Hi!
We (my boyfriend and I) have two cats, I’ll reference to them as resident cat (RC) and new cat (NC). Our RC is a 1 1/2 female and NC is a 2 year old female. RC was our foster cat who we ended up adopting. She has been around other fosters we have had, and it has usually been good, except for our last foster who attacked her a few times and made her very scared of new cats. But since we know she enjoys company of other cats, we decided to stop fostering and just adopt one permanent instead.
So we adopted New Cat almost two months ago. She had been living with two male cats in her foster home and they got along. NC has a lot of energy and is kinda ‘fearless’. We did the slow intro, Jackson Galaxy style. So after a few weeks (3 or so) we did let them interact without barriers, ending up with new cat chasing recident cat. RC, super scared and prey-like, of course running away, hissing and growling. Then she would just stay hidden in a hiding place and not come out until NC was put in another room. NC would also swat at her in her hiding place and not really respect her hisses.
Now they are back to baby gates, and we are trying to build up RC’s confidence. So I would like some insight on how to understand the behaviour of our New Cat.
She has never hissed or growled at RC. They can eat fine next to each other, but when meal time is over NC will approach/run towards our RC and the chasing will start. She will lay next to RC besides her in her hiding spot. (Why??) She swats at her. With the baby gates, NC will lay on one side of the barrier, staring at RC with dilated pupils and swishing tail. She will also try to Get through the gate. NC is very playful, so she might just want to play? Or is she becoming a bully? Territorial?
Im playing with them when they are on each side of the gate, and that is working really well. They can be quite close and play with wands. But I’m pretty sure if we take the barriers down, chasing and swatting will happen, and RC will be the timid scared cat again. Luckily both are playful and food motivated. But there are times where I can not redirect NCs attention away from RC.
Just looking for people to talk with since it is just such a hard process and it’s really all I can think about these days.
We (my boyfriend and I) have two cats, I’ll reference to them as resident cat (RC) and new cat (NC). Our RC is a 1 1/2 female and NC is a 2 year old female. RC was our foster cat who we ended up adopting. She has been around other fosters we have had, and it has usually been good, except for our last foster who attacked her a few times and made her very scared of new cats. But since we know she enjoys company of other cats, we decided to stop fostering and just adopt one permanent instead.
So we adopted New Cat almost two months ago. She had been living with two male cats in her foster home and they got along. NC has a lot of energy and is kinda ‘fearless’. We did the slow intro, Jackson Galaxy style. So after a few weeks (3 or so) we did let them interact without barriers, ending up with new cat chasing recident cat. RC, super scared and prey-like, of course running away, hissing and growling. Then she would just stay hidden in a hiding place and not come out until NC was put in another room. NC would also swat at her in her hiding place and not really respect her hisses.
Now they are back to baby gates, and we are trying to build up RC’s confidence. So I would like some insight on how to understand the behaviour of our New Cat.
She has never hissed or growled at RC. They can eat fine next to each other, but when meal time is over NC will approach/run towards our RC and the chasing will start. She will lay next to RC besides her in her hiding spot. (Why??) She swats at her. With the baby gates, NC will lay on one side of the barrier, staring at RC with dilated pupils and swishing tail. She will also try to Get through the gate. NC is very playful, so she might just want to play? Or is she becoming a bully? Territorial?
Im playing with them when they are on each side of the gate, and that is working really well. They can be quite close and play with wands. But I’m pretty sure if we take the barriers down, chasing and swatting will happen, and RC will be the timid scared cat again. Luckily both are playful and food motivated. But there are times where I can not redirect NCs attention away from RC.
Just looking for people to talk with since it is just such a hard process and it’s really all I can think about these days.