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Help! Bringing a new sphynx into my small one sphynx household~

Cat Thompson

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Hi everyone!

My name is Cat and I currently have one two year old sphynx Cat Luminara (loving, lots of energy, slight only child/diva but not bad) and I am considering bringing a 9 month old male sphynx on. I have read many articles online about how to introduce them, but I feel sphynx cats are so different and wanted opinions from real Sphynx moms and dads!

-How did you introduce your cats?
-I live in a large more or less studio, so I do not have the option of keeping one separated from the other, will that be okay?
-Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!
 

GizmosMommy

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Hello and welcome...is the bath room shut in? That's what I had to do. It was only for about 3 weeks.
 

Cat Thompson

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Thank you! I had read that article and did find it helpful, however mainly concerned about having to keep them separate. As of now my current cat's litter box is in our bathroom so I would either need to give her access or move the box to a new location.

My cat also sleeps right next to me, has anyone had issues with them being territorially over you?
 

Catzzzmeow

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We have been very fortunate. We have never had territorial issues in the bed and all of ours have slept in bed with us from day one. Our one boy did and still does hissing if they try to take his spot under my arm, but never an all out lashing. He just puts them in their place. The natural pecking order takes place pretty quickly.

You will see it is always recommended to isolate a new cat/kitten, but in reality some times you can and some times you can't. We have always taken the kittens to a vet before they entered our home...for a basic check up. But we integrated immediately...our choice knowing the risks. We did end up with URI's f most likely due to the stress...but we expected it and took them to the vet at the first sign. It important to not wish the signs away, but to act on them quickly.

Do you have a lot of knowledge about the health history of the new baby?


patti
 

zoinks

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I think with the ages you are most likely going to have to separate them at least at first until you can gauge how territorial your original cat is being. You need a 'safe place' for your new baby in case the introduction goes not so well.

I would recommend moving out the litterbox (or placing another one down for her to get used to) so the new cat can go in the bathroom for a bit. You can then focus on introducing them at a pace that works for them, rather than being forced for them to immediately be together.

From what I've read on here it seems easier to introduce 2 kittens, or 1 kitten to an adult but an older kitten to an adult might be a bit more challenging.

I introduced two males at 6 months and the one I added definitely needed to be kept separated for 3 days. He was getting very stressed and we had to use the bathroom for him overnight when I couldn't supervise them.

Dippy (the cat I had first) has always slept under the duvet with me under my arm and Alfie prefers to sleep at the bottom of the bed so no conflicts there.
 

GoldHazel

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Thank you! I had read that article and did find it helpful, however mainly concerned about having to keep them separate. As of now my current cat's litter box is in our bathroom so I would either need to give her access or move the box to a new location.

My cat also sleeps right next to me, has anyone had issues with them being territorially over you?

I would move your cat's litterbox out of the bathroom and put the new kitten's litterbox in there along with his food, etc. There is quite an age difference and your cat is used to being by herself for so long, so I would definitely keep them separated unless you are present to observe their behavior together.

I never had a problem introducing any of my sphynx to each other (I have five). In November I added a baby and in December I added another baby. My oldest is going to be two years old in a few weeks.

So I never did have a problem with all of them sleeping with me in my bed either.

Good luck and come back to let us know how it's going.
 

MollysMom

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We have a pretty small 2 bedroom condo, one thing that was a lifesaver was this:
41Xgeh-jwbL._SX425_.jpg

It seals on all sides and packs up flat for travel. We put a small litter pan and food and water dishes in there when we brought Leo home (already had a 9 month old female, he was 3.5 months). He slept in there at night, so that he could be near us, but we knew he was safe. The could smell each other, but she couldn't get at him.
 

Cat Thompson

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Thank you everyone for the kind words! One last thing, did you ever have any issues with personality changes in your older sphynx? My Lumi is my child and has such a spunky personality, I just worry brining in a new cat could affect it.

If/when I do get the new sphynx, I think I like the idea if the play pen!
 

GoldHazel

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Thank you everyone for the kind words! One last thing, did you ever have any issues with personality changes in your older sphynx? My Lumi is my child and has such a spunky personality, I just worry brining in a new cat could affect it.

If/when I do get the new sphynx, I think I like the idea if the play pen!

IF your Lumi's personality changes at all, I would think that it would only be short lived. Lumi will be preoccupied for a few weeks with the new sphynx there, so you might find that you are not getting the usual attention you are used to. But again, I'm sure it will be very short lived and you'll have your Lumi back before you know it.
 

BluesMummy

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Hi, love your tattoos by the way :) we had no problems introducing our kitten to our older cat & dogs but their all super-duper friendly & all spayed/neutured, plenty of treats & fuss & u should be fine, we was anyway...just didnt change any of our other animals routines & Blue slipped into their day to day life great, good luck but sure you'll be fine :)
 

curlysue

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We have been very fortunate. We have never had territorial issues in the bed and all of ours have slept in bed with us from day one. Our one boy did and still does hissing if they try to take his spot under my arm, but never an all out lashing. He just puts them in their place. The natural pecking order takes place pretty quickly.

You will see it is always recommended to isolate a new cat/kitten, but in reality some times you can and some times you can't. We have always taken the kittens to a vet before they entered our home...for a basic check up. But we integrated immediately...our choice knowing the risks. We did end up with URI's f most likely due to the stress...but we expected it and took them to the vet at the first sign. It important to not wish the signs away, but to act on them quickly.

Do you have a lot of knowledge about the health history of the new baby?


patti


Well This sounds a LOT like us and our house when introducing a new Sphynx. I will actually get my 4th and final Sphynx this Saturday (EEEKKK So excited) he is at the vet today getting his little nip nip on the jewels and a clean bill of health. I am very fortunate I have got all three Curly, Hairry and now Fuzzy from the same awesome breeder with no health issues. I have introduced them immediately actually When I got Hairry I took Curly on the 4 hour drive to get him and I will take Hairry with me this Saturday to get Fuzzy. I do however keep all them in my master bedroom for about a week before I let them roam free in the house.

@Catzzzmeow I had to laugh when I read your post about your one boy that will hiss when you disturb him at night because both Curly and Hairry do this to anyone that bothers them while they are sleeping. They are all talk but it will scare the crap out of you if you don't know it's coming.
 

Baby Blu

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I have recently brought a sphynx kitten into our family. I have a 7 year old domestic cat who is very territorial. Its going on a month now and she still hisses and every now and then trys to scratch Baby Blu (the sphynx kitten). Im terrified to leave them alone. So I continue to monitor them in my sight. Good news is they can eat next to each other, use each other's litter box, drink water from the same bowl, and every so often they kiss. I think my 7 year old cat gets irritated because my sphynx kitten wants to play alot. I'm hoping they get along and be best friends soon. Any suggestions?
 

Baby Blu

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[quote"Catzzzmeow, post: 307092, member: 1753"]@Baby Blu sounds like life is good...start to enjoy the magic only a Sphynx owner would understand.[/quote]
Lol. I hope my older cat gets out of her territorial ways and open up to Baby Blu very soon.
 

Catzzzmeow

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@curly sue...I think the alpha cat always makes themselves heard...I prefer hissing to biting and scratching. We have a great balance here...each cat is appreciated for their individuality but they also demand respect.

Patti
 

SphynxAliens

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Yay for you deciding to get your girl a little friend to play with :D

Are the boy and girl both neuters? Temperaments tend not to flare as negatively if they're neuters (and if you don't plan on breeding them they should be neutered anyways :) )

We initially started with just one kitten in the beginning, she was the sweetest friendliest little kitten with the most cute and mischievous character. When we introduced another, a few months down the line, her temperament remained the exact same, but for the fact she now had a friend to run around with and watching the two of them together is one of my favourite things to do! When they're not making mischief they're sleeping together and grooming each other. It makes me feel good to watch these two cats get along so well and they really appreciate each others company.

They weren't that hard to introduce as they were relatively young and after a few days of hissing they settled down.

We introduced our male (we breed so all ours are entire) about a year later, it was slower but we were lucky because it went so smoothly.
We set up a stair gate on the stairs a few weeks before (mostly because we have a balcony overlooking our kitchen which one of our cats leapt off - we're talking 15ft!) so the two girls weren't able to go upstairs, so when we brought Rocky (our male) home we put him in a bedroom upstairs initially with some blankets that the girls use so he could sniff them, and we left his carrier downstairs so the girls could sniff his scent. The next day we let him out of the room and he was able to check out the upstairs floor, and he was able to watch the girls from a height (it made him feel safe). They were oblivious to him til he started sitting by the stair gate, they were then able to sniff each other through the bars and get a feel for each other. After 2-3 days of this Victoria (one of our girls) made the decision to become better acquainted and jumped over the stair gate, they're intro went smoothly (he wanted to play, she hissed a few times but nothing drastic) that we decided to let him have free reign of the house.

Luna took a lot longer to warm up to him, and spent the first fortnight following us around but now they all get along like a happy family. Though the girls still retain their special bond and Rocky isn't allowed intrude on their weird little games.

Hope some of this might help? I was just having a little reminiscing ramble :)
 

Cat Thompson

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Just brought him home! He is in his play pen and so far so good. Lumi, my older Sphynx, is okay just hissing and showing him who's boss so far, then they will stare at each other for a bit, walk away sleep then repeat hah. She's being pretty stand off-ish to me, but has come up for some love for a second before running away. Waiting to see how our first night goes! Thanks again for all the help!
 
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