Meeting the other pet
Cats
Before you introduce the new kitten to your
old cats be sure that each of them has been vaccinated in time. The serious infection diseases can spread among the cats and, of course, you would try to defend your
pets before meeting the new comer.
Take your new kitten to the veterinary before you take it home. Let the doctor take all the necessary analysis and do the necessary vaccinations for you to be sure that your pet is healthy. Follow the veterinary prescription. He can advice you to leave the kitten with him for a night before the results of analysis are ready or even for some days with the aim to isolate him. Follow any of doctor’s prescriptions. it’s better not to run risk!
The second advantage of isolating the cat into a special room is the next: while his health conditions are not clear the cats can contact with each other through the door. Every day you can let your old cats enter that room and take the new one on the hands for helping him to adopt to the new environment.
You can also help your cats to get acquainted with each other if you provide the same scent for each of them. You can do it by the following way. Touch one of the cats with the towel then do the same with another one and then the first one. You may also splash the towel with some spray or deodorant, or even anti flea spray and then touch both cats with it. But be careful using these sprays because cat’s noses are very sensitive! If you splash the towel a little it will be OK. You may help you cats to recognize each other using any of these ways.
After your veterinary gave the permission you can let your cats see each other. Be ready that they can cry and hiss to each other - it is normal. Cats have strong proprietorship feeling to their territory and that’s why it is a rare thing when the cats are pleased to newcomers coming into their own world. If the cat is as isolated as it was before, if it is only sometimes interested in newcomer, if it cries, hisses, if it climbs the higher surface or runs out of the room with speed of bullet don’t trouble, because it is a normal reaction. Just leave them and let them spend the most time as they want.
But if the cat attacks the kitten you should no stay aside. Don’t punish your cat, try to predict such actions before it starts. Drop the book, clap on the wall because any sudden noise can frighten the cat and make it refuse its aggressive plans and you may have the opportunity to isolate them from each other. If you punish the cat who has been living in your house for a long time because she defends her territory, she won’t relax but will be more aggressive.
You should always have the firm box or paper basket for covering your cat carefully if it’s necessary when she has aggressive tensions. It may help to avoid troubles of everyone who takes part in the incident. As soon as aggressor is imprisoned take the newcomer out. If you try to take the angry cat out she can become angrier and hurt you.
If it’s possible, let the cats solve their problems themselves as they like.
The other way is to prize the process of meeting cats by feeding them in the same room. When we were doing that we feed cats with the liquid food only twice a day in the quiet room. First of all, put the plates in the opposite corners. As far from each other as you can. Then during some days put them half a meter closer days for the cats to dine side by side.
If they eat with pleasure say them something good. Let them understand that you are glad to see them friendly. The warm supporting words are always useful in such situation.
If the cats threaten each other with the voice there is nothing wrong here if they continue to eat. It is the victory. But if in some moment one of the cats stops eating and prefers to stare angrily to the other you should better take her out of the room.
Don’t say anything while doing this. Don’t give it any food till the next feeding, put the plates half a meter further from each other and try everything again. it’s very important for you not to punish your cat. You should always stay neutral. Try to show that you haven’t any personal opinion concerning what is happening and the only thing you know is that the cat which doesn’t want to have breakfast together with the another is that she will stay hungry. it’s unusual but the “singing” stomach may cause the right relating to the partner of feeding.
The majority of the cat cries a little, do several steps, hiss to the vapor the curses on its language, but afterwards will make friends establish friendly and pacific relations. Let this process go with the natural velocity. Like both, but don’t try to speed up their friendship. It will come itself in exactly nominated moment.
Dogs
Kittens and dogs often become the best friends but like it often happens among the other living beings everything can’t be all right at first. Everything will be all right if a cat or a dog has lived with animals of other kind before. But if it’s only the first attempt to each of them, I’m afraid you will face some troubles.
First of all you need to protect your kitten from a very active dog which energy spends in the wrong way. All the dogs must be tied when they are near the kitten before you are sure without doubts they are not dangerous to him. Generally if the dog is well educated it is pleasant to live with it and it will be safer for your kitten.
Teach your dog the command “Leave it!” and also the commands “Lie!” and “Stop!”. This is the minimal kit of commands you have to teach your dog. Begin to train these commands long before the kitten appears in your house. If you can’t control your dog even if everything is quiet then you have no chance to do it when the kitten appears in the house.
If you can’t control your dog try to visit the dog teaching courses. Even if the dog has the best intensions it can do harm to kitten. The dogs which were aggressive to cats or killed little animals before need the lessons of professional trainer or specialist of animals and they need it immediately. Be very attentive if your dog is too jealous of his plate. The little kitten exploring dog’s plate may cause aggression. Don’t wait for the troubles, do all the necessary immediately, ask for help.
To make meeting easier be sure that the kitten has free way for running away. If the kitten is in the corner scared by the dangerous animal it may cause the worst consequences for all. Don’t try to stop the kitten. Let him do what he wants.
Praise your dog for the moments of kindness and calm even if these moment are too short. Most dogs always want to please you but they don’t know how to do it. When you praise them as soon as you have noticed them to do right things they’ll understand what you want. If you have no opportunities to look after the dog or the kitten when they are together, you should better isolate one of them. They need about a week to find common language but before you have to look after them.
Birds
Let us confirm obviously that the cats are the beasts. And some of them are more predatory than the others. While you don’t know exactly about the capabilities and interests of you cat to hunting it’s better to take all the animals which are smaller in the cages for it not to attack them.
The cages with birds should hung a from shelves or tables because the cat can jump on the cage from them. Hanging the cage you should fasten it because the cat can knock it down. Here is the easiest way to get it: fasten the big screw device with the ring to ceiling, then hang the rope with the cage on it for the rope goes through the ring and then fasten the rope to the hook on the wall. So it will be easy for you to pick the cage up and down and you can hang it farther from shelves and tables.
For safety of your little pets be sure that metal wires of the cage are situated so closely to each other that the cat can’t push its paw between them. The door of the cage should be well locked.
If the cat creeps to the bird or watches on it you should punish it splashing it with water. You can also shake the empty beer can with some coins in it (see: Change cat’s behavior). You shouldn’t punish your cat with words or run after it because it won’t creep to the bird even if you are near. But your task is to make the cat think that watching the bird is bad and not because you don’t like it (so you must hind the can with coins or water-splashier and show that it weren’t you who punished the kitten).
Little animals
The best protection for such little and safe fewer animals is the good firm covers for their cages. But no, not the best: the main thing is the closed door into the room where the cage stands. But people are not ideal, so the door may be left opened at any moment. In that way the cover for the cage is necessary.
Put the catchers around the cage with the help of both-side scotch or some stripes of paper for copying. All that can make your cat believe that this area is inaccessible to it. Don’t use turned mouse-catchers - we don’t want your hamsters to be followed by nightmares. If the cage stands on the table or on the bookshelf you should make some additional precautions: fasten the wooden stick to the shelf along the front edge of cage for the cage couldn’t be pushed down.
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