(pleasant music) - Hi, I'm Karen Kalunian, and today we're talking about integrating a cat into your multi-pet home.

♪ Hey ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ (cat meows) - We're at Paws Watch with Dianne LaPointe at the Community Cat Center, and we're gonna talk about integrating a new pet into your home.

So if you might already have an existing cat and/or a dog or any other type of small animal and you're bringing home a new cat, Dianne's gonna tell us a couple of tips that will help you to do that process hopefully easily.

So I just picked up my cat from you and we don't know if this cat really likes other cats, although here at the center you sort of try to figure that out a little bit.

But that doesn't necessarily mean it's gonna transition when I get the cat home.

So what would you suggest?

- Bring the cat in.

Keep the cat and the carrier.

Let the other cats smell each other for a while.

Put the cat in the bedroom in the carrier.

Let them smell through the door.

Exchange toys for each cat so that they know each one is in the home.

And it's gonna go slow, and it's depending on the cat itself.

It might not work, but it might work.

- Would you suggest the same for a dog?

- Yes.

- If I have a dog in the home and I'm bringing home an adult cat, is it best to have them in separate rooms, and so they can learn?

- I would suggest, if it was us, we'd like for you to bring the cat in, I mean the dog in to us.

- [Karen] Oh, that's wonderful.

- So that we have a playpen.

We can put the cat in a playpen, see if they smell each other and there's any animosity.

That's the first step.

If there isn't any out, you'll know immediately.

- Yes.

(laughs) - You'll know immediately.

- I've seen it.

- And we've had a couple of incidents where the dog reacted to the cat and the cat and the dog, but then she walked out with the cat.

It was lovely.

So, it depends on the pet really.

- That's right, that's right.

And if you've ever had a cat in your home, it doesn't necessarily mean that a new cat coming in is gonna be the same with your existing dog, because it's about building relationships between the two of them.

So I always say slow and steady, I'm sure.

- Slow and steady.

Now, if you've had a cat who the other cat passed away and it was their companion, you adopt another cat to have your existing cat have a companion.

Sometimes it's more difficult because they're still in mourning.

- I know people don't understand that.

- They mourn just like everybody else.

- They mourn just like we do too.

And it might not be the exact replacement, but it might be another companion for that cat.

- The cat will hide.

The cat won't eat.

The worst thing you can do is reach under and grab the cat from under the couch, the bed.

Let the cat come out at his own pace.

People panic.

And in a week it could be that they're both sleeping on the bed together or in a week they could still be at each other, and that's when you make the decision whether it was a good fit in the first place.

- If it works or not.

Well, thank you so much, Dianne.

- You're welcome.

- And thank you for all the work that you do here.

- Thank you.

- At the Community Cat Center.

- It takes a team.

♪ Hey ♪ - [Karen] To watch more videos like this, visit ripbs.org/animaltalk.

(cat meows)