Hi everyone! I'm a long-time TCS visitor and I finally decided to create an account because of my current situation with introducing two female cats.
We researched and researched using resources here on TCS, Jackson Galaxy, other cat blogs, success/fail stories, etc. We followed the steps as closely as possible. I'll give as much detail as possible so that you have sufficient info to give advice or reassurance.
Background info:
Resident cat - Carrie, 6 years old, female, been an only pet since she was 5 months old, confident, overall happy cat.
New cat - Bagheera, female, shelter rescue, assumed to be about 2 years old, female, just finished nursing a new litter of kittens before adoption.
We didn't allow Carrie to see Bagheera when we brought her home. We mmediately put Bagheera in our second bedroom with food, litter box, cat toys, cat trees, etc. She was skittish at first and it took a week for her to adjust to her surroundings. During this time Carrie was hissing at the door whenever she would approach the door. Bagheera didn't react to this.
A week later Bagheera was itching to get out, which was great because she had become so much more comfortable! She started sticking her paw under the door (about a 1.5 inch gap) to try to get out. This is when Carrie's hissing escalated to growling.
We began site swapping twice a week, moving Bagheera's base camp and allowing Carrie the rest of the apartment. They still had no visual contact at all. We began feeding them on the other side of the door, starting about 6 feet on either side. Bagheera was eating her food just fine on the other side of the door and Carrie was as well for the most part. She would eat and walk away then come back, repeating this until she was done eating. Carrie was still growling and hissing whenever she approached the door.
Because Carrie was still obviously unhappy with smelling, hearing, and occasionally seeing Bagheera's paw under the door, we decided to close the little gap under the door by putting a piece of cardboard there. So, now Carrie couldn't see Bagheera's paws at all. But, this did nothing to stop her growling and hissing. In fact, it got worse. Carrie was now swatting at the door and growling more than ever whenever Bagheera would paw at the cardboard.
We continued to move their food bowls close to the door until we got about 2 inches away from the door. They both ate their food with no issues, so we started using our pet gate to allow them to see each other while eating. We moved their food bowls back to 6 feet on the other side of the door again. Bagheera was fine and curious about Carrie, but Carrie continued hissing and growling. She would stop mid-bite to hiss whenever Bagheera would look up. We would close the door whenever they were done eating. This continued for 2 weeks until the bowls were about 3 feet on either side of the door with Carrie's hissing and growling barely lessening slightly over time. But, she would still growl whenever she would approach the closed door. So, we started feeding them both treats and playing with them on the other side of the door multiple times a day for positive association.
We thought that maybe Carrie would benefit from seeing Bagheera during other parts of the day, so we started leaving the door open so they could see each other through the gate. Carrie would watch Bagheera and hiss from about 6 feet away. In the beginning whenever Carrie approached the gate, Bagheera wouldn't react. But, as we continued, whenever Carrie would approach the gate, Bagheera would charge at the gate, running into it, making Carrie's growling worse.
There was only one time where they both were sitting calmly about 2 feet on either side of the door for about 2 minutes without any hissing or growling from Carrie. We closed the door immediately after to end on a positive note.
Bagheera accidentally got over the pet gate (the gap between the gates was too high and she slithered through). She immediately ran towards Carrie who was growling and they both stared at each other with their backs arched, tails fluffed and pointed down, and ears flattened. Bagheera lunged at Carrie, but didn't make any contact. We broke them up before it went any further.
Because of that incident, we decided to start back at step 1, keeping them on other sides of a completely closed door and feeding them 6 feet on either side of the door. We have also been using Feliway for about 2 weeks.
It has been over a week since then and Carrie is still hissing, growling, and swatting at Bagheera from the other side of the closed door even when Bagheera is not at the door.
I am afraid that Bagheera now associates Carrie with mostly negative feelings because of all of her hissing and growling, despite our best efforts.
It feels like Carrie will never get used to Bagheera even though we've given her tons of treats, playtime, and pets throughout this whole process. Could it be that she just cannot coexist with another cat?
Any advice? Should we just stick it out? We really don't want to re-home either of them and would like to make this work.
We researched and researched using resources here on TCS, Jackson Galaxy, other cat blogs, success/fail stories, etc. We followed the steps as closely as possible. I'll give as much detail as possible so that you have sufficient info to give advice or reassurance.
Background info:
Resident cat - Carrie, 6 years old, female, been an only pet since she was 5 months old, confident, overall happy cat.
New cat - Bagheera, female, shelter rescue, assumed to be about 2 years old, female, just finished nursing a new litter of kittens before adoption.
We didn't allow Carrie to see Bagheera when we brought her home. We mmediately put Bagheera in our second bedroom with food, litter box, cat toys, cat trees, etc. She was skittish at first and it took a week for her to adjust to her surroundings. During this time Carrie was hissing at the door whenever she would approach the door. Bagheera didn't react to this.
A week later Bagheera was itching to get out, which was great because she had become so much more comfortable! She started sticking her paw under the door (about a 1.5 inch gap) to try to get out. This is when Carrie's hissing escalated to growling.
We began site swapping twice a week, moving Bagheera's base camp and allowing Carrie the rest of the apartment. They still had no visual contact at all. We began feeding them on the other side of the door, starting about 6 feet on either side. Bagheera was eating her food just fine on the other side of the door and Carrie was as well for the most part. She would eat and walk away then come back, repeating this until she was done eating. Carrie was still growling and hissing whenever she approached the door.
Because Carrie was still obviously unhappy with smelling, hearing, and occasionally seeing Bagheera's paw under the door, we decided to close the little gap under the door by putting a piece of cardboard there. So, now Carrie couldn't see Bagheera's paws at all. But, this did nothing to stop her growling and hissing. In fact, it got worse. Carrie was now swatting at the door and growling more than ever whenever Bagheera would paw at the cardboard.
We continued to move their food bowls close to the door until we got about 2 inches away from the door. They both ate their food with no issues, so we started using our pet gate to allow them to see each other while eating. We moved their food bowls back to 6 feet on the other side of the door again. Bagheera was fine and curious about Carrie, but Carrie continued hissing and growling. She would stop mid-bite to hiss whenever Bagheera would look up. We would close the door whenever they were done eating. This continued for 2 weeks until the bowls were about 3 feet on either side of the door with Carrie's hissing and growling barely lessening slightly over time. But, she would still growl whenever she would approach the closed door. So, we started feeding them both treats and playing with them on the other side of the door multiple times a day for positive association.
We thought that maybe Carrie would benefit from seeing Bagheera during other parts of the day, so we started leaving the door open so they could see each other through the gate. Carrie would watch Bagheera and hiss from about 6 feet away. In the beginning whenever Carrie approached the gate, Bagheera wouldn't react. But, as we continued, whenever Carrie would approach the gate, Bagheera would charge at the gate, running into it, making Carrie's growling worse.
There was only one time where they both were sitting calmly about 2 feet on either side of the door for about 2 minutes without any hissing or growling from Carrie. We closed the door immediately after to end on a positive note.
Bagheera accidentally got over the pet gate (the gap between the gates was too high and she slithered through). She immediately ran towards Carrie who was growling and they both stared at each other with their backs arched, tails fluffed and pointed down, and ears flattened. Bagheera lunged at Carrie, but didn't make any contact. We broke them up before it went any further.
Because of that incident, we decided to start back at step 1, keeping them on other sides of a completely closed door and feeding them 6 feet on either side of the door. We have also been using Feliway for about 2 weeks.
It has been over a week since then and Carrie is still hissing, growling, and swatting at Bagheera from the other side of the closed door even when Bagheera is not at the door.
I am afraid that Bagheera now associates Carrie with mostly negative feelings because of all of her hissing and growling, despite our best efforts.
It feels like Carrie will never get used to Bagheera even though we've given her tons of treats, playtime, and pets throughout this whole process. Could it be that she just cannot coexist with another cat?
Any advice? Should we just stick it out? We really don't want to re-home either of them and would like to make this work.
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