Hi all,

I have recently taken in a 4 year old, ragdoll, neutered male. I got him on Saturday. I already own a cat and had planned on keeping the ragdoll in my living room and giving my resident cat the rest of the flat and introducing them on a gradual basis.

My resident cat got wind pretty quickly that the new cat was here and has pretty much taken up residence in my bedroom and will not go anywhere else in the flat at the moment. Though she is nervous of this other cat she has not shown signs of aggression and is eating and sleeping.

The ragdoll seemed to be ok at first but has is gradually getting more frustrated, as a result I have let him out of the living room and given him the run of the rest of the flat seeing as my other cat doesn't want to venture any further in anyway. He meows non stop. I woke up at 3am this morning and he meowed CONSTANTLY till I got up. I have got a feliway plug in - which doesn't seem to have helped.

I have to work during the day and this has never been a problem with my resident kitty - I am wondering if I have made a huge mistake as I feel that this new cat needs someone who can give him a lot of attention, all the time, and also maybe let him into a bedroom at night. I am not prepared to let him into my room at night because I do not want my old cat to feel completely pushed out of her home. I don't know if this would help at all but I don't really know how long I can cope with having no sleep for.

I know that the new cat is stressed and probably missing his old family, and wants to be able to go out but I am concerned that I can not offer him the home that I now think he needs. He is eating, weeing, pooing and drinking a lot so I think he's ok on that front.

HELP.

3 days isnt really log enough for the new cat to settle...or for yours to get used to a new cat being there, what do you know about the new kitty,why was he rehomed?
If hes used to going outside maybe put a harness on him and take him outside, try playing with him at night so hes worn out at bedtime...was he an only cat in his old home or did he have other cats to sleep with, or did he sleep with his family...if so he might just be lonely.
Ive used feliway plug ins and to be honest they've never made much difference to my cats ive also got the spray which is supposed to work quicker but some cats just dont notice it i guess.
i hope things settle down for you soon and you have ahappy kitty family before long xxx

Are they both indoor cats? How big is your flat - how much space do they have? Are you out from 8am - 5pm (approx) or do you work part-time?

Obviously the Ragdoll will need to be an indoor cat, at least initially while she figures out that your home is her home but do you have a separate litter tray just for her? To begin with, your existing cat and the Ragdoll will need separate trays. Don't expect them to feed together either, not at first anyway.

Introducing a new cat to existing cat/s can be difficult. Have you read up much on how you might successfully do that? There's some good information here :

http://www.icatcare.org/advice/how-g...t-cat-your-cat

Take it slowly, don't force their interactions and good luck.

Absolutely I have looked up all that stuff. They are currently being kept seperately with my resident cat basically now hanging out iny room, she's fed in there and she has access to go in and out so she's happy enough. I am not planning on having them meet for at least another week and a half and am introducing their scents to each other but nothing more at this stage. They have all of their own trays and food bowls.

I am out from 8 - 6 which my other cat doesn't mind, I was hoping that the cats might be company for each other once they get used to each other but now I've actually got the raggie I can see that he needs a LOT of attention, he's almost like a baby!

He is used to going outside and I can see that this is stressing him out so I may have to get a harness and take him out with that. I get the feeling that taking him out on that wouldn't really do it for him though, he wants to do what he wants to do, otherwise he meows.

I realise he must be lonely in the living room and I am not happy with that - but my other cat is now only comfortable in my bedroom and I am not forcing her out of the only room she appears to feel safe in.

I guess it's just a waiting game but my eyes are so tired!!

Ragdolls do need an awful lot of attention and they really shouldnt be alowed to go outside...i had a young ragdoll cross who sadly died a few months ago from an unknown virus aged just 23 months...he was indoors only as he had no road sense and would just follow anyone home...they are more like dogs than cats. I think on most raggie sites it says they should be kept inside which will be difficult if hes already been allowed out.
Personally i think a few days is too soon to make any kind of decision about their future or whether or not they'll be friends...one of my cats tooks months ot get used to Mac when he came here and he was only 15 weeks old...i had many sleepless nights and now hes gone im having sleepless nights because my other cats miss him so much.

Thanks for your reply, it's not so much that I am worried about them being friends - its more that now I am really concerned that actually, what this cat needs - is someone who can give it their undivided attention because I feel terrible about leaving it in the living room whilst he is getting settled. He doesn't want to be left alone at all - and keeps making every attempt to get outside. My concern is that I have taken on a cat that needs far more than I can actually give him.

Aww that's nice to hear that your two became friends and I am sorry you lost one.

If he's used to going outside, that's what he's yelling at you about. Will he be able to go outside eventually? If not, I think you are going to struggle to make a cat used to going outside an indoor cat.

I have a 12 year old Raggy, who we've had since she was 6 months old. She likes the sound of her own voice and will quite often just shout for no particular reason - her favourite place to do this is in the bathroom - she sits on the back of the loo and shouts at the wall!

I'm not saying that your Raggy isn't shouting because he's unsettled and new to your home, but he might also just be a yeller like mine!!! May be worth asking the people you got him from if he did the same where he was before...

My Raggy doesn't need a huge amount of attention and she's quite happy to be left at home during the day.I have got three others, 2 of whom she gets on okay with, one she hates, but she rarely interacts with them - quite happy being on her own. She's not an indoor cat either, although I know a lot of people do keep Raggies inside.

This is her... http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/DSCF0168.jpg

Oh yes, I know he REALLY wants to go out, he keeps headbutting the cat flap! I am not going to keep him inside no, I think it's cruel to not let a cat outside when they are already an outdoor cat.

Aw your raggie is a cutie! Good to know she's a yeller too! Apparently he does like to talk a bit and let his past owners know when he wanted something it's just been the incessanty of it.

Tonight has been quiet and loud in equal measure. I took him out on a lead earlier to show him the garden (and to shut him up!) Hopefully tonight he'll give it a bit of a rest. Hopefully...

Fingers crossed for you - and him!

a majority of ragdolls don't go out mine dont i have a 3/4 ragdoll boy and a ragamuffin girl

Cats can take a long time to settle in a new place let alone with another cat took my last rehome a good six months to get used to each other it was torture, the fights and screaming. my Raggies talk at me constantly and are attention seeking cretins and take up a lot of time

I love this description! My Raggy isn't like this but I have one deaf tortie mog who fits it completely!!!

Mine have become right mummies cats and are a bit bloody spoilt to be honest but I get notified when one is planning to use the litter tray, when it's been, what time to get up the list is endless not to mention the 5am wake ups for mad cat five minutes of racing round the house like a herd of ungraceful bloody elephants

Definitely sounds like my deaf idiot would fit in your pack very nicely! My raggy just sits quietly in front of me when she wants something and I have to guess what it is! She just does random yelling - usually in the loo or when she's dashing up and down the stairs for no particular reason!

Cats - gotta love 'em!!

My seal colourpoint girl occasionally plays silent charades with the odd mewling thrown in sometimes I think she may have not got enough oxygen at birth or something cos I swear she's not quite normal, sometimes I think she has got really early dementia

My cat hoarding ex neighbour left behind a load of cats including this big black one (green eyes not blue though) that is very, very vocal, deeply affectionate and goes limp sometimes when you pick her up - esp if you are putting her out the door or something she doesn't like. She is big, too. I checked online thinking she might be a ragdoll but apparently they have blue eyes. So I think she is half and half. She is our cat, now.

OP, give him as much love and attention as is poss in the circs and give him time to settle.

The cat who moved in with us when abandoned, is still loathed by our old (very old - she's 20) cat. But they never fight, just hiss if one gets too close. I have managed to handle it easier than you can maybe as our oldie sleeps all day on my bed - and the new one has the run of the house but I do kick her out of my room if I find her there, to give old cat her own space. They are definitely better together than they were. It takes time.

My tortie is DEFINITELY not normal - not only is she deaf but I swear she'd be ADHD if she were human, and would probably have had a host of ASBOs and several stretches in borstal! Would you like to borrow her to add to your mad lot??? (please!!!)

From what ragdoll owners here are saying I am even more convinced my big black cat may be half ragdoll? What OP says about the cat being vocal - our's literally talks to us all the time. We love it. She is loud as hell though. You can hear her meow outside, if you're indoors with the doors shut...

I remember my neighbour saying she had 'found; this big black cat, that her other cats hated so she kept her upstairs in her house and never let her out. We think this is that cat.

OP, stick with him for a bit and give them time. I am no cat expert but would be tempted to allow them in together and just see what happens? Cats are very good at making an unholy racket, but not actually fighting. Shame there isn't some neutral territory that neither would feel is their's, where they could first meet?

My old cat has always hated other cats and been vile to them - but she will tolerate the black one - in a limited way. So there is always hope.

Have you got a picture of your possible half Raggy Hogzilla?

I'll try and get one tomorrow! I'd love to know what she is. She is like a puma - huge! Very heavy but not fat, short-haired, and cross eyed. The most vocal cat I have ever had - and also the most even tempered (with humans - other cats is a different story!) More like a dog than a cat - follows her favourite person from room to room, and 'talks' constantly. Drove us nuts at first but now we are used to it. She purrs almost silently, too.

Sorry OP didnt mean to threadjack. Got excited. But yes, if it is any comfort - some really vocal cats do seem strange if you're not used to them and with time, you will be fine... Introducing any stranger cats to eachother may take a while.

I would be tempted to let raggy into your room and original cat sleep elsewhere at night. Raggy can get used to original's smell and vice versa then maybe original will want their bed back so come in with you... It may go better than you think? But just to get some sleep for a night or two... or maybe, rotate the cats in the bedroom? But I suspect (and I could be wrong am not a cat person) they may be better with eachother than you'd think. Our 20 year old cat has never in her life accepted a second cat - even her own brother, she hated him too - but oddly, although she won;t be overtly friendly to the abandoned cat, she did allow her to move in. It's almost as if they sense something.

Haha no I am probably gaining a kitten this year, my family breed Raggies occasionally and my aunt has a beautiful red colourpoint female, I am hoping she will have some cream boys

Breeding ragdolls properly you have to breed to other Raggies or outcross to specific pedigree breeds otherwise he kittens will revert to black in colour so chances are it is part ragdoll. I have been told several times about genes and colouring but it all goes over my head lol

My vet used to breed Raggies and now breeds muffins so he also has a real interest in genes and how the colourings work, you can tell his passion for cats over dogs and he literally swoons when you take the Raggies in

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I have a neighbour who has a half Raggie black one he's a big lad even for a normal Raggie and a seal bi colour both go outdoors but are a bit skittish. Mine go out but my garden is cat proofed out the back and they go out the front on harnesses

They will adjust. One of mine (a Maine Coon) has to adjust every years because there's a lot of hunting in their area and hunters will - and do - shoot cats. Countryside cats are viewed as slightly better than vermin so some hunters won't even think twice before shooting.

So, mine have to adjust to staying in (except for Fridays which are no-hunting days) between end September and end February. They do. There's a lot of complaining to begin with but they do adjust. However, it's a big house, they have a big covered wire enclosure on the house (like a verandah or sun room but sides are wired not glassed) so they can be outside but just not rampaging round the fields.

Hope that Raggie is settling in and you had a better nights sleep. Maybe invest in ear plugs...?