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"Yes we have 2 gates and plenty of blankets. I know the gates are a pain, but I know it is not the whole day, so not a problem. Opening and shutting the door is easier of course." - Great.Hi! Thanks for the reply.
Yes we have 2 gates and plenty of blankets. I know the gates are a pain, but I know it is not the whole day, so not a problem. Opening and shutting the door is easier of course. But we plan to stack the gates and hang around there so that we can see what is going on. I figure we need to time it so that Penny is around (she spends most of the day asleep on my bed) or the whole gate this is useless, as she won't be seeing him.
How long do we allow them to "see" each other per day? How do we start?
It sounds to me like we put up the gates with just a hint at the floor of open room so they can see but not directly. Then gradually move up the blanket?
Sorry for all the dumb questions.... I am just so new to this. Tyson was my first ever cat and I loved him for 13 years. So having a new one, Penny, to get used to and now Bean has been hard. I won't lie and say this is easy and we are doing just fine and this is a piece of cake. It is stressful and feels never ending (much like 2020) but we are doing ok and really willing to try to make it work. I am blessed to have a husband that is willing to work with me too. We all need someone to support our crazy...
Thanks all... Much appreciated help!
" But we plan to stack the gates and hang around there so that we can see what is going on." - Exactly. We will want human oversight with the gates up.
" I figure we need to time it so that Penny is around (she spends most of the day asleep on my bed) or the whole gate this is useless, as she won't be seeing him." - We want to do this during feeding sessions to begin with. So we'll put the gates up, put the blanket over them. And then feed. And each day or two life the blanket an inch or so and distract as needed. So we will want Penny to be eating and focused on the food and Bean doing the same. Then we end it. Get Penny back to the rest of the house and take the gates down and close the door.
"How long do we allow them to "see" each other per day?" - Just for the feeding to begin with. We will use the food as the distrction and using words.
" How do we start?" - We want to do this during feeding sessions to begin with. So we'll put the gates up, put the blanket over them. And then feed. And each day or two life the blanket an inch or so and distract as needed. So we will want Penny to be eating and focused on the food and Bean doing the same. Then we end it. Get Penny back to the rest of the house and take the gates down and close the door.
"It sounds to me like we put up the gates with just a hint at the floor of open room so they can see but not directly. Then gradually move up the blanket?" - Yes, gradually move the blanket up over days. Using the food and other distraction to get them focused on the food rather than each other. To create a positive association and positive encounter. If your spouse is capable and wants to I would have one person with each cat to distract as needed. If only one person will be doing it then I would have that person with Penny and distract as needed,
"Sorry for all the dumb questions.... I am just so new to this." - No need to apologize and they are not dumb at all. Great questions.
"Tyson was my first ever cat and I loved him for 13 years. So having a new one, Penny, to get used to and now Bean has been hard. - "Yes. We never replace our loved ones we only add more love to our heart with the new cats.
"I won't lie and say this is easy and we are doing just fine and this is a piece of cake." - It rarely is but your situation is totally normal.
" It is stressful and feels never ending (much like 2020) but we are doing ok and really willing to try to make it work." - Great. It can be stressful but don't worry. There are many more difficult things we face. This should not be high on the stress creating list. This is totally doable.
" I am blessed to have a husband that is willing to work with me too. We all need someone to support our crazy..." - That is very helpful. I often work with people whose husbands are not helpful and are unhelpful in many cases so that is very helpful.
All this takes is knowledge and effort. I have the knowledge and if you put in the effort things will be fine. I would re-orient my thinking that the process does take time but everything we do is with the cats best interests as well as the humans. Just accept it is a process and don't worry. I will let you know when to "worry". Each cat will be fine with what we do. And doing ti right will help get them intro'd faster.
Just ask any questions or for clarifications. Hopefully the above gives a good idea of what we want to do for the next step. Maybe start the gates next weekend?