I've had my 2 female cats Sox and Princess since they were born. Which must have been 7 years ago now. All Sox's life she has been indoor/outdoor. Princess has been indoor/outdoor except for about a year of her life when someone stole her, they claimed to have kept her indoors. I'm 18 years old living with my parents and will be living with them for another year until I finish college. When I move out I will be taking my dog and my cats with me. And the cats will be indoor cats. Now I recently rescued a stray cat and due to his multiple puncture wounds(veterinarians exact words) and abscesses which they never told me about I just noticed it myself. Not to mention my neighbour getting upset with me about the cat. We have decided to keep him indoors. And for a cat who was never ever in a house before he is doing excellent. He is now fully litter trained and does not dart out the door. With every passing day I am getting more anxious about the cats being outside, especially as people are seeing more bears and coyotes outside, and with having my cat stolen already(even though they wear collars and id tags) I am very worried that one of them will get stolen again. And so for my birthday I have asked that my cats be indoor cats.

So how should I go about aking my 2 female cats indoor catts, also how can I help them to get along with my male rescue cat Dakota? I was thinking that I would just keep Dakota in my room for the first weeks that I keep Princess and Sox indoors, that way its not too much too soon. Also Dakota is in my room most of the time, as he sleeps there at night and most of the day. Also, my cat Princess uses the litter box, but my other cat Sox will not how should I train her. With Dakota every time he had an accident I would pick him up and put him in the litterbox and after a week he got the idea. But Sox was housetrained so every time she was inside and needed to use the bathroom she would go to the door and cry, how can I litter train her?

Thank you so much!

Have your females met dakota? If they come inside sometimes, then they've probably seen and smelled him. How did they react to each other? There may not be an issue.

Are any/all of them fixed? If not, do you have plans to do so?

Not all cats get along, just like not all people do. If they don't, then the most you can do is work to keep fighting to a minimum.

Get them used to each others' smells by taking a blanket from one cat's area into the others. Let them around each other only when you are around to monitor, until you can trust them together. Provide separate food and water dishes, and litter boxes, if needed (some cats refuse to share).


The only thing you can do for litter training is try your hardest. The method you used for dakota is the most effective way I know. Make sure any and all messes are cleaned up as soon as possible, to prevent repeats.

Some cats just will not litter train. If sox won't litter train, then you can think about getting her a harness and leash and taking her out like you would a dog. If you can't find a cat harness (which not all pet stores sell), then a harness for toy breed dogs should work, as long as she's big enough.

Thank you for your response. When Dakota was a stray cat outside, all 3 cats got a long wonderfully. But now that Dakota is inside, my 2 females hiss at him a lot. All 3 cats are fixed.

OK, sounds like a territory and dominance dispute.

If they got along outside, then they just need to work out their issues. The females are letting him know that THEY were there first, and THEY'RE in charge. As long as it stays just at hissing, and minor spats, then it'll probably be fine.

If they start getting seriously violent (claws coming out, drawing blood, growling and hissing with hackles up and claws out, seeking each other out with the intent to attack and cause harm, etc.) then you'll need to keep them separated.

As long as they're just posturing, then it's best to just let them work it out. Cats have a hierarchy within their packs. There can only be one alpha (or sometimes an alpha male/female pair). All others have to find their places behind them. Any time a new cat is introduced to a pack, the hierarchy is tested and the new cat has to prove themselves and earn a position. That's all they're doing. Dakota is trying to earn his place in the pack, and the females are making him work for it while trying to keep their positions safe.

It'll calm down over time. Give it a couple months. Hissing isn't really anything to worry about, on it's own.