introducing female cats

Question
Melissa B,
i just moved out of my dads house and out on my own a
little less than two months ago i have a 1yr old cat who had
her brother to play with until recently. i am out of the
house a lot and worried that my cat was getting lonely, i
got another female cat that seems to be around the same age
but im not completely sure, but my first cat seems out right
mad she hisses and spits at the second cat and if ive been
petting the second cat i have to wash my hands or she hisses
and backs away from me is there anything i can do to help
them be friends?
brittany

Answer
One thing you should know is that no matter how much they have been around another cat, they are ALWAYS territorial when it comes to meeting new cats. She is young enough that she shouldn't take that long to adjust, which is the good news. The bad news is, introductions take a lot of patience on your part and persistence.

I don't see a real need to wash your hands before petting her. Another thing to know about cats is it's best to let them have their fits and let them get over it.

A really good mediator to use for them to be in the same room is good food. Have a dish for each cat and place them as far apart from each other as possible, but in the same room. You can have your first cat eat first since it's her territory. Then once she's eating comfortably, bring in the new cat over to its dish. Expect initial hissing and running away, but try, try again. Eventually things will calm down and you can start moving the dishes closer together until they are eating side by side. Note that this process takes a lot more than just a few minutes, so make sure you have a chunk of the day put away that you can do this.

And don't over spoil your first cat. Just act relaxed and normal. She calm down once she realizes there's nothing to get so fussy over.