Decision knowledge
Hold, Step Back, or Stop? Use the words for different decisions.
Cat Reintro Guide uses four fixed educational decisions—Advance, Hold, Step Back, and Stop & Seek Help—to describe what changes next. The words organize owner observations; they do not diagnose either cat or predict the relationship.
Hold keeps the current setup stable when evidence is incomplete or mixed. Step Back returns to one simpler stage when the current exposure is too difficult but a manageable setup remains. Stop & Seek Help overrides ordinary stage logic when safety, health, scope, or secure separation requires individualized help.
Safety overrides the table
Some situations should leave the automated flow.
An injury or wound, sudden unexplained health or behavior change, eating or elimination change, immediate danger, or inability to maintain secure separation means pause direct contact and seek appropriate individualized help. Do not use an online table to judge an injury or emergency. Read the full safety boundary.
One observation, four possible decisions
Hold vs Step Back vs Stop & Seek Help
| Decision | Plain-language meaning | What changes now | Important boundary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advance | Repeated observations support one cautious next stage. | Change only one stage and keep the next exposure observable. | Advance never overrides a safety flag or missing required information. |
| Hold | Evidence is incomplete, mixed, or not repeatable. | Keep the current setup stable and collect comparable observations. | Hold is not a guarantee that the current setup is safe indefinitely. |
| Step Back | The current exposure is too difficult, but a simpler setup remains safe and manageable. | Return one stage or restore more distance or barrier control. | Do not add punishment, forced proximity, or a universal timer. |
| Stop & Seek Help | Ordinary automation is outside its safe scope. | Pause direct contact, maintain safe separation if possible, and seek appropriate individualized help. | Stop is not a diagnosis or a prediction about the cats’ relationship. |
The free educational self-check screens for stop conditions first, then applies this vocabulary to owner-reported observations. See the sample result for a labeled Hold example.
The six-stage vocabulary
A stage names the setup—not a deadline.
A stage describes the current level of exposure. Cat Reintro Guide changes at most one stage at a time and treats missing or contradictory required information as Hold.
- 01
Safety & scope
Check whether an automated two-cat flow is appropriate before discussing progression.
- 02
Separation/reset
Use secure physical separation with independent access to essential resources.
- 03
Scent-only
Keep direct visual and physical contact closed while observing responses to scent context.
- 04
Visual barrier
Allow controlled visual exposure through a secure barrier at an observable distance.
- 05
Supervised proximity
Use brief, closely supervised proximity only when the preceding setup supports it.
- 06
Shared space
Observe supervised shared space without treating the stage as a guarantee of compatibility.
What is sourced—and what is product policy
The sources support principles, not this software’s exact rules.
Source-backed principles
The 2024 AAFP Intercat Tension Guidelines and its caregiver handout describe subtle signs of tension, independently accessible resources, gradual introductions, and returning to an earlier setup when cats are not comfortable at the current step.
These sources are professional context. They do not endorse Cat Reintro Guide, approve an automated threshold, or promise an outcome.
Cat Reintro Guide product policies
The two-cat audience, fixed four-decision vocabulary, missing-information Hold, one-stage change limit, and released decision thresholds are conservative product policies. They are versioned software rules, not clinical standards.
The seven-day founding beta is a starter workflow, not a promise that reintroduction will finish in seven days.
Named sources
- Rodan et al. (2024), AAFP Intercat Tension Guidelines, Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, DOI 10.1177/1098612X241263465.
- FelineVMA/AAFP Step-by-Step Guide for introducing cats, 2024 caregiver handout.
Use the narrow tool for the narrow situation
Who the self-check is—and is not—for.
The free self-check is designed for adults in the United States managing exactly two cats who can maintain secure separation. It returns a current stage, one blocker, and one next-24-hour educational action.
It is not for emergencies, wounds, unresolved health changes, households that cannot separate safely, or situations involving more than two cats. It is not veterinary diagnosis, treatment, medication advice, or individualized behavior care.