Recently took a family cat (5M) into our home with our cat (3M) because my family was neglecting him.
It has been a few days and I’ve been trying to slowly introduce them but it is just not working. We have a small apartment with limited space and keeping them separate is a challenge. Neither of them want to be kept in the room and will cry and yowl all night to be let out. We are not sleeping.
I’ve tried scent swapping, they both saw each other through the door and were curious of each other so I had supervised play time.
They do not fight but play and there is some hissing. I am worried they will escalate so I try to separate them at times to give them a break from each other.
New cat will wander freely and yowl so it feels wrong to keep him confined to a room when he is so unfamiliar with the space.
Both cats have lived in homes with other animals/cats before without the slow introduction method and have been fine over time.
Is there a possibility I can skip the really slow introduction method? Can I trust with time they will just get along?