Another cat introduction thread... again!

[kakers]

At this point we're already pretty comfortable having Koa and Splenda together. They hung out in the guest/gaming room at the same time for a few hours yesterday with no problem just minimal hissing to keep their space. She's probably fine with Orion but we haven't given them as much time together yet.

Bastian has been eating his meals outside her door, and we're able to distract him with treats when we go in and out of her room. Koa isn't thrilled when he's been on her tree but she's getting used to it.

She's happy to have her out in the house time which is great that she feels at home it just means being extra careful opening her door if Bastian isn't contained in another room since she sometimes is right there hoping to come out.

 

[Alldara]

I love all the slow steps you're taking to help them all build comfort.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Me, too, and it certainly appears to be working!

 

[kakers]

So far so good! There was a bit of swatting today. Koa was in my lap and Splenda wanted to be in my lap, too (I'm quite well loved) and though Koa gave her a hiss and a growl, Splenda jumped up anyways so Koa gave her a BIG hiss and a swift swat or two and Splenda jumped back down. Nobody was hurt and now Splenda just knows Koa needs her space.

Koa traded swats with Orion later on, I didn't witness that one but they were walking past each other and neither wanted to be that close. My husband moved Koa away before they had a chance to escalate.

Last night at dinnertime she and Bastian had a short little stare down through the cracked door but neither tried to get through the door so progress!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

YES! And don't forget...MOST of the time, those hisses and swats are nothing more than a heated discussion.

 

[Alldara]

Agree with the above! A growl is likely serious. A hiss is a "back off!" Or "I don't like that!"

 

[kakers]

Yes exactly! That's how cats communicate, so we can expect to have some back and forth while they get used to each other. A cats "please give me space!" May not come across polite but that's all it means.

 

[kakers]

Just the girls, almost getting along lol. Right before this Splenda had run up to the door (since I was headed that way and that's her current home base) and ran right into Koa. She got her nose right up to Koa's to sniff her, too, before Koa said "no thank you." I pretty much trust them together at this point. Koa doesn't want Splenda too close and Splenda gives her space.

Earlier Koa was out when both Splenda and Orion were out so we kept a bit of a closer eye out especially because Orion likes to hang out at the top of the stairs and Koa likes to charge up the stairs and on into her room. There was a little growling between them but nothing major! My husband stepped in to move Orion before he sniffed her butt, which I probably would have let him do cause I suspect when she said no he'd have backed off. But no harm no foul.

Bastian spent some time investigating the tier of one of the cat trees Koa prefers but that's the extent of them for today. We have started to increase play time with him to get his energy out more. My husband likes to keep him away from her door at night cause they swat each other under the door but I just let them be for now. Before long we'll put up the gate for a meal and see how they do being able to see each other.

 

[Alldara]

View attachment 448125

Just the girls, almost getting along lol. Right before this Splenda had run up to the door (since I was headed that way and that's her current home base) and ran right into Koa. She got her nose right up to Koa's to sniff her, too, before Koa said "no thank you." I pretty much trust them together at this point. Koa doesn't want Splenda too close and Splenda gives her space.

Earlier Koa was out when both Splenda and Orion were out so we kept a bit of a closer eye out especially because Orion likes to hang out at the top of the stairs and Koa likes to charge up the stairs and on into her room. There was a little growling between them but nothing major! My husband stepped in to move Orion before he sniffed her butt, which I probably would have let him do cause I suspect when she said no he'd have backed off. But no harm no foul.

Bastian spent some time investigating the tier of one of the cat trees Koa prefers but that's the extent of them for today. We have started to increase play time with him to get his energy out more. My husband likes to keep him away from her door at night cause they swat each other under the door but I just let them be for now. Before long we'll put up the gate for a meal and see how they do being able to see each other.

Sounds lovely. For Bastian's meal I would just ensure to set it back from the gate, and Koa's as well. We often see in introductions people have them right up to the gate. In this case that is a goal to be worked up to.

 

[kakers]

Koa has been a bit grumbly with Splenda when she's out in the house the last couple days, so we haven't let her be out around Orion so much and haven't moved forward with Bastian at all. Grabbed some feliway in case it will help. Right now Koa's chilling on the couch with us and Splenda and she's off and on grumbly that Splenda is also here (in the far side of the couch) and that she's snuggling instead of running around the house but she's doing OK.

 

[kakers]

Today we made the decision to move Koa's home base to the guest room. She gravitates towards it when she's out and had started to have a meal or two in there when previously she would only eat in the office. We moved her bed and tree in so her stuff is in here, as well.

This was a necessary decision both for safety and to move forward introducing her more to Bastian. While he is easy to distract with treats when we're going in and out of the room- she is NOT. I was almost trapped in the office last night cause he was guarding the door and if I tried to open it she went to attack him. The only successful way to distract her was to put a pile of treats on the office chair and have the back of the chair between her and the door.

Our guest room on the other hand has an attached bathroom with 2 doors, so we're able to go in and out with no risk of cats slipping through to each other. We also have the gate from introducing Bastian a couple years ago that is the right size for the guest room door which has a double door so the bars holding it up are too wide for the office door. So far she is content in the guest room.

This set up will also give us a bit more ability to try feeding her and Bastian on opposite sides of the door in a way where we can crack the door open but minimize how much she sees him through it. We will try it out at lunch.

 

[kakers]

Lunch was a success! We put Bastians good near the gate/door and Koa's a ways back. They glanced at each other off and on (more Koa watching him than the other way around) but they both ate with no fuss. After they were both done we waited to see what would happen and Bastian let out a little antagonistic vocalization towards her so we closed up the door. Surprisingly she didn't try to instigate or react which is great!

 

[Alldara]

Wohoo! Great job Bastian and Koa. Give them extra encouragement from me too.

 

[kakers]

Not sure if it's having more human attention in the guest room or the feliway but Koa has been much more relaxed all day. We even were able to let Splenda hang out in there with us and Koa was pretty much ok with it again so yay!

Clearly she was comfy as can be snuggled up with my husband!

Though later she and Bastian were swatting at each other pretty hard under the door. We blocked the crack so they would stop and we'll see how dinner goes.

 

[kakers]

Dinner was a success! Koa didn't look up as frequently at Bastian as she did at lunch and when he finished his food he ran off upstairs instead of bothering her. He did come back not long after she finished and they were both looking to be approaching the gate at the same time so we closed it since they were both done eating. Later they managed to knock the blanket away from the crack under the door and were swatting at each other again so we stuffed it under so it can't be easily knocked loose.

Now it's night time girl time. The boys are in the bedroom with my husband and I'm still awake and have both the girls out. For much of the time Splenda stayed in the family room and Koa stayed in the guest room with me, but she eventually made her way out and I went out to find her just watching Splenda sleep. There's since been a growl here and a hiss there but they're back to giving each other space without much fuss.

 

[Alldara]

K kakers Is there growling when they are swatting under the door? This is a fun game my cats still do. You can stick some toys halfway under the door and they can pull them out together or push them at one another.

 

[kakers]

K kakers Is there growling when they are swatting under the door? This is a fun game my cats still do. You can stick some toys halfway under the door and they can pull them out together or push them at one another.

I'm not honestly sure. I'm 99% sure on Bastians end he's wanting to play, he's a very playful cat. I'm usually on his side of the door though and she can be rather quiet with her growling so I may not notice if she was. I know for sure Bastian loved to play under the door with his late older brother, though. Ultimately it's partly they'd do it at night when we're trying to sleep and it can be very LOUD but also being a double door, there's a latch on top of that door that eventually wiggles loose which can result in the door opening which would present a problem.

If they continue to do well with meals I will try allowing the gated door to be open while distracting Bastian with treats, she if she calms down quickly if he's not reacting back to her.

 

[kakers]

Treats went well and lunch went well! Treat time was the first time she had visual access to him closer up to the door that I was able to completely distract her with the treats and she was more interested in them than in his presence. He did so well, too, at lunch time when he finished his food much sooner and he sat with my husband on the other side of the door, I gave him a couple treats and when she finished I gave them both treats and closed the door. There was the briefest moment where she growled at him but otherwise both were just fine (and Bastian was thrilled! Food! Treats! His favorite things ever! Lol)

 

[kakers]

We were playing with Bastian and Splenda a couple rooms over before kitty dinner time and Koa was trying to reach under the door with the gate so I decided to open the door and see what happened! Bastian came to check her out and she growled but was distracted by a toy. She got a bit worked up at one point and couldn't quite be enticed to eat a treat by the door but she did get distracted more by the tou and eventually Bastian got bored and wandered away and she chased the toy over to where the treat was. She ended up sitting looking out the gate for a minute before Bastian came back and they had a bit of a swatting fest with a side of Koa growling through the gate so I closed the door again. My husband was getting their dinner ready at that point so it was pretty quick after that we put down their dinners and opened the door back up and they were fine!

I suspect this will be similar to when we introduced Bastian and for a good while we left the gate open any time we were home and just let them communicate however they saw fit through the gate since they couldn't truly hurt each other that way.

Also earlier Splenda came to hang out with Koa and I and as usual they were mostly fine. Koa wasn't sure about Splenda being I'm her tree but after grumbling a moment and supervising for a bit she got bored and curled back up in a chair and went back to sleep.

 

[kakers]

So far so good today. I'm keeping her door open for now to see how it goes. There's been moments but nothing major! Even Orion walked past, completely ignored her, and she became alert and went closer to the gate to watch him a little. They have the least interaction cause his routine doesn't take him near her room as often.

Bastian is antagonizing a bit but they're working it out. I had to get her playing when he wasn't at the door to get her to keep playing when he was watching but it worked!

We went from that to a few minutes later Bastian running by the gate and crounchung behind the door which agitated her and him reaching a paw under and her saying "oh heck to the NO!" With some hissing and swatting back. He kept delicately reaching his paw under and she started just staring at him and he got bored so they were just watching each other. I carefully went to pet her and she did her signature plop. Even looking back at me if I stopped petting to get more pets.

I can tell she's a bit nervous but overall not so bad, nobody is trying to kill each other through the gate. I really hope she learns Bastian just wants to play and he learns to play with her nicely. But I will be happy with peaceful coexistence!