Blanket or no blanket for visuals?

[saharahoshi]

I'm sorry if people are sick of me posting, heck I'm sick of me posting, long story short, we're in month 8 of cat intros and we've moved on to visuals because at this point, it's been 8 months and we've had two behaviorists - one of whom's a vet say it's worth a shot. Long storm short 1.5 year old neutered male and 10 year old female had two tiffs because 1.5 year old male escaped kitty base camp twice (my kitty son is very athletic), behaviorists think it was an age thing - he wants to play she doesn't, etc. etc.

At this point, when we do the blanket neither one has any interest in seeing in the other to the point where she hides and he's under the bed. I've read the CatSite, "How to Successfully Introduce Cats" and "When Cat Intros Go Wrong Articles," I've also gotten some great advice and I do like the idea of ArtNJ's spider analogy/desensitization, I'm just wondering if the blanket method is enough or we need to let them fully see each other, IDK I guess that's why I'm asking? We've been doing it slowly so far, an hour - then two hours, and slowly increasing the time as well as pulling back the blanket, but so far we're on two hours --- maybe I'll be yelled at for being impatient, I'm just trying to figure out how far is too far and how slow is too slow....

 

[maggie101]

Late joiner. No longer use the blanket so they can check each other out from a distance. Clicker train the 1.5 yr old to come when called when she is in the playing mood and will bother the older cat which is mostly before meal mid day and night. Be sure the older cat has place she can jump high then she is the dominant cat. No hiding places then she will be trapped if found so lots of places for her to jump,even furniture.. after dinner my cat Maggie is the most playful so I do not play with her at night or she's more wild. I usually lock her out first 5 minutes then let her in my bedroom

 

[maggie101]

The purrfect leather bouncer is the purfect wand toy to distract Maggie because I can shake it fast on the ground. It lasted 3 years. Lots of chew toys. I admit,not the most attractive,but it works

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G90773S/?tag=thecatsite

 

[ArtNJ]

The idea with the blanket is to use it (ie slowly lift it up day by day) if going to visual all at once proves too big of a step and one or both cats kind of loses it, not eating, pulling out its hair, or whatnot. If they are mostly ignoring each other than by definition the step is not too stressful and may not be doing any work at all. So I agree with maggie101 - remove the blanket.

All of that said, mostly ignoring each other isn't a bad thing. Hopefully they continue to do that with the blanket up. As always though, some hissing and growling is ok. Heck, even attacking the barrier isn't such a big deal. Thats what its there for.

 

[maggie101]

Luckily, my cats are adult so Maggie can no longer hide then pounce on peaches. This is my fav pic. Peaches tail would poof out big.

 

[saharahoshi]

Welp we tried it and our 1.5 year old immediate made a dash for the barrier to try to pounce no hissing or growling, not sure if he just wants to play or what.

 

[ArtNJ]

Welp we tried it and our 1.5 year old immediate made a dash for the barrier to try to pounce no hissing or growling, not sure if he just wants to play or what.

Either way, thats what the barrier is there for, to prevent aggression or stop play attempts before the older one is ready, so its all good. Better than ignoring the blanket.

 

[saharahoshi]

This is a dumb question but is it play aggression if my cat is like ninja quiet when he goes to pounce? He doesn't hiss or poof his tail he just beeline for her. He is neutered, no health issues (we just went to the vet) and we play with him a ton. Could it be an age thing? He's not even 2.

 

[ArtNJ]

This is a dumb question but is it play aggression if my cat is like ninja quiet when he goes to pounce? He doesn't hiss or poof his tail he just beeline for her. He is neutered, no health issues (we just went to the vet) and we play with him a ton. Could it be an age thing? He's not even 2.

Most likley. There is usually a ton of noise with cats perceived as threats/enemies. Silent stalking is for real prey, or play with other cats. Mostly, anyway, and that would certainly be my assumption with a cat this young. That certainly does make a huge difference. Cats under two are notorious for wanting to play-play-play without any regard to what another cat wants.