Making old cat & young cat get along?

I have a fat, oldish, spayed female cat, whose chief hobby is sitting on the window ledge and hissing and growling at any of the neighborhood strays that wander by.

The neighbors have an adorable half-grown gray and white Siamese.

Recently, the neighbors have moved out, and it looks as though they may have left, accidentally or intentionally, this cat behind in their apartment. I've gone ahead and left some food and water for it, and made sure it has some litter to go in, but now I'm wondering about what to do if they don't come back for it.

My aunt, a cat-fancier herself, has advised taking it to a no-kill shelter, and certainly I would do this if there wasn't any other option. She says that old cats and young cats do not tend to get along very well at all. But it's such an adorable cat...

I was wondering if there was any way to keep my current cat and this cat from going at it if I did want to keep the younger one? I don't know how feasible it is, especially since I have a fairly smallish apartment, only one litterbox, and I'm away at work for 9 hours of the day (and live alone).

Any advice, tips, secret tricks? Or would it just be best to give it up as unfeasible?

Chris,

Yes, an older cat and a younger cat can learn to get along. It would take time and patience, especially when your resident cat already shows displeasure with other cats. My cat, Holly (8 years old at the time) had always been aggressive and extremely agitated by other cats. When I adopted Duffy (blind, approximately 3-5 years old), I took great care to make the introductions very slow and gradual. In my opinion, the biggest mistake that many people make in circumstances like this is to try to move took quickly. Send email to me if you would like for me to send you a copy of the description I wrote after bringing my two cats together. We used to call Holly 'the black tornado,' but now the two are good friends.

You said that your apartment is smallish. Is there any way that you could keep the two cats in separate rooms during the introduction process? If so, it can be done. A person can almost always find a way to add a second litter box, so that should not present a great problem.

Please try! It would be wonderful if you can give this little cat a home, and your current cat may find that she really likes having a companion (especially since you are gone for a number of hours each day). That is what happened with Holly. Be sure to get the new cat spayed or neutered *immediately* if that has not already been done

It can work, with patience. I used to keep new cats in the bathroom and let the other cats get introduced through the large space under the door. Now, however, I have a large dog crate for foster kittens. and I put a new cat in there, so they can used to us, the traffic pattern and the other cats. Works right well.