I really need ideas - help - anything!
My mother died 2 weeks ago, leaving a sweet kitty about 8 years old. I plan to bring her home to live with me and my 10-year old female cat and my 11-yr old cockatiel. I need advice, please.
Problem 1: My 18-pound fat cat Chrissy is a "fraidy-cat" who does not like strangers. Although she has no front claws, she has deadly back claws and she does bite. My mother's cat Susie-Q is petite (maybe 3 lbs), sweet, loving, and "plays well with others." I know that I will need to keep them in separate rooms when I am not home, but I do want them to eventually learn to live together. I will probably have to separate them at night also, so as to avoid 2:00 am cat fights when I'm trying to sleep. :-) But what is the best way to bring them together?
Problem 2: Susie-Q is accustomed to spending much time outdoors, but will not be able to do that at my house. I've been leaving her in Mom's house and she seems to be ok with that - has now been trained to the litter box there. But the BIG problem is that she sharpens her claws on the carpet! Mom's carpet can handle it - no one can tell that Susie scratches there, but I have Berber carpet, which is not cat-friendly. Help! How can I train Susie to scratch somewhere else? (I will not consider having her de-clawed.) I'm afraid to even risk a weekend or a training period with her scratching the carpet because it will run so easily. By the way, she does not like catnip. At all.
TIA!
My mother died 2 weeks ago, leaving a sweet kitty about 8 years old. I plan to bring her home to live with me and my 10-year old female cat and my 11-yr old cockatiel. I need advice, please.
Problem 1: My 18-pound fat cat Chrissy is a "fraidy-cat" who does not like strangers. Although she has no front claws, she has deadly back claws and she does bite. My mother's cat Susie-Q is petite (maybe 3 lbs), sweet, loving, and "plays well with others." I know that I will need to keep them in separate rooms when I am not home, but I do want them to eventually learn to live together. I will probably have to separate them at night also, so as to avoid 2:00 am cat fights when I'm trying to sleep. :-) But what is the best way to bring them together?
Problem 2: Susie-Q is accustomed to spending much time outdoors, but will not be able to do that at my house. I've been leaving her in Mom's house and she seems to be ok with that - has now been trained to the litter box there. But the BIG problem is that she sharpens her claws on the carpet! Mom's carpet can handle it - no one can tell that Susie scratches there, but I have Berber carpet, which is not cat-friendly. Help! How can I train Susie to scratch somewhere else? (I will not consider having her de-clawed.) I'm afraid to even risk a weekend or a training period with her scratching the carpet because it will run so easily. By the way, she does not like catnip. At all.
TIA!