Know that prior to rescuing Sam he was accustomed to being with other cats, he was outdoors and did hang out with my neighbors cats, So there was no problem with him getting along with cats. We just did not want him to have any stress.
So Sam has lived on one side of the house away from my other cats. There is a door that separates them and an inch opening at the bottom of the door and this door allows the cats to touch each other with their paws. None of them have played roughly and I wondered if socializing would be that big of a deal.
Sam is a good cat, an affectionate cat but I suspect that he longs for another cats company. My thought is that two FIV cats would be better than one because they could sleep together, play and groom each other. Recently my friend surrendered her FIV cat to me and I decided to try and socialize Sam with this new little FIV young adult cat.
The socializing consisting of the cats getting used to each other scent but they were separated by a closed door. The NEW cat played paws with Sam from under the door and all was well. Sam was meowing and seemed very happy. I allowed the two cats a few more days of getting to know each other from a distance before I opened the door to Sams side of the house.
The introduction was supervised and Sam was calm with the new cat. There was no hissing, however at one point Sam did go into the closet and leaped to a lower shelf. The young FIV cat meowed for him to come down and play with her, but Sam ignored her.
It did not take long for the cats to get accustomed to each other. In an hours time they were eating out of the same bowl. Both my husband and I agree that two FIV cats are better than one, because now Sam has more energy, he is very happy.
The young adult female cat climbs all over him and he does not mind. I suspect they will be best friends for the rest of their lives.
