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I do have some pics, but they are not the best....hard to take them as she is so quick!

She is glittery all over, her fur is amazing..




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She's cute! Swapping things between their "territories" so they can get used to each other's smells is a good idea.

I also do the room swapping thing where I let the new cats explore the house while the established cats can sniff around the newcomers room, but my house is ideally set up for that sort of thing (I have a couple of rooms with two doors, so I can guide them all around the upstairs without any risk of coming face to face with each other) and it doesn't work everywhere.

As a next step, I place a pet gate in the doorway and board up the rest (otherwise they just jump/climb over it). There usually is a bit of tension and hissing at first when they see each other through the gate, but it allows them to get as close as they want to check each other out and back off without fearing they'll be chased and jumped on by the other cat. To make it more enticing to interact with each other, I place food and toys on both side of the gate.

Once there's no more hissing and growling, I remove the boards, but leave the gate if the cat can jump/scale it easily. That allows them to come out and interact, but still go back into their "safe room" when things get too heated. It appears that my cats respect the gate as a barrier, even though they can go over it (and sometimes will to steal food etc). It's more of a psychological "here's the line, this is my room, stay out of it" thing, I guess.

The thing to keep in mind is that it can take some time (your cats will let you know how quickly they want to get to know each other) and it's best to avoid direct conflict during the introduction and adjustment period. They need to learn that they are no threat to each other. Both the newcomer and the established cat(s) need a place they can retreat to and feel safe in. They will want to check each other out (some sooner, others later), but preferably from a safe distance or through a barrier at first. At one point, they need to work out who's top cat (and in many cases they manage to do that without outright fighting) and after that there should be at least peaceful coexistence even if they don't become best friends. Sometimes it takes just hours, sometimes it takes days or weeks. The most important thing is to let the cats take it at their own pace and don't force them, but don't stand in their way either. They'll work things out between them eventually.

Such great advice, thank you! On the breeders advice I am actually keeping Izzy in a large puppy cage when she is sleepy and Casper is coming in and watching her. His body language is very good and earlier on I turned my back and when I turned around they were touching noses!

They are getting used to each others smell now and I am feeding them wet food every morning and night in the same room (with Izzy always in cage) and they are eating with no problems.

I really feel they want to get to know each other but are both wary.

Oh she is very beautiful, well worth the wait eh!!

I know what you mean, we wanted another cat with a big personality as our old lad Horrace was such a big character.. i too am completely amazed how confident and full of life Kera is considering she is just a little teeny baby. She has already got the dogs under her control and most definately rules the roost!! The dogs for me were a worry not so much our girl Stella.. she was the best of friends with horrace, he used to sleep on top of her (big dog.. lots of warmth lol)! Murphy on the other hand is still just a puppy only recently turned one and finds Kera most amusing and is desparate to join in with her gamesand play, the thing with danes is they have this tendancy to wallop you with their big paws.. but have to say Kera is totally unphased by him!

I'm sure Casper and her will sort themselves our very quickly! I dont think you'll have much to worry about.

Look forward to seeing lots more pics of her and casper.

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OKay thought I'd post an update. Today they have been together freely for a total of around 3 hours (broken into sessions of around half an hour).

They ate together twice, and touched noses many times. Casper hissed a couple of times and batted Izzy twice as well but not with malice & there were no claws. It was just when she jumped on him or went for his tail. She is totally fearless she just lunges at him wildly!

By the end of the night they were tentatively playing with each other in their crinkly tunnel. I am so pleased. And Casper is accepting treats and strokes from me today for the 1st time since Izzy moved in so I am hoping things are really starting to settle.

Re being fearless, does/did anyone else's 13-week old kitten get downstairs by basically throwing themselves down and tumbling?? Cos Izzy does and its flipping scary! I've had to put a duvet at the bottom so she doesn't bang herself on the Victorian tile floor as its very hard! She just launches herself into everything head first and seems to think she is invincible!

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