Standard introduction procedures should work: isolate the newcomer for
anywhere from a few days to a few months, usually not more than a
week, until their smells merge and they both smell like residents of
the same home - also they will become used to each other's smell and
should get along with ever fewer fights and confrontations.  The
problem is basically one of stress due to unknown perceived threats,
so Felaway might help as well.  People do this all the time with good
results, and only the occasional failure (more often when introducing
an adult than a kitten, but still seldom enough to make the effort
worth while).

T.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu - e-mail must contain "T.E.D." or my .sig in the body)

My guess is that this is a kill shelter since you were able to leave the cat
there so quickly. Please get the cat out of the shelter ASAP. She depends on
you, literally for her very life. Once you get her home, you will need to
totally separate the two for awhile, so prepare to set up a bathroom or
spare bedroom with litter box and supplies for your new friend.

I would like to briefly respond to your first two questions, and then I have
a lengthy response (based on my own experience) for your third questions.
Others may want to ignore the third response because I have previously
posted most of the information in previous messages.

Your first question was: Can I stop the biting?

The best way to stop a cat from biting is to really pay attention to its
behavior. If the kitty starts to nip at you, immediately put it down and
walk way. You may want to give a little "yelp,"

which is what kittens do when they start to get too rough with each other
and one wants the other to stop. All the fun for the kitten will stop, right
there - but do not yell, hit, throw water, etc. It is very important to be
consistent. This may take awhile - a week or a month, perhaps - but it will
eventually pass. But do remember to be *gentle* and *consistent.*

Second question: Can I have a clawed and declawed kitty in same household?

Absolutely. Many people live with clawed and declawed cats together. It's
really not an issue. In fact, if you had two clawed cats (as I do), you
would find that it would be very unusual for either to scratch the other cat
with its claws - they may sound aggressive when they play, but it would be
rare for them to actually scratch each other. Once they are properly
introduced and have learned to coexist peacefully, they should get along
without major problems.

Third question (long response): Will they ever get along?

Everything depends on how you introduce them. If you are patient and go very
slowly, there is no reason these two cats can't get along. It's important to
keep the new cat totally separate (in a spare bedroom or bathroom) before
and at the beginning of the introduction process. Since they have already
been brought together too quickly and had issues, it is important that you
wait extra time before trying again. I learned a great deal about how
important it is to go slowly when I adopted Duffy. Holly had been my "only
child" for seven years and was used to being spoiled and pampered. She also
had shown a real dislike for other cats - so much so that we called her the
"black tornado" because she would immediately attack any cat on sight. Then
I saw Duffy's picture on Petfinders. He is blind and his picture just tore
at my heart. He had been at the shelter for several months, and I knew that
he probably would not survive once kitten season arrives and the shelter
becomes overcrowded. So, I decided to adopt Duffy and do whatever I could to
bring the two cats together.

The first thing to be aware of is that it is important to take things very
slow and proceed with caution - do not try to "rush" anything. In my case,
this meant that it took a full 6 weeks from the day I adopted Duffy until
both cats had the full use of the house and were "together" throughout the
day. That may sound like a long time, but it really wasn't - and in
retrospect, it was worth every minute because I now have two cats that get
along well together and enjoy each other's company. That's something I never
thought would happen!!

First, I set up three plug-in Feliway diffusers (one in the room that would
be "Duffy's room" for awhile, one in the hallway outside Duffy's room where
Holly would walk by the door to Duffy's room, and one in the living area
where Holly spends a large part of the day). If you don't have a Feliway
diffuser, it would be money well spent to get a couple. Feliway is used for
behavior modification and can be very useful in reducing stress. I bought my
Feliway from ValleyVet (www.valleyvet.com). They have free shipping, which
saves significantly on the cost. Do not get the one that says "with D.A.P."
because that formulation is for dogs.

Duffy learned his way around his new room very quickly. Holly did a bit of
hissing and growling, but it was pretty mild - none of the "vicious" sounds
she made in the past, and this was really pretty normal for an "only child"
who suddenly has a sibling in her home. I spent a great deal of time with
Duffy, and I alternated nights so that one night I would sleep in my regular
bed where Holly could join me and the next night I would sleep in Duffy's
room. I also left a radio in Duffy's room, tuned to a station with classical
or "soft" (soothing) music when he was left alone. I made sure that Holly
got lots and lots of love and attention through all of this. Every time I
left Duffy's room, I gave Holly an excessive amount of love and attention. I
wanted her to know that she was not going to be displaced in my affections.

After a week, a friend located a damaged unfinished door. He cut a large
square out of the bottom of the door and covered it with wire mesh (the type
of grill that is often mounted on the bottom of screen doors to protect them
from damage - sturdy and smooth, with no rough edges). He temporarily
replaced the bedroom door with the new screened door so that Holly and Duffy
could get up-close without any danger to either of them. He removed the
hardware (hinges and handle) from the permanent door and mounted them on the
temporary door, a process that was later reversed when we replaced the
permanent door. This worked well, but an inexpensive screen door could be
used for this same purpose.

Duffy was eager to get together with Holly, but Holly wasn't at all sure
about the situation. She gradually began to show some interest and would
often rest outside the door; but she did not seem to be at all upset. A
couple of days after the door was installed, I began to leave the door open
for a short time each evening, and gradually increased it to 2-3 hours each
evening. During this period, I kept Holly in a separate room - it was too
early to bring them together in the same room. Duffy was quite adventuresome
and quickly learned his way around the house. This also distributed his
scent, which gave Holly time to become adjusted to the scent before I tried
to introduce them. Next, I placed tuna on two ends of a long platter and
slipped it under the door so the two cats could eat "together." The idea was
to place a plate with "special" food under the door (with food on each side
of the door) so the cats would learn to associate something "good" with
being in close proximity when they ate the treats.

Eventually, I began to give Duffy the run of the house along with Holly, but
only under close supervision. I gradually increased the amount of time the
two were together and soon didn't need to supervise them. However, I did not
leave them together when I left the house. I was careful to give Holly lots
of extra love and attention any time I had been playing with Duffy - I didn'
t want to cause feelings of sibling rivalry.

About five weeks into this process, I had a week of vacation. This was the
ideal time to let them really get to know each other. Throughout the week, I
gave them more and more time together - first all day, then both day and
night. By the time we approached the sixth week, both cats had the full run
of the house at all times, and then I began to leave the house for short
periods of time (first only an hour at a time, then would go back to check
on them). By the end of that week, they were together at all times. This
very slow, gradual transition has really paid off.

Please let me re-emphasize this point: take it very slow, and don't try to
rush things. Whenever you think it's time to move to the next step, you
should probably stop and wait it out for another week. It took about 6 weeks
for us to work through the entire process because I had previously made the
mistake of trying to introduce Holly to some other cats too quickly and
without any preparation. I "thought" I going slow when I tried to introduce
Holly to my sister's cats some time ago (we took about two weeks), but that
was a disaster and led to the "black tornado" references. The difference
this time has been remarkable. Friends who knew how Holly had reacted in the
past really could hardly believe it. They were sure that it was never going
to be possible to place Holly with any other cat, but now I have two cats
that have become friends and voluntarily stay together most of the time.

I have posted a "pictorial history"on a friend's web site showing our
progress, including pictures of the temporary door that helped so much. If
you would like to see it, go to the first link under my signature. The
second link will take you to later pictures in a second album that shows the
progress we have made.

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly:      >'o'<
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")