Best Practices When Adopting A Cat

June is National Adopt-a-Cat Month. If you’re thinking about celebrating by adopting, following new behavioral science-based steps can help ensure the adoption goes well, particularly if there are other cats in the home.

Before heading to the shelter, Luke Hollenbeck, certified cat behavioral consultant and owner of Blissful Cat Behavior Consulting, recommends potential adopters first ask themselves, “What is my expectation for getting a cat?” Successful adoptions happen when adopters amend expectations to accommodate the cat’s personality. Essentially, this means being willing to accept the cat for who they are, i.e. maybe a cat who wants to sit near humans but not on laps.

It’s also important to realize that a cat’s personality and demeanor when stressed at a shelter may be different once they acclimate to a new home. All cats will need time to adjust to a new home. That transition period can take days to months, depending on the cat’s personality and whether there are other pets in the home.

“We have to make that integration slow, methodical, and at the cat’s pace,” says Molly DeVoss, certified cat behavior specialist and owner of Cat Behavior Solutions. Rushing the process will only cause problems, some of which are harder to solve than to prevent.

Bringing a Cat into a Home Without Other Pets

Before bringing a cat into a home with or without other pets, it’s important to set up a room where the cat will spend the first few days (or weeks) before being allowed to explore the entire home. “This makes the amount of territory the cat has to adapt to more manageable,” says Kate Luse, certified cat behavior consultant and owner of Healthy Cattitude Cat Behavior Consulting.

This room, Luse says, should be “set up with everything the cat needs to be comfortable: food, water, litterbox, hiding spots, vertical spaces, and a scratching post.” It also needs to have a window. And pet parents will need to spend time with the cat in that room. When interacting with the cat, pet parents should move slowly and let the cat come to them. Entice the cat with toys and reward them with treats for interacting.

Hollenbeck recommends starting SMART training at this stage. SMART stands for See, Mark, And Reward Training. When pet parents see the cat doing something positive, like sniffing something new or even sitting quietly, either click a clicker or say a marker word, like “yes,” and give the cat a treat. SMART training is rewarding the behavior you want to see more of. The cat will quickly learn what behaviors get rewarded and which don’t.

When a cat exhibits unwanted behavior, punishment of any kind, including using a spray water bottle, is not the answer. “Punishment,” Hollenbeck says, “deteriorates their confidence and increases their anxiety and stress.”

Within the first week or two, pet parents should take the new cat to a veterinarian for a check up. The vet should screen for internal and external parasites, check that liver and kidney functions are normal, and test for feline leukemia and feline HIV. “Indoor cats should also be vaccinated for rabies and feline distemper,” says Dr. Carrie Vigeant, veterinarian and owner of Healing Paws Animal Hospital. She also recommends a one-month flea treatment to purge and kill any topical fleas on cats.

When To Let a Solo Cat Explore More of the Home

When the sequestered cat paws under the door, runs to greet pet parents, and is no longer hiding, Vigeant says they are ready to begin exploring more of the home.

That home, she says, should have one more litter box than the number of cats living there. For a single cat, there should be at least two litterboxes. And there should be a litterbox on each floor of the home. Those litterboxes, she adds, should not have scented litter.

Their new home should have plenty of places where the cat can hide because although domestic cats are predators, they are also prey. Cardboard boxes make great hiding places. Cats also feel secure when resting on elevated perches, so make sure the home has cat trees or other elevated spaces.

Scent marking is an important way that cats establish territory. They release pheromones by rubbing their cheeks against things and by scratching. Therefore, it is essential that cats have scratching posts to lay down scent. If none are provided, they will find alternative things to scratch.

Considerations When Other Pets Live in the Home

Before adopting a cat into a home with pets, DeVoss urges pet parents first to consider their existing pets. If existing pets are seniors, they probably won’t appreciate having a new cat enter the home. Luse agrees, saying, “Adult cats have little tolerance for kittens that aren’t theirs. [Senior cats] may have some aches and pains, and it may be difficult for them to adapt to a new cat or kitten.”

Pet parents of dogs with a high prey drive should not adopt a cat, Vigeant says. Likewise, if existing pets are sick, it’s not a good idea to adopt a new pet.

Vigeant also recommends considering the size of the home. Cats need a minimum of 500 ^{sq ft} and ideally 1000 ^{sq ft} of indoor territory. This means a 2,000-square-foot home should have no more than two cats.

Domestic cats do not naturally live in groups and prefer to live solo. This is why 85 percent of Hollenbeck’s work with clients involves inter-cat conflict. However, he says, “most cats can co-exist together as long as they are introduced appropriately and have enough resources in their living space.”

Adding a Cat to a Home with Other Pets

After the initial sequestration period, pet parents cannot simply let the new cat loose in the house and hope other cats and pets will work things out on their own. Most cats will respond with fear and aggression when meeting another cat. And cats lack the ability to deescalate conflict.

Gradual exposure, a form of desensitization, is the most important component of successfully introducing two cats. It’s “exposure to a fearful stimulus at such a low dose,” Luse says, “that the cat doesn’t have a fear response. It’s all about setting up the conditions so each cat can feel comfortable when they see the other cat.”

DeVoss, whose webinar “Harmony in the Home” reviews best introduction practices, says the new and existing cats should not see each other right away. While the new cat is in the sequestration room getting used to that smaller space, pet parents should play with each cat individually on either side of the closed door. Hollenbeck says this allows the cats to get comfortable hearing one another.

The next step in the process is to do a scent swap. This can be as simple as swapping cat beds, litter boxes, or scratching posts between the two cats or better yet, letting the new cat explore the house while the existing cat stays in the sequestration room for a spell.

Swapping items or spaces allows each cat to become familiar with the other cat’s scent, a crucial step toward their creation of a community scent. “In order for them to be comfortable, they have to have a community scent,” DeVoss says. To be effective, she adds, these swaps need to be for at least eight hours at a time.

During swaps, Hollenbeck recommends rewarding cats for sniffing the other cat’s items, using SMART training. If things are going well, DeVoss says the next step is to replace the solid door to the sequestration room with either a screen door or a gate tall enough the cats can’t jump or scale it. The screen or gate should be covered with a blanket so that the cats still cannot see each other.

Over time, she says, if the cats are responding without aggression, pet parents can begin lifting the blanket two inches per day until it’s two feet off the floor. At that point, the cats can fully see and sniff each other through the screen. If either cat expresses aggression, the blanket should be lowered.

Leashed Interactions

When cats can tolerate seeing each other for 10 – 15 minutes at a time comfortably, Luse says, they may be ready for barrier-less interactions. For these, Luse and Hollenbeck say having both cats leashed and harnessed can help prevent conflicts. This also means that both cats should be introduced to wearing a harness well before they meet each other face to face.

Pet parents can gradually increase the duration of leashed interactions a little bit each day. When both cats are consistently calm during these, unleashed interactions can be attempted. And for some time, when no one is home to supervise, cats should be kept separated.

Pet parents might be thinking all these steps sound involved and time-consuming. They are. But taking these slow steps is the best way to set cats up for successful integration. This process from start to finish can take weeks to months. “There are no time limits,” Hollenbeck says. The amount of time it takes varies by cat. “Let the cat set the pace,” Luse says.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of cats, she adds, “you can do everything right and still have two cats who can’t live peacefully together.” For this reason, Hollenbeck recommends pet parents be aware of this potential outcome and have a plan for how they would handle it before they adopt.

Pet parents should seek help from a professional certified cat behaviorist if any of these steps are not working or cats are exhibiting unwanted behavior. In fact, it’s even better to contact a behaviorist before the adoption because they can help set parents up for success whether they are first-time pet parents or have years of experience.

Adopting isn’t the only way to help homeless cats. Sharing this article with friends and family considering adoption can also help as can volunteering for or donating to a shelter or rescue.