Introduction of a female cat and male cat?

by Renee
(Mosinee, WI )

I have a 5-year-old female cat that is fixed and has her claws. My daughter is planning on moving into the lower level of my house in order to save up for a house. She is planning on being here for at least a year.

She has a male cat (Knight) that is also fixed and has his claws. We have a door that separates the lower level from our general living area.

My cat (Penny) has the run of the house. My daughter also has a miniature dachshund that neither cat really had any issues with. They just had to get used to him.

I have read the article about introducing two cats and I have some questions. Knight's food, litter box, cat tower will remain on the lower level so they won't be eating together.

Really we just want them to be able to be in the same room with each other and not worry about them. When it is bed time, Knight will be downstairs with the door closed.

We don't really want to keep the cats separated and that wasn't really anticipated as the dog will have the run of the house until bed time as well, but we can't really keep the door closed all the time.

After reading the article, however, I realize that the door is going to have stay closed for some period of time. My fear is that they will just not get along and get in a fight and since they both have their claws they might really hurt each other.

Should we do the scent swap before she moves in? How about bringing Knight over for a visit or visits before they move in permanently? Both cats are fine around dogs but they have not lived with another cat.