I recently got a second cat (he arrived at his new home 8pm Friday and it’s now 8am Tuesday). He’s a sphynx cat and very loving. I already had a female mix breed so I was very worried about introducing the two cats and making the situation as less stressful as possible for both the cats.

I have done a lot of research and set up a bonding/settling room for the new cat. It has everything he needs in this room; food, water, litter tray, hiding places, toys and a feliway diffuser. Initially through the weekend, he was incredibly loving and cuddly and while slightly unsure of his new surroundings and smells he was quite happy to come out of hiding and spend time with me. He even got to the point where he was curious to leave the room so did what’s called a room swap. Our resident cat can enter the bonding room, and the new cat and enter the rest of the house. This way they become familiar with each others scent without actually seeing each other. Again this went well, resident cat was happy to be in our spare room again (one of her favourite napping places) and new cat was quite happy exploring.

Then yesterday I noticed new cat was acting strange, not really coming out from under the bed, was constantly in and out of his litter tray without using it and was biting his legs and tail. As a sphynx cat I know he can get skin issues if not careful and annoyingly his bath (they need regular bathing) was overdue. I figured the stress of a bath outweighed the stress of chewing on his tail and legs so I gave him the quickest wash I could whilst also being as gentle as I could. I also then left him alone in the room for several hours as I figured he’s probably very stressed at this point and needs time to relax.

This morning I went in to check on him and while he doesn’t seem to be chewing on his tail and legs anymore he still seems really agitated and not the cuddly happy boy he was when he first got here. I’m really scared I’ve already somehow messed up causing him stress.

Am I doing something wrong? Can I do anything else to help him feel better or am I expecting too much too soon?