The situation: My fiance and I are moving in together. I have two 5-year-old cats (one male, one female) and he has a 4-year-old female cat. All three are spayed/neutered. The plan is for me to move my two cats into his rental temporarily while I sell my house since it's easier to sell with no litters/pet hair around. We'll be buying a house together once mine is sold. I've understand that the best way to introduce cats is to first segregate them completely, and then slowly allow them to smell and see each other more and more of a period of time, all while using Feliway to reduce stress (per my vet's recommendation). This process can take quite a while - even months - to ensure all cats ultimately have positive relationships between them.
My question is: should we introduce the cats at my place first since my place is larger and it would be easier to have separate areas for the cats? I have a guest room with a huge window that would work for his cat while my cats would be kept in the main part of the house. His place doesn't have a room that could be as easily separated from the rest of the house. The workaround area would be cramped and has only one small window that gets little direct sunlight. Will it work to do the introduction at my place first and then move all three to his place at the same time? Or would they still need to be reintroduced when we move them over to the rental (his cat's current territory), and then again one more time when we eventually move to the new house (neutral territory)? Would it be better to just do the introduction at his place and hope it doesn't take too long?
I'd appreciate any insight from anyone who may have gone through a similar move with multiple cats.
My question is: should we introduce the cats at my place first since my place is larger and it would be easier to have separate areas for the cats? I have a guest room with a huge window that would work for his cat while my cats would be kept in the main part of the house. His place doesn't have a room that could be as easily separated from the rest of the house. The workaround area would be cramped and has only one small window that gets little direct sunlight. Will it work to do the introduction at my place first and then move all three to his place at the same time? Or would they still need to be reintroduced when we move them over to the rental (his cat's current territory), and then again one more time when we eventually move to the new house (neutral territory)? Would it be better to just do the introduction at his place and hope it doesn't take too long?
I'd appreciate any insight from anyone who may have gone through a similar move with multiple cats.