A little background first. A month ago, we adopted 2yr old Freida. Her previous owners surrendered her and her brother to the local shelter due to the owner's health. The brother, who was more outgoing, was adopted within a couple of weeks. So until we adopted her 2 months later, Freida was kept in a separate room by herself because she was, and is, a little bit on the shy side. But she’s very affectionate and playful with my husband and I.
Our resident cat, 14yr old Abby, has been with me since she was 6mos old. Until last year, Abby had a companion in her “brother” who was 3 years older than she was. They got along great. In fact, their introduction was done in 4 days and they were besties ever since. Sadly, her brother passed away so she’s been alone since then. Abby is also shy and I would say, a bit on the nervous side. Sudden movement, loud noises, and other people bother her. She leaves the house when we have visitors. She’s indoor/outdoor and, remarkably, stays in her own backyard. She is very demanding when it comes to getting my attention and is quite a vocal cat, but usually sweet natured. And maybe slightly spoiled! We thought, given Freida’s disposition, that it might be a good fit, but apparently we were wrong.
We tried doing the introduction slowly according to everything that we’ve learned from other sources and it’s just not working. For example, Abby is not enticed by food or play so trying to feed her or distract her with toys doesn’t work. Not even tuna will get her to come down the hall to feed on the other side of the door and several feet away from Freida. She will eventually, but long after Freida has finished eating and we are out of sight. They’re very aware of each other’s scents now. When Abby is outside, we close the pet door to the backyard, and let Freida come out to explore the rest of the house. We’ve put Freida’s blanket out near Abby spot and visa versa. Neither one gets anxious about it.. They just sniff and move on.
We bought a pet gate to put in the spare bedroom doorway and they've now had visual contact. Hissing and meowing loudly on Abby’s part and Freida runs under the bed. Abby eventually leaves, but she’s clearly agitated. So we close the door and start from scratch, but the same thing happens. One time, we forgot to close the pet door, Freida was out exploring, and Abby came in and proceeded to chase Freida down the hall, into Freida’s room, and under the bed. No bloodshed, but lots of hissing and growling. I had to squirt Abby with some water in order to get her to leave. Just yesterday, we had a towel draped over the gate so they couldn’t see each other, and Abby squeezed through on a side that we obviously left a little too wide, and again, she chased Freida under the bed. I heard the commotion and managed to throw a towel over Abby to remove her. She was upset for quite some time.
I’m at a loss at what to do at this point. I feel like the cats need to see each other and work things out on either side of the gate and maybe, at some point, we can let them be out together. But I’m afraid to do more damage. Any advice would be appreciated and I’m sorry this post is so long but I felt you needed some detail of the situation.
Thank you
Our resident cat, 14yr old Abby, has been with me since she was 6mos old. Until last year, Abby had a companion in her “brother” who was 3 years older than she was. They got along great. In fact, their introduction was done in 4 days and they were besties ever since. Sadly, her brother passed away so she’s been alone since then. Abby is also shy and I would say, a bit on the nervous side. Sudden movement, loud noises, and other people bother her. She leaves the house when we have visitors. She’s indoor/outdoor and, remarkably, stays in her own backyard. She is very demanding when it comes to getting my attention and is quite a vocal cat, but usually sweet natured. And maybe slightly spoiled! We thought, given Freida’s disposition, that it might be a good fit, but apparently we were wrong.
We tried doing the introduction slowly according to everything that we’ve learned from other sources and it’s just not working. For example, Abby is not enticed by food or play so trying to feed her or distract her with toys doesn’t work. Not even tuna will get her to come down the hall to feed on the other side of the door and several feet away from Freida. She will eventually, but long after Freida has finished eating and we are out of sight. They’re very aware of each other’s scents now. When Abby is outside, we close the pet door to the backyard, and let Freida come out to explore the rest of the house. We’ve put Freida’s blanket out near Abby spot and visa versa. Neither one gets anxious about it.. They just sniff and move on.
We bought a pet gate to put in the spare bedroom doorway and they've now had visual contact. Hissing and meowing loudly on Abby’s part and Freida runs under the bed. Abby eventually leaves, but she’s clearly agitated. So we close the door and start from scratch, but the same thing happens. One time, we forgot to close the pet door, Freida was out exploring, and Abby came in and proceeded to chase Freida down the hall, into Freida’s room, and under the bed. No bloodshed, but lots of hissing and growling. I had to squirt Abby with some water in order to get her to leave. Just yesterday, we had a towel draped over the gate so they couldn’t see each other, and Abby squeezed through on a side that we obviously left a little too wide, and again, she chased Freida under the bed. I heard the commotion and managed to throw a towel over Abby to remove her. She was upset for quite some time.
I’m at a loss at what to do at this point. I feel like the cats need to see each other and work things out on either side of the gate and maybe, at some point, we can let them be out together. But I’m afraid to do more damage. Any advice would be appreciated and I’m sorry this post is so long but I felt you needed some detail of the situation.
Thank you