cat carrier or on leash and harness -- the other "far kingdoms" of the home until it exhibits similarly comfortable and non-stressed behaviors in these rooms as well. Make sure all windows and doors are closed, and appliances like refrigerators and dishwashers are securely shut.

By being gradually and positively introduced to a new home in this manner, a cat can usually make a fairly smooth adjustment within two or three months. However, if your cat reacts poorly -- by retreating, attacking, not eating, excessively grooming or housesoiling - implement the relevant family systems and behavior-modification programs described elsewhere in this book. Also, consult your veterinarian about a temporary (12-16 week) prescription for an anti-anxiety drug such as BuSpar, Elavil, Clomicalm or Valium.

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