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- Jul 5, 2018
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Hi! Hoping to get some insight into this specific cat introduction. I've read and re-read the articles but I'm kind of paralyzed on next steps.
Cast of characters (all are spayed/neutered):
Marple does not care as long as she has food. She'll zero in on food and ignore everything else (not ideal, but workable) and generally prefers to be left alone. Radish, unfortunately, is the slow adjuster in the equation. He is such a sweet and loving boy around humans, even total strangers, but he does not like seeing ʻUlu at all. Radish has made progress, but we seem to be a bit stuck. Radish used to growl just after smelling ʻUlu, but he hasn't done that for a month now. When we did territory swapping, Radish explored and then went to sleep. We had one negative incident a few weeks ago where Radish jumped the baby gate we had up for visual encounter purposes and went after ʻUlu, growling and trying to slap him. ʻUlu was very shaken by that and hid for about a week after, but has since gone back to normal. We've let Radish and ʻUlu play footsie with each other under the door for the past week, and Radish seems to like that. He's been clicker trained for tricks and stuff, so this past weekend I had the door open with my body blocking the crack and did tricks with Radish outside. Radish was glancing over at ʻUlu but it took a good 5-10 minutes for him to get tense and growl. Then, last night, I carried ʻUlu out into the hallway and let Radish see him. Radish looked up and seemed intrigued but showed no signs of aggression whatsoever--tail up, following me around, pupils relaxed.
So I will admit that after last night I got cocky and left the bedroom door open a crack this morning while I was scooping ʻUlu's litterbox and changing his water. Radish shouldered his way in and went right for ʻUlu, growling and trying to slap him. ʻUlu ducked right into his favorite hiding/nap spot right away (one of those particle board shoe shelves) and I grabbed a towel and used it to block Radish's access to ʻUlu and herd Radish out. Radish went, but he was growling the whole way out. He did try to get around the towel once but seemed to be deterred pretty easily. ʻUlu did not seem as traumatized as he was the last time Radish had a go at him--he came right out of his shoeshelf once Radish was out of the room and rubbed up on me purring.
So we've had two Feliway Multicats plugged in for almost 30 days, and we've got good sized pieces of those scented calming Sentry collars zip-tied to both Radish and ʻUlu's breakaway collars. My husband suggested that Radish may be jealous of how much time I spend with ʻUlu, so I've been making an effort to play more with Radish and not spend as long of a time with ʻUlu, but I admit I am not consistent (especially because I feel like I have to spend time with ʻUlu because of his seclusion). So now, six weeks in, it seems we've got a new cat who seems to be a good fit for temperament, and who is a total sweetheart on top of that; and a young resident cat who is adjusting poorly to visual sighting of the new cat. It's weird because Radish seems fine unless he actually sees ʻUlu on level ground. I was wondering if maybe Radish was reacting poorly to residual hormones since ʻUlu was neutered in early August (and his pee definitely smelled like he had hormones going), but I think they should have run their course by now. Radish and ʻUlu are also very close in size (Radish is fluffy but on the small side for a boy--taller than Marple but they weigh about the same, and I think ʻUlu may be taller than Radish already), so I am also wondering if Radish feels uncomfortable with ʻUlu's size. Introducing Radish to Marple just hasn't been a comparable experience since Marple is relatively easy going and Radish was just a tiny kitten at the time.
Should I go back to feeding them on opposite sides of the baby gate for a couple more weeks? How do I know when Radish is ready? I know patience is key and I don't want to rush Radish, but I do wish ʻUlu could come out; he has grown to love to play and I heard him crying in his own way behind the door yesterday (he meows very rarely; he mostly communicates with cute little burbling trills, and the burbly crying noise he was making was just so sad to hear). He is also getting a little chubby, probably from being cooped up in his room (I go in to give him a good play session after work and try to play at least twice a day on weekends, but that and my husband's own visits still aren't making up for not being able to wander around the house at his leisure). Someone has suggested it might be time to just leave the door open, but ʻUlu is truly a sweet boy who hasn't shown any aggression or willingness to defend himself, and I would hate to inflict Radish on him when he just doesn't want to fight. Any thoughts on what might be a good next step are welcome!
Radish, the problem child
Marple, does not care
Sweet ʻUlu, and his favorite toy
Cast of characters (all are spayed/neutered):
- Marple: ~5yo DSH female torby. Cares mostly about food, very patient and tolerant. Will hiss if she feels like her boundaries are being pushed but rarely lashes out; prefers to run and hide until whatever bugs her has passed. We've had her for about 3 years.
- Radish: 1.5yo DMH male brown mackerel tabby. EXTREMELY needy, very active, loves to play. Kind of more dog-like in his behaviors. If we don't tire him out first, his favorite toy is Marple (she doesn't mind chasing, but she despises wrestling). We've had him since he was 2 months old.
- ʻUlu: 8.5 month old DMH male orange tabby. Reportedly trapped alone in early August in an urban location with known cat colonies. Stub tail. He is a lover, not a fighter, and absolutely sweet once he came out of his shell. I've never been the recipient of such frequent head butts until him. We've had him for about 6 weeks. He was neutered around August 5. He's been secluded in the spare bedroom since we brought him home.
Marple does not care as long as she has food. She'll zero in on food and ignore everything else (not ideal, but workable) and generally prefers to be left alone. Radish, unfortunately, is the slow adjuster in the equation. He is such a sweet and loving boy around humans, even total strangers, but he does not like seeing ʻUlu at all. Radish has made progress, but we seem to be a bit stuck. Radish used to growl just after smelling ʻUlu, but he hasn't done that for a month now. When we did territory swapping, Radish explored and then went to sleep. We had one negative incident a few weeks ago where Radish jumped the baby gate we had up for visual encounter purposes and went after ʻUlu, growling and trying to slap him. ʻUlu was very shaken by that and hid for about a week after, but has since gone back to normal. We've let Radish and ʻUlu play footsie with each other under the door for the past week, and Radish seems to like that. He's been clicker trained for tricks and stuff, so this past weekend I had the door open with my body blocking the crack and did tricks with Radish outside. Radish was glancing over at ʻUlu but it took a good 5-10 minutes for him to get tense and growl. Then, last night, I carried ʻUlu out into the hallway and let Radish see him. Radish looked up and seemed intrigued but showed no signs of aggression whatsoever--tail up, following me around, pupils relaxed.
So I will admit that after last night I got cocky and left the bedroom door open a crack this morning while I was scooping ʻUlu's litterbox and changing his water. Radish shouldered his way in and went right for ʻUlu, growling and trying to slap him. ʻUlu ducked right into his favorite hiding/nap spot right away (one of those particle board shoe shelves) and I grabbed a towel and used it to block Radish's access to ʻUlu and herd Radish out. Radish went, but he was growling the whole way out. He did try to get around the towel once but seemed to be deterred pretty easily. ʻUlu did not seem as traumatized as he was the last time Radish had a go at him--he came right out of his shoeshelf once Radish was out of the room and rubbed up on me purring.
So we've had two Feliway Multicats plugged in for almost 30 days, and we've got good sized pieces of those scented calming Sentry collars zip-tied to both Radish and ʻUlu's breakaway collars. My husband suggested that Radish may be jealous of how much time I spend with ʻUlu, so I've been making an effort to play more with Radish and not spend as long of a time with ʻUlu, but I admit I am not consistent (especially because I feel like I have to spend time with ʻUlu because of his seclusion). So now, six weeks in, it seems we've got a new cat who seems to be a good fit for temperament, and who is a total sweetheart on top of that; and a young resident cat who is adjusting poorly to visual sighting of the new cat. It's weird because Radish seems fine unless he actually sees ʻUlu on level ground. I was wondering if maybe Radish was reacting poorly to residual hormones since ʻUlu was neutered in early August (and his pee definitely smelled like he had hormones going), but I think they should have run their course by now. Radish and ʻUlu are also very close in size (Radish is fluffy but on the small side for a boy--taller than Marple but they weigh about the same, and I think ʻUlu may be taller than Radish already), so I am also wondering if Radish feels uncomfortable with ʻUlu's size. Introducing Radish to Marple just hasn't been a comparable experience since Marple is relatively easy going and Radish was just a tiny kitten at the time.
Should I go back to feeding them on opposite sides of the baby gate for a couple more weeks? How do I know when Radish is ready? I know patience is key and I don't want to rush Radish, but I do wish ʻUlu could come out; he has grown to love to play and I heard him crying in his own way behind the door yesterday (he meows very rarely; he mostly communicates with cute little burbling trills, and the burbly crying noise he was making was just so sad to hear). He is also getting a little chubby, probably from being cooped up in his room (I go in to give him a good play session after work and try to play at least twice a day on weekends, but that and my husband's own visits still aren't making up for not being able to wander around the house at his leisure). Someone has suggested it might be time to just leave the door open, but ʻUlu is truly a sweet boy who hasn't shown any aggression or willingness to defend himself, and I would hate to inflict Radish on him when he just doesn't want to fight. Any thoughts on what might be a good next step are welcome!
Radish, the problem child
Marple, does not care
Sweet ʻUlu, and his favorite toy
