Caturday: Negotiation – The Secret to Integrating New Cats into a Stable Cat Family
Murjan (left) and Happy Cat relaxing together on the lazy boy rocker Precerpt (excerpt prior to publication) from Raising Happy Cat Families (Norwood) Introducing a new cat into an established feline household can feel like balancing teacups on a trampoline. Conventional wisdom suggests weeks of scent-swapping, slow introductions, and tension-filled supervision. But what happens when those rituals simply don’t work—or when your cats aren’t typical? In our home, integration almost always begins not with separation, but with negotiation —and not with the new cat, but with the ones already in charge. Our alpha cat, Murjan, was a Turkish Van with the commanding calm of a diplomat. He ruled not with claws, but with presence. Unlike many dominant cats, he didn’t need to assert himself constantly. He just needed others to recognize his leadership and not disrupt his routines. So when a new cat arrived, we didn’t hide the kitten or sneak him into the territory. We invited Murjan to be p...