- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #41
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2020
- Messages
- 37
- Purraise
- 74
It seems more like Trudie testing Charmin than wanting to play. Trudie has responded to the hissing by getting loud a few times but also backing away right after. My husband feels confident that Trudie would back down quickly if there was a spat where we didn’t intervene immediately. Their ears have not been down, no crouching, etc. I feel much better and less anxious than when I first posted. I still can’t envision them just chilling in the same room without careful supervision, but I’m trying to look at all of the progress they’ve made.Fantastic. GREAT job!!
30-40 minutes is really, really great.
And what is even better this - "We have paused to see what happens. They watch each other but are pretty easy to redirect.". The fact they don;t immediately go at each other shows trust has been built AND the fact they choose the distraction over the other cat is another great sign.
"Charmin seems to have no interest in chasing Trudie. Trudie’s body language seems pretty relaxed, but I still get the feeling if we don’t distract, she will charge." - Yes, probably. BUT that is why we distract and as Trudie doesn't charge (it builds Charmin's confidence) and as Charmin gets more confident it will discourage Trudie. Do you get a sense the charge is more of a play thing? Or a test of Charmin?
"When she moves too close to Charmin, Charmin will give just the tiniest hiss." - How does Trudie react to the hiss? Respects it? Or gets more aggressive and escalates the situation? Hissing is communication and a part of the intro process so it can be really helpful to teach the other cat acceptable boundaries.
"but I’m not comfortable trying it just yet." - I agree and would just keep doing what you are doing. The more they are together without incident the more trust and confidence is built. And the more trust and confident the less they will feel the need to defend or "eliminate" the other "threat".
You are doing an absolutely fantastic job. I am not at all worried, they are going to be intro'd. Not sure if it is next week or a few weeks but all sign point to success.
Keep watching their body language, keep doing what you are doing, and please update us and ask anything. Everything sounds great, keep up the great work!!