And so it begins... new kitty comes home and her highness is not amused

Mamanyt1953

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Avoidance is not always a bad thing! At least there are no fights. You're doing fine, and the cats are adjusting.
 
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ladytimedramon

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I'll be a wreck at work tomorrow.

In my insomnia induced state I checked and Delilah is in her cat tree while Fancy is in my recliner... sleeping off more stolen treats. I discovered those when I stepped on the wrapper.
 
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ladytimedramon

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So far so good (knock on wood).

Another food issue popping up. Miss Chunkybutt (Delilah) discovered the bowl with Fancy's kibble. I'm going to probably wind up putting pate in Fancy's timed feeder because Delilah still won't touch it. Fancy, in general, is starting to prefer the food Delilah eats. Go figure.

And as to calling Delilah "Miss Chunkybutt", I found a pic of Delilah after I adopted her in April 2020.

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And now...

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I've also discovered Fancy likes little plush bird toys. I don't know if color or size. She ignores the larger red bird in favor of 2 small brown ones. But she's a kicker. I saw her sit on the toy then kick it. Which is kind of weird to me because Delilah never did that.

Right now BOTH girls are on the bed with me. Delilah on one side, Fancy on the other (about 4 feet away from each other). I hate to get up and disturb them. But I need to go make breakfast.

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rubysmama

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Miss Delilah does look like she has a little extra "junk in her trunk". ;)

How precious, that they're both on the bed with you. :hearthrob::hearthrob:
 

Mamanyt1953

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Beds can become real areas for territorial issues, because of all places in your house, the bed smells most like YOU. The fact that they are peacefully sharing that space with you says that you have done a fine job of introducing these guys.

As for your "Miss Chunkybutt," I refer to Hekitty as "my furry little soccer ball," and tell people that she does not have a primordial pouch, she has a primordial duffle bag.
 
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ladytimedramon

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Beds can become real areas for territorial issues, because of all places in your house, the bed smells most like YOU. The fact that they are peacefully sharing that space with you says that you have done a fine job of introducing these guys.
Thanks. I wish it was more peaceful.

Things I've discovered over the last couple of days:
- Delilah is more hissy and swatty in the mornings. She wouldn't let Fancy near her or the bed in the morning.
- Delilah will, on occasion, try to pounce Fancy (caught her doing it yesterday. Fancy can't directly jump on the bed if Delilah is there. She has to go on the opposite side of the bed.
- Fancy, even if she has food in her bowl, will check Delilah's and lick it clean.

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That's Delilah's bowl. I'm back to feeding her in the tree.

- Fancy will jump on the kitchen counter. Delilah never does. This morning when I went into the kitchen I saw a container that I'd put on the counter was on the floor. There had been a couple of pieces of leftover chicken in it when I put it there. I wasn't making breakfast fast enough and she jumped on the counter. I growled NO, grabbed her and put her on the floor.

I've said that Delilah has spoiled me for all future kitties. Fancy does a lot of stuff that Delilah doesn't.

Today is officially 1 month with Fancy. Look at the difference a month makes:

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rubysmama

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What an amazing difference. :hearthrob:

I think things will improve once Fancy gets over her food insecurity issues. As I've mentioned Ruby was food obsessed when I adopted her. She wanted, and searched out food ALL THE TIME. I once left a muffin paper on the counter, just long enough to go into another room to eat it, and when I came back, the wrapper was gone! Since I didn't find it anywhere, it could only have been in Ruby's stomach. :rolleyes3:

I had to never leave food unattended on the counter or stove top, because I couldn't trust that she wouldn't jump up to investigate. It did take months, but eventually that food obsession went away. And though I can't say she never jumps on the counter these days, I don't think she does, and certainly not for food. Course I'm vegetarian, so maybe she just doesn't find my food choices appealing. :lol:

Even though you wish it was better, you're doing a great job. Hissy and swatty is ok, as they're not friends yet. But there's been no fur flying or bloodshed, which there would be if they were mortal enemies.

You on Christmas break now? If so, that'll give you lots of time to spend with both your girls. :hearthrob::hearthrob:
 

Mamanyt1953

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Yeah, it's going to take Fancy a bit to really understand that she will be fed regularly...and looking again at those two photos, I can so understand her food issues! She starved for so long!
 

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So now that the kitten has a clean Bill if health can you lock your not amused resident cat in your bedroom & let the new comer out for half the day? That way they can start smelling each other, your new cat won’t get such bad cabin fever & both cats can start owning your place. Expect it to take months. When introducing adult cats, slow is the way to go.

About the food, kitten food will help her gain weight. Even kitten dry food. Now if she just dislikes your dry food, blue Buffalo wilderness (& other dry foods) come in salmon flavor. My tuna obsessed boy loves to visit his brother & pig out on the dry food there. Weirdly enough eating more wet food rarely if ever will give a cat the runs but changing dry food or eating more of it can give your cat the runs. Whatever food changes you make, I suggest gradual ones. (Wet food instead of dry can help your plumper cat loose weight.) When my boy was a kitten I stuck him on daily probiotics for 3 months and it helped with his occasional runs from pigging out on dry food. (Now when he visits, all the cats get an extra meal & no one gets the runs.) Oh and my boy gets fed 2 fancy feast cans a day and a tiny amount of dry food. He really only needs the 2 cans calorie wise but I was never able to get him completely off dry food. He gets 4 meals a day since I’m home all day (& cats are grazers.) Your vet can help you calculate how many calories per day, each cat needs; based on their weight.
 

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The food issue thing sounds a lot like my new cat Kirby that I adopted in late September- He eats 2 cans of Fancy Feast pate a day plus a 1/2 cup of dry food - around 400 calories a day! When I first adopted him, he would suck down wet food in less than a minute and eat all his dry food at once. I tried an automatic dry food feeder at one point which gave small amounts at a time. He’d eat every last piece and then tried to reach his paws in and try to break into it. Then he would go for my resident cat’s dry food (I was using an auto feeder for her too, but she’s a bit of a grazer). He must have thought I was starving him! As I found out later, he had giardia and I had to quarantine him for a bit, so he was quite thin - 9.6 lbs. at the vet and he‘s a long boy with very long legs.

I think he’s starting to slow down and we are month 3 with him. He now usually has a thin layer of dry food left in the morning and doesn’t bother my other cat’s food anymore. He was 9.6 lbs. at the vet in October and now is about 11 lbs. when I weigh him at home. I am hoping to taper him off the dry food eventually. He’s getting a bit chunky.

Good luck with Fancy!
 
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ladytimedramon

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What an amazing difference. :hearthrob:

I think things will improve once Fancy gets over her food insecurity issues. As I've mentioned Ruby was food obsessed when I adopted her. She wanted, and searched out food ALL THE TIME. I once left a muffin paper on the counter, just long enough to go into another room to eat it, and when I came back, the wrapper was gone! Since I didn't find it anywhere, it could only have been in Ruby's stomach. :rolleyes3:
Sounds like Fancy finding the treat bags in my room. Thankfully she left the bags...

You on Christmas break now? If so, that'll give you lots of time to spend with both your girls. :hearthrob::hearthrob:
Thank goodness yes. The last 3 weeks have been nightmarish. But now I have errands and doctors appointments, so I'm trying to get in as much time as I can.

Yeah, it's going to take Fancy a bit to really understand that she will be fed regularly...and looking again at those two photos, I can so understand her food issues! She starved for so long!
What I find weird is that the rescue said she was 6 pounds. I wonder if she was 6 when she was turned into the shelter, then wasn't eating much when they were just feeding her kibble there and at the rescue. When I brought her home I gave her some of the kibble they were giving her and she barely ate it.

So now that the kitten has a clean Bill if health can you lock your not amused resident cat in your bedroom & let the new comer out for half the day? That way they can start smelling each other, your new cat won’t get such bad cabin fever & both cats can start owning your place. Expect it to take months. When introducing adult cats, slow is the way to go.
:lolup:

Fancy had her own ideas. In retrospect I should have named her Trixie. I wound up taking the gate down. For the most part they are coexisting. As long as Fancy doesn't get too close or surprise her, Delilah is fine.

About the food, kitten food will help her gain weight. Even kitten dry food. Now if she just dislikes your dry food, blue Buffalo wilderness (& other dry foods) come in salmon flavor. My tuna obsessed boy loves to visit his brother & pig out on the dry food there. Weirdly enough eating more wet food rarely if ever will give a cat the runs but changing dry food or eating more of it can give your cat the runs. Whatever food changes you make, I suggest gradual ones. (Wet food instead of dry can help your plumper cat loose weight.) When my boy was a kitten I stuck him on daily probiotics for 3 months and it helped with his occasional runs from pigging out on dry food. (Now when he visits, all the cats get an extra meal & no one gets the runs.) Oh and my boy gets fed 2 fancy feast cans a day and a tiny amount of dry food. He really only needs the 2 cans calorie wise but I was never able to get him completely off dry food. He gets 4 meals a day since I’m home all day (& cats are grazers.) Your vet can help you calculate how many calories per day, each cat needs; based on their weight.
I try to avoid fish when I can. Delilah gets looser and smellier stools. Fancy definitely prefers wet to kibble - she only eats the kibble if she's really hungry (she seems to like the Fromm). But I can't leave her much kibble now that the gate is down, because Delilah likes the Fromm kibble too. I want to get Delilah off the kibble, which should work with the new feeders. I'll deactivate the kibble drops, but leave the feeder in case I'm running late (like a late day at school).

My concern is going to be how to keep Fancy out of Delilah's wet feeder. I can put pate in Fancy's because Delilah won't touch it, but Fancy has tried going for Delilah's plate a couple of times.

Delilah is at her crankiest in the morning (like mother like daughter :flail:). That's when she's doing the most hissing and swatting.

Fancy has an ear infection. Getting the ear wash in is fun (NOT!). She also has an irritation on her neck. The beastie band that I got her had a metal rivet that wasn't fit properly and had a piece sticking up. Fancy licked off her fur. Now she has an antibiotic ointment for the irritation, but she doesn't mind that as much since I'm rubbing her neck. At the vet she was 6.3 pounds. He said 8 pounds is a good weight for her.

There has been some progress. Fancy was already on my bed when Delilah jumped up. Instead of hissing immediately, Delilah sniffed her nose, sniffed a couple of places, then hissed and moved away about a foot. They stayed that way for about 15 min before one of them decided to go elsewhere. And then about a half hour later Delilah was hissing and swatting.

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ladytimedramon

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Thanks everyone 😽

I'm running into one problem.

Food on both parts.

And I know a solution but it's not available.

Like I've said before, Delilah needs to lose weight and Fancy needs to gain. I've caught Delilah in Fancy's kibble, and I've caught Fancy licking out Delilah's bowl.

Normally I feed Delilah on the cat tree and Fancy in the kitchen on the floor. This morning my back went out. I couldn't bend to put Fancy's plate down. So I put it on one of the lower shelves of the cat tree. And it seemed to work.

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I thought that might work. Dinner time I gave Delilah her portion and I made a larger portion of pate for Fancy because Delilah NEVER eats pate.

Or so I thought.

I went into another room to take care of something. Came back to catch Delilah eating up the pate. 😖

I haven't started the new timed feeders because I don't know where I can put them and keep them out of each other's food. I would get a microchip feeder, BUT they'll eat the whole thing at once as soon as they get it. When I adopted Delilah I caught her eating up everything as soon as it was out.

What I REALLY need is a combination microchip and timed feeder. The Surefeed microchip feeder can be opened any time and doesn't limit portions.

Otherwise I have no idea how to keep them out of each other's food.
 

Mamanyt1953

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UM...let me think on this. Maybe someone knows of something and can get back quicker, but I'll do some searching.
 

rubysmama

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Otherwise I have no idea how to keep them out of each other's food.
I totally understand how that would be difficult to figure out as, of course, they'll both want the food they're not supposed to eat. I'm sure other cat parents have had this issue before. Maybe post a new thread in the Cat Nutrition so that different members might see it and post with suggestions.
 
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