- Joined
- Aug 20, 2021
- Messages
- 48
- Purraise
- 35
Hello, I am new to the site and came here looking for advice on introducing two 1yr olds (brother/sister) to my resident 12-year-old male Casper. The backstory for Casper is he was rescued at about nine months after being kept in the basement by his family due to allergies. During his first year with me he had very severe play aggression which resulted in multiple attacks on me, as he was treating me like another cat. I decided to get him a friend so he would learn the difference between me and another cat. Gilbie was introduced to Casper when he was about two. I don’t know how old Gilbie was as he was a rescue as well. Vet estimated five or six. We started with Gilbie being kept separate in his own room and I would do the swap out, But Gilbie was so calm and sweet and Casper was so eager to meet him that I decided to put up double baby gates in the doorway just so he could see the other cat and I could see his reaction. He immediately climbed to the top of the gates and I had to pull him down, but he got away for me climbed up again and jumped right into the room onto the bed. As luck would have it they became BFFs immediately there was no fighting ever. Fast forward three years or so Gilbie died without illness or warning. It was heartbreaking. The next addition did not go as well. The same foster mom said she had a cat she thought would be a match but Cody wasn’t being fostered by her but by a friend of hers because she didn’t have the room and they weren’t completely above board with the information they gave her on his temperament. When I first got Cody and put him in the spare room to begin the introduction process, they hadn’t told us that he would freak out when in a room with a closed door. Afraid he would hurt himself I didn’t have any option at the time and really didn’t know any better, so I let them be together. I was naïvely hoping they would get along as he had before with Gilbie. This was not the case. Although it wasn’t life-threatening to either Cody was more of a leave me alone I don’t have time for you. They also neglected to tell me that he had a heart murmur. It wasn’t severe but I knew it would be difficult to rehome him so I decided to stick it out with him. They never bonded although they learned to tolerate each other for 8 years. This year after 7 months of constant care for kidney failure, I had to let Cody go. Even though his treatments were working and his kidney disease showed some improvement, he developed anemia. Although we knew his treatments would never cure him I was hoping for a few years more with him. But the anemia was fast moving and it was only a few weeks later I had no choice. Casper and Cody didn’t love each other I loved both of them and it broke my heart to say goodbye to Cody who was so sweet with me.
So this time everyone was telling me if I were to get a young cat, I should get two so their playing would allow Casper to do his own thing as an older cat who might not want to play as much or as rough. Enter Loki and Natasha. Their foster parents let me know that they were very shy and we’re hopeful that Casper would help them get over their shyness with people. I did meet them and spent a few hours with them and eventually both of them did come out and interact with me and were very sweet.
I brought them home and set them up in their room. When each carrier came into the house, Casper saw them but there was no hissing or aggression with either of them which I took as a good sign. Casper was very interested in what was behind the door, but they were very shy and would hide a lot. So I wanted to get them used to me and spent a lot of time going in and out of the room. Casper being so curious a few days in on the advice of a foster friend I carried him into the room with me to meet them they did a little sniff noses and that was it and I brought Casper out of the room. I had only caught him hissing under the door once. So I thought it a good sign that he wasn’t looking to be aggressive with them and neither were they. But I got over anxious and read too much into it and a few days later was letting them out in the same space. Because they were so shy they tended to hide most of the day and became more active at night. Since Casper didn’t really see them or interact with them during the day it seemed like things were going well but when they did come out and spent a lot of time in the same space things started to take a turn. Every time they walked by Casper their tails were up but every time he was near them his tail was down. While he wasn’t ears back overtly aggressive he was obviously not happy. When Loki tried to make attempts to play Casper took it negatively and would swat at him not in a playful way scaring Loki who would run and hide. Natasha had a bit of a different response and she actually went after Casper once which surprised me. She would also hide the most but would come out if Loki was out. There was one afternoon during the second week I was trying to play with both Casper and Loki at the same time so that they would have a positive experience together this seemed to go well for a while until I stopped playing with them. Casper went after Loki trying to swat at him multiple times this time Loki was cornered a bit and swatted back. I immediately got Casper away and Loki went back in his room. I started reading up about re-introduction if initial introduction went badly which I had felt I had done by doing it too soon. Which brought me to this site. It’s been a few days of keeping them apart completely again. But it’s hard on the kittens because they’ve been out they don’t like being cooped up as much. Things were good for couple of days I would put Casper in his room and let the kittens out for a while. I’ve been trying to do since swapping with toys and face cloths. I’ve been trying to get them to eat close to the door. And then again tonight Casper was hissing at the door again when I thought things were getting a little better. Also when Casper catches their scent on other items his tail is still lowered. I really want them to get to the point where they all get along, And I’m OK if this takes extra time, but I don’t want the kittens developing aggressive tendencies because so far they’ve been pretty sweet with me and not biting or scratching, I am open to all kinds of advice on how best to do this with more than one cat. I also wouldn’t want them ganging up on him but I’m not sure how to get Casper to understand that they’re trying to play and it’s not the same as it was with Cody. I need to get this right. I work half the week but my shifts are 12 hours. I can come home during my shift for a while. But I don’t want to have to worry about fighting when I’m not home. So I don’t want it to be another they just tolerate each other situation.
So this time everyone was telling me if I were to get a young cat, I should get two so their playing would allow Casper to do his own thing as an older cat who might not want to play as much or as rough. Enter Loki and Natasha. Their foster parents let me know that they were very shy and we’re hopeful that Casper would help them get over their shyness with people. I did meet them and spent a few hours with them and eventually both of them did come out and interact with me and were very sweet.
I brought them home and set them up in their room. When each carrier came into the house, Casper saw them but there was no hissing or aggression with either of them which I took as a good sign. Casper was very interested in what was behind the door, but they were very shy and would hide a lot. So I wanted to get them used to me and spent a lot of time going in and out of the room. Casper being so curious a few days in on the advice of a foster friend I carried him into the room with me to meet them they did a little sniff noses and that was it and I brought Casper out of the room. I had only caught him hissing under the door once. So I thought it a good sign that he wasn’t looking to be aggressive with them and neither were they. But I got over anxious and read too much into it and a few days later was letting them out in the same space. Because they were so shy they tended to hide most of the day and became more active at night. Since Casper didn’t really see them or interact with them during the day it seemed like things were going well but when they did come out and spent a lot of time in the same space things started to take a turn. Every time they walked by Casper their tails were up but every time he was near them his tail was down. While he wasn’t ears back overtly aggressive he was obviously not happy. When Loki tried to make attempts to play Casper took it negatively and would swat at him not in a playful way scaring Loki who would run and hide. Natasha had a bit of a different response and she actually went after Casper once which surprised me. She would also hide the most but would come out if Loki was out. There was one afternoon during the second week I was trying to play with both Casper and Loki at the same time so that they would have a positive experience together this seemed to go well for a while until I stopped playing with them. Casper went after Loki trying to swat at him multiple times this time Loki was cornered a bit and swatted back. I immediately got Casper away and Loki went back in his room. I started reading up about re-introduction if initial introduction went badly which I had felt I had done by doing it too soon. Which brought me to this site. It’s been a few days of keeping them apart completely again. But it’s hard on the kittens because they’ve been out they don’t like being cooped up as much. Things were good for couple of days I would put Casper in his room and let the kittens out for a while. I’ve been trying to do since swapping with toys and face cloths. I’ve been trying to get them to eat close to the door. And then again tonight Casper was hissing at the door again when I thought things were getting a little better. Also when Casper catches their scent on other items his tail is still lowered. I really want them to get to the point where they all get along, And I’m OK if this takes extra time, but I don’t want the kittens developing aggressive tendencies because so far they’ve been pretty sweet with me and not biting or scratching, I am open to all kinds of advice on how best to do this with more than one cat. I also wouldn’t want them ganging up on him but I’m not sure how to get Casper to understand that they’re trying to play and it’s not the same as it was with Cody. I need to get this right. I work half the week but my shifts are 12 hours. I can come home during my shift for a while. But I don’t want to have to worry about fighting when I’m not home. So I don’t want it to be another they just tolerate each other situation.