After success at 1st steps of cat introduction: face to face hissing

[SarahKitty&Pablano]

I see so many cat introduction threads but none of them really seemed applicable to my situation. I’m sorry if this post is redundant.

Resident kitty is a rescue. Kitty. 2.5 years old. I have had her for 6 months. She is the cuddle baby perfect girl. She was surrendered by her previous family without explanation.

New cat. Pablano. Rescue. 11 months old. He was found in an abandoned apartment with terrible eye infections and nearly lost his eyes. His vision isn’t great now. He’s shy but coming around. He purrs and loves scratches but doesn’t cuddle. The rescue wanted him to be adopted into a home with cat(s) because he loves other cats but had not bonded to anyone at the rescue.

After the initial steps of the introduction my resident kitty never hissed or reacted in anyway to the new kittys smells. She had no reaction to site swapping. She smelled everything but no hissing or distress at all.

So we moved forward with face to face meeting through the door. Resident kitty was relaxed and slow blinking and cat loafing. She ate her snacks and didn’t appear in distress. So we moved forward.

Face to face in the same room and my resident cat is hissing and growling at new cat. She swatted at him once. New kitty is curious but definitely backs down and is not forcing himself upon her. He goes out of his way to walk around her while still exploring. He doesn’t hiss at her. He doesn’t make eye contact for more than a moment or two.

So now what do I do? Since resident cat is still hissing should new cat go back into his safe space? How long should I wait to try again? I have videos but this forum won’t let me attach them.

 

[Raspberrufluff]

Hi, I'm in the middle of this, too. The main thing to remember is it's a process and some days might be better than others. Hissing, swatting and growling are all normal. How is the body language during this? Is it just a 'hey, keep away' or is it 'i want to get at you'. Also, how long does it take for the cats to get back to normal once they've seen each other. You can gauge from that, too. My resident cat is a bit of a hisser anyway but I can tell now whether she's just being sassy or whether she's truly scared. Have you tried distracting the resident and bringing the new cat into the room while they're playing? That can work well. We're at the stage where they're fine in the same room together as long as resident knows she's there, but when resident gets surprised by her, she really doesn't like it. The other day she slow blinked at her and last night she hissed and swatted. It's quite hard not to bring your human emotions to it, but as long as no-one's hurt and behaving normally afterward, and you're building positive associations with play and treats / food, you're getting there. It's a process.

 

[SarahKitty&Pablano]

Her body language when she is watching him is 90% cat loaf. She only entered a pounce position once (the one time she swatted at him) Her pupils are dilated as she watches him explore.
But last night she got into her bed to take a nap while he was still exploring the room. He ended up wandering a little too close to her so she woke up to stare him down some more. That’s when I separated them again and took him to his safe space so she could sleep.
She gets back to normal immediately upon his exit from the room. He stays the same because he really isn’t affected by her at all. If anything he likes her but never tries to play.
Resident cat can’t be distracted with play. I have definitely tried that. She did let me brush her though.

Thank you so so much for your replies. I love my cat so much I just don’t want her to hate her life with the new cat.