Sweethearts and Hissy Fits...Update

Cat Lady Karen commissioned this portrait as a Valentine's-move-in gift for her sweetheart Ali. The two combined households and cats this past weekend. Her hope was for the gift to be "a sort of omen for the happy, well-adjusted family that we will become!"

On Valentines Day Karen was happy to report: "Right after blueberry pancakes Ali opened the gift ...Needless to say he was just over the moon about it. We then walked around the apartment speculating about where it should go. The cats are doing okay so far - although we're minimizing conflict with separate water/food/litter/toys/cat trees, etc. for now, and we're keeping them separate at night time. Fingers crossed!"

Readers offered their own suggestions for introducing new cats to each other:

Cat Lady Barbara: Keep them separate for awhile and then slowly introduce them...or, put them all together and let them work it out. That's what I have done and they usually work it out.

Cat Lady Sarah (Cat Lady No, 61, pictured): Better to keep them separate for awhile, then switch rooms so they can get used to the other's smell without the pressure of the other cat actually being in the room.

Cat Lady Lauren: It is sometimes good to wipe down the cats with the same towel back and forth so they smell like each other and therefore feel more comfortable around each other.

Cat Lady Kelly: What we do, is we handle the new kitty in front of the others and introduce them to each other. We also will rub and pet on the oldies and then rub their scent off on the newie. That combines the regular scent with the new scent.

Any more suggestions? Share them in the Comments at the end of this post. Thanks!