The most popular method currently recommended for introducing animals to each other, is called Socialization with Isolation, this process occurs in dozens, even in hundreds of versions, depending on who describes this process and what experience they have with this process. I described the first version of this process in March 2012 to present the process of socialization of alien animals in one of my discussion groups on Facebook.
The process of socialization with isolation can be used as a safety buffer between different domesticated animals – whether it concerns cats, dogs, or other smaller animals, this process is individually selected under the supervision of a zoopsychologist or animal behaviorist.
Medical isolation – for the first 2–4 weeks after the arrival of a new animal at home, we should take care of isolation to reduce the amount of stress and reduce the chance of disease disorders; health), medical isolation will also give the cat time to rest not only physically, but also mentally, it will reduce the stress of moving
Socialization – the process during which animals are introduced to each other and positively associated, depending on the experiences of animals as well as individual character traits, this process can last from several to several weeks
Behavioral Isolation – during the process of socialization with isolation, isolation is just as important as the socialization process, the animal must have a chance to keep his distance, rest from new company at home, he must have a chance to sleep, calm his nerves and prepare for the next meeting
It should be emphasized that the socialization process will look completely different for each cat, this process will look different due to age, genes, experience, and conditions in which it will be carried out.
The process of animal socialization should always be carried out under the supervision of a zoopsychologist or behaviorist. You can conduct your own experiments with the process, but remember that an experienced professional supervising the process is safer.
Another very important part of the animal socialization process is that not every animal gets along. No behaviorist or zoopsychologist will give you a 100% guarantee that animals will get along, even if they use and carry out the socialization process from cover to cover.
Due to the fact that the process of socialization consists of the fact that another animal appears in the home conditions of one animal – there is a huge change in the environment. Until now, a given animal had the whole apartment only for itself, it turns out that suddenly, the door to one of the rooms is closed, the person disappears behind them, and new noises coming from behind the door and no one wants to let the cat in. Limited space and new stimuli may cause discomfort to the resident.
On the other hand, we have a frightened new cat, or a cat taken out of homelessness, or a fouled foundation, or a temporary home thrown into new conditions, full of new smells, new sounds, a new person appears, whose behavior and smells it does not know – the new cat does not know the whole environment. From outside the door comes meowing, hissing, whirring, and scratching at the door. Discomfort and fear.
Being responsible, I must say that there are situations where cats get along without the process of socialization with isolation, such cats will look at each other, approach, and start treating each other as the closest and best siblings, without a gram of isolation. The reverse of this will be known to be maximum defensive aggression, hissing, growling, snorting, and physically attacking one side or both at once. That is why it is recommended to carry out a full socialization process anyway – you never know how cats will react to each other and how serious the consequences will be.
In addition to the two situations described above, we also have a fairly common problem, i.e. cats at the beginning of the process choose the strategy of waiting – they do not show aggression towards each other, they behave either very calmly or with a delicate interest, which causes people to let go of the socialization process because cats do not they hurt themselves. However, the lack of open conflict does not mean that cats like or like each other, they are simply so stressed that they avoid conflict and their relationship is only a game of appearances. True relationships come out only after 3–5 weeks when both cats loosen up a bit and start to play, and it doesn’t suit the other side and the first tensions develop into a full-fledged war that forces people to separate the animals and carry out another, often intense extended emergency socialization.
Socialization process – techniques and procedure
How long will the socialization process take? Much depends on the baggage of experience that the animals involved in the process have. My experience shows that a large proportion of animals get along in the area of 2–3 months, along with the time of medical isolation. Sometimes the process takes less time and no behavioral isolation is necessary (however, without the assessment of an animal behavior expert, I would not undertake such a combination). And of course, we have the final and most severe cases of difficult animals after going through and situations in large-cat, multi-animal homes.
Techniques in the socialization process are important because a new cat means a new amount of things and their location, and then packing them into the space of the house. A new cat means new bowls, plates, new toys, new furniture (hiding places, a scratching post, etc.), and other junk that the cat got from a cattery, a temporary home, or a foundation. A new cat, after going to a new home, must be isolated, and we can treat a bathroom or a separate room as it.
With the technicalities and changes we carry out, this will surely be noticed by the resident(s), who may change their behavior, and may start to avoid the guardian. We should try to devote time to all animals equally, without distinguishing the resident or new wards. The socialization process has no fixed frames, I assume that 7 to 21 days (1-3 weeks) can be allocated to each of the stages of socialization.
As we have established that the animals are in separate rooms and each animal has its own items in its rooms, such as toys, blankets, and other types of materials (especially placed blankets/towels) – after a period of medical isolation, we start a process that lasts about 2-3 weeks exchange of items between rooms.
Between each step, every day, we provide each animal with a lot of physical exercises, and a lot of mental and olfactory activities, so that the time to exchange items between rooms is always when the animal is physically and mentally tired, fed, and rewarded.
The exchange of items between rooms will allow you to mix the smells to which the animals are exposed, it allows the smells of strange animals to mix without exposing them to direct confrontation. We try to transfer scents many times, especially in the case of positive or neutral contact with the smell of another animal, we reward a selected, liked delicacy by a given pet.
In the following days, along with the exchange of items between rooms, we start moving animals, releasing them to the common area (without showing them to each other), then locking them in isolation and releasing the next ones – so that their smells mix loosely in the common area. The exchange of smells without sight will increase the chance of animal acceptance, however, it can cause quite a shock at the beginning and the process of this element of socialization can last longer – at the beginning, we start from a few minutes to several dozen minutes. In a situation of positive behavior and neutral contact with the smell, we reward the cat with a delicacy chosen and liked by the animal.
The next element of socialization will be (when cats react to the exchange of items and enter the common area for a long time) getting to know and meeting animals under human control, starting with a few minute visits and visits from afar with supporting animals with treats and attention from the guardian.
We can get to know the charges thanks to:
- exhibition cage – one of the cats goes to the cage, the cage is covered with a material and the other catwalks around it, first, we do not show the animals to each other, with time we lift the cover – during the visit we give the cats treats as a reward for a positive reaction,
- transporter – one of the cats goes to the transporter, we cover the transporter with a material, and the other catwalks around it, first, we do not show the animals to each other, over time we lift the cover – during the visit, we give the cats treats as a reward for a positive reaction,
- hinged door – cats are on both sides of the door, and we control the opening personally (preferable people should be on both sides of the door), in the beginning, we do not let each other see each other, cats can meow, hiss, growl, and scratch the door, which is normal, with time (time rather 1-3 weeks) we open the door wider and wider, after the meeting, we reward cats for positive interaction,
The socialization process starts from isolation to showing the animals to each other – we move on to short live meetings (at the beginning you can start by showing each other cats on harnesses, which makes it easier for us to control both animals) – the first meetings are held for 30 seconds, 60 seconds no more a new animal, fully visible for the other, can be a strong stressor – over time (1-3 weeks) we introduce cats every day, with time extending the meetings until we reach neutral interactions under human supervision, which will give us a signal that we can let the cats off the leash reduce alertness.
We would like to remind you that during the whole process, we do not give up everyday physical and mental activities – physically and mentally tired and fed cats are easier to modify and are more willing to cooperate, there is less tension between them.
Even after connecting the charges with each other (which should not be rushed), we should watch carefully for 2-3 months if the relationship between the cats is fairly even. It is especially important in the initial phase of acquaintance that one cat does not play with the other, at the expense of the other cat. Extremely important to maintain a positive relationship between animals is daily physical, mental/olfactory effort and a series of activities that will keep cats busy. By adding whole meat nutrition, raw additives, and regular visits to the veterinarian, we will have physically and mentally healthy animals.
