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- Oct 2, 2021
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Hi! Looking for some reassurance and that I’m on the right lines with my cat introduction process as I’m starting to worry that I’m doing something wrong, my resident cat just seems so unhappy.
I’ll explain the background with my resident cat Luna first as I think this might have some bearing on the situation. I’ve had her for 8 years and I adopted her and her brother together, sadly her brother passed away unexpectedly at the start of this year. She coped better than I expected after his passing and but seemed lonely, vocalising a lot and very clingy with me in particular. She recently had seemed to become more territorial in the garden (she has controlled access) and has been getting into fights with the neighbour’s cat which never happened before her brother passed away, I think he kept a lot of other cats out.
My daughter was so devastated at Loki’s passing that so we decided to get a kitten and I also hoped it would give Luna some companionship as she’s never been an only cat. My thinking on getting a kitten is it would make the introduction easier with less territorial issues.
Enter Kallie, our (now) 6 month old kitten. She’s a bundle of fun but has had a lot of health issues which has been very stressful but she’s almost fully recovered now.
-In terms of the introduction I’ve struct quite strictly (I think!) to the process described here and by Jackson galaxy. It has taken us 3 and 1/2 months to get to the point we’re currently at as Luna has just been so unsettled.
-I’ve done site swapping since the first week and I regularly swap round their cat trees/scratching pads and bedding so that both their scents are all over the house. I continue to site swap multiple times a day but Luna hates being shut in anywhere as does Kallie, she meows at the door which freaks Luna out and she hisses and growls when she hears it.
- Luna has the run of the house most of the day if we’re at work or out and Kallie is in her room. She comes out when Luna goes outside and if Luna is sleeping up in one of the bedrooms.
-They both have time with us individually, Kallie loves to play but Luna doesn’t really. I’ve been trying to put more effort into playing with her to build her confidence but often she just watches without much interaction, then she gets fed up and hisses at the toy.
-We did either side of the door feeding which progressed pretty quickly but with the occasional hiss from Luna, Kallie couldn’t care less.
-This progressed to feeding either side of a glass door which was a bit slower but eventually they were eating right up at the door with little to no issues.
-They now have all their main meals in the same room, I’ve been moving the bowls closer together every day and they’re now pretty close. Luna is fine until Kallie seems like she’s about to finish then she gets unsettled and growls a bit, if Kallie looks at her she growls or hisses and then instantly wants to go outside once she’s finished eating. She’s very fearful of having to walk past Kallie to go anywhere other than outside and hisses and growls etc if she feels she needs to get closer than she’d like. The other issue with this is Kallie will try to bolt over and try to steal Luna’s food unless she’s stopped, obviously this doesn’t please Luna at all. I give Luna some dry food on her own sometimes as she wasn’t on a feeding schedule before Kallie arrived and she’s found that hard to adjust to, Kallie can’t have dry food due to her digestion issues.
-I’ve also been giving them
treats in each others presence once a day which goes well, they are both VERY food motivated so they’ll happily eat treats as long as Kallie stays at a reasonable distance. Playing in the same room is not an option really as it just doesn’t hold their attention.
- In terms of physical interactions between them Luna has a couple of times gotten very close to Kallie where she’ll growl/hiss/vocalise loudly but also sniff her between hissing and growling and swipes at her then she runs off. Kallie doesn’t seem to care overly, she backs off when Luna is defensive unless there’s food involved and then she just keeps trying to get at the food.
Since Kallie’s arrival Luna has definitely been more aggressive and fearful in her demeanour. She hisses and growls at visitors, not always but mostly when she wants something like to go out and isn’t getting it straight away. I’m just concerned I’ve made her totally miserable by bringing Kallie into her home and that the process is taking longer than it should. I’m also not sure where to take things from here in terms of integrating them into sharing the house, especially unsupervised as I don’t think Luna is comfortable enough for that yet.
Any advice or reassurance would be so helpful! Thanks
I’ll explain the background with my resident cat Luna first as I think this might have some bearing on the situation. I’ve had her for 8 years and I adopted her and her brother together, sadly her brother passed away unexpectedly at the start of this year. She coped better than I expected after his passing and but seemed lonely, vocalising a lot and very clingy with me in particular. She recently had seemed to become more territorial in the garden (she has controlled access) and has been getting into fights with the neighbour’s cat which never happened before her brother passed away, I think he kept a lot of other cats out.
My daughter was so devastated at Loki’s passing that so we decided to get a kitten and I also hoped it would give Luna some companionship as she’s never been an only cat. My thinking on getting a kitten is it would make the introduction easier with less territorial issues.
Enter Kallie, our (now) 6 month old kitten. She’s a bundle of fun but has had a lot of health issues which has been very stressful but she’s almost fully recovered now.
-In terms of the introduction I’ve struct quite strictly (I think!) to the process described here and by Jackson galaxy. It has taken us 3 and 1/2 months to get to the point we’re currently at as Luna has just been so unsettled.
-I’ve done site swapping since the first week and I regularly swap round their cat trees/scratching pads and bedding so that both their scents are all over the house. I continue to site swap multiple times a day but Luna hates being shut in anywhere as does Kallie, she meows at the door which freaks Luna out and she hisses and growls when she hears it.
- Luna has the run of the house most of the day if we’re at work or out and Kallie is in her room. She comes out when Luna goes outside and if Luna is sleeping up in one of the bedrooms.
-They both have time with us individually, Kallie loves to play but Luna doesn’t really. I’ve been trying to put more effort into playing with her to build her confidence but often she just watches without much interaction, then she gets fed up and hisses at the toy.
-We did either side of the door feeding which progressed pretty quickly but with the occasional hiss from Luna, Kallie couldn’t care less.
-This progressed to feeding either side of a glass door which was a bit slower but eventually they were eating right up at the door with little to no issues.
-They now have all their main meals in the same room, I’ve been moving the bowls closer together every day and they’re now pretty close. Luna is fine until Kallie seems like she’s about to finish then she gets unsettled and growls a bit, if Kallie looks at her she growls or hisses and then instantly wants to go outside once she’s finished eating. She’s very fearful of having to walk past Kallie to go anywhere other than outside and hisses and growls etc if she feels she needs to get closer than she’d like. The other issue with this is Kallie will try to bolt over and try to steal Luna’s food unless she’s stopped, obviously this doesn’t please Luna at all. I give Luna some dry food on her own sometimes as she wasn’t on a feeding schedule before Kallie arrived and she’s found that hard to adjust to, Kallie can’t have dry food due to her digestion issues.
-I’ve also been giving them
treats in each others presence once a day which goes well, they are both VERY food motivated so they’ll happily eat treats as long as Kallie stays at a reasonable distance. Playing in the same room is not an option really as it just doesn’t hold their attention.
- In terms of physical interactions between them Luna has a couple of times gotten very close to Kallie where she’ll growl/hiss/vocalise loudly but also sniff her between hissing and growling and swipes at her then she runs off. Kallie doesn’t seem to care overly, she backs off when Luna is defensive unless there’s food involved and then she just keeps trying to get at the food.
Since Kallie’s arrival Luna has definitely been more aggressive and fearful in her demeanour. She hisses and growls at visitors, not always but mostly when she wants something like to go out and isn’t getting it straight away. I’m just concerned I’ve made her totally miserable by bringing Kallie into her home and that the process is taking longer than it should. I’m also not sure where to take things from here in terms of integrating them into sharing the house, especially unsupervised as I don’t think Luna is comfortable enough for that yet.
Any advice or reassurance would be so helpful! Thanks