Cat Introduction Woes

[losna]

Hopefully I can get a picture of her expression sometime. It really is just "are you seriously this stupid? Hello? I'm hissing at you here"

 

[Columbine]

I think Asha feels that way about my boys

 

[losna]

My phone is working again! So I'm just going to share a picture of Tempest in a nest of pillows.

 

[Columbine]

for a working phone again!

As usual, I'm blown away by just how pretty Tempest is No wonder Sinbad's so infatuated with her!

 

[losna]

Update time:

We had a major setback earlier today. Having had a taste of the freedom of wandering the house, Tempest's patience with Sinbad and unwillingness to fight is gone. They had an actual rolling around on the floor biting and using back claws real catfight. Pee all over the bedroom, chunks of fur flying around, and unlike their usual squabbles, we couldn't just pick them up; hubby had to break it up by throwing a blanket over Sinbad when they rolled apart.

The bedroom, hall and living room all reek of cat pheromones now. Ugh it stinks.

Belit was terrified. She abandoned her self appointed duties of sheriff, and fled the room to hide in a corner. Luckily for us/her, she is really easy to comfort, a few belly rubs and she had completely forgotten everything and was rolling around purring like mad.

Sinbad knows he did something wrong, but not what. We don't get mad at him, we know it's not malice or anything - he just truly does not understand that he scares Tempest and she wants him to leave her alone. He has been slinking around the house since then, in that nervy knowing he did something wrong kind of way.

And Tempest is still scared.

 

[Columbine]

Oh no I'm so, so sorry to read this I really hope both Tempest and Sinbad recover very soon.

Maybe some Composure for both of them for a little while will help? I had a setback with Asha and Grisch a week or so ago (though nothing close to what you describe - he just chased her and cornered her under the bed), and putting Asha on Zylkene has really helped her cat back to where she was before.

It must have been as frightening for you and hubby and it was for little Bêlit I'm glad that at least she was easy to reassure and calm down.

Just sending you all as many vibes as I can that calm and confident peace is restored soon

 

[Minxrat]

I've read every single post on this thread and losna you have beautiful furbabies , I'm envious of your snuggles as only one of mine seems remotely snuggly sadly. I hope they get over this latest setback

 

[losna]

Sadly, Tempest has parked herself on top of the bookshelf, and won't come down any more. We have to shut her in during mealtimes, because she won't even come down for food and water if the door is open and he could get in.

And she's starting using the master bathroom sink as a litter box. Sinbad isn't able to get up onto the sink, and it's an easy walk for her to and from the top of the bookshelf. We're trying to figure out what to do now because she has figured out how to lift the drain plug, and she is "burying" her poop in the drain.

Minxrat Thanks. I love them to pieces.

Columbine Yeah, we gave them some composure. We're careful with it though, they both love it and we've noticed if we give it immediately after fights, and even delayed after every fight, they will spat just to get some. Against all odds, they can and do collude for treats and special treatment, especially when it involves spatting.

 

[Columbine]

Your guys are just WAY too clever

As for Tempest - I'm so sorry things are so bad for her right now Is there any way you can giver her a litterbox higher up for a while, so she has somewhere more appropriate to go than your sink, but can still feel safe? That's the only thing I can think of to try with her. I really hope she recovers soon

With Composure, have you tried the liquid mixed into their food? It wouldn't be like a reward that way, so could help more consistently. I have Asha on Zylkene right now (following some issues with Grisch's attempts to play really spooking her), and that's very similar to Composure, but is in capsules. I just open them up and mix the powder into Asha's food.

I wish I could be more help. I feel so bad for them both, and for you and hubby

 

[losna]

Been a while so update time!!

Tempest has settled in on her bookshelf. We feed her in the bedroom now, and close the door for about an hour or so around every meal so she can freely run around and play. She has a scratchpost all to herself on top of the bookshelf, and one on the floor that she shares with Sinbad when the door is open. She seems pretty happy, although she'd be happier still if he would get over his fascination already.

He still chases her when he catches her down though, sigh. Belit has decided she is the guard when the door is closed, it is pretty adorable. She lies on her back, pressed up against the crack between the door and the floor, and defends it against Sinbad to keep him from sticking his paws beneath the door and aggravating Tempest while she's playing.

She even comes down to snuggle with us most nights now. She waits until Sinbad has come to bed and fallen asleep, then she jumps down and gives me some nuzzles and goes over to snuggle up against hubby's chest for a while. She'll stay until Sinbad starts moving, so how long she stays with us is variable depending on how soundly he's asleep.

Tempest has also "improved" her bathroom sink pooping. She seems to have observed that toilet paper is used after elimination, so she goes in the sink, then claws at the toilet paper roll and covers her poop in toilet paper shreds. Since she used to use washcloths and laundry to "bury" it, I think this is definitely an improvement.

 

[losna]

Tempest became so comfortable with the bookshelf/nightly snuggling arrangement, that last night she left the bed and started playing!

Sadly it ended in a massive setback. Sinbad caught her on the floor with her toy, and it resulted with Tempest bleeding all over the bedroom.

It was a really bad interaction between all three of them. Belit tried to intervene as is her wont, and she ended up getting clawed by Sinbad as well. She did get him away from Tempest, but at the cost of her own safety; instead of having to separate Tempest and Sinbad, we wound up having to separate Sinbad and Belit, and then find Tempest from where she'd run and hidden after Belit diverted Sinbad. Unlike Tempest who does her best to run away, Belit just curled up into a little crying ball when Sinbad started on her. It was horrifying all around.

Utterly heartbreaking. It's the first time actual blood has been drawn. A lot of cleanup was required, there was blood, fur, pee and pheromones everywhere.

Luckily there are no serious injuries. It was just a lot of surface scratches that bled a lot. They all seem physically fine now, if cautious in mood.

 

[mservant]

That sounds horrible. You must have been almost as shaken as the cats. So sad this setback has happened, but relieved the injuries all seem superficial. Hoping and wishing the emotional injuries of the event are also not deep and that they all recover ground quickly.

 

[losna]

They all seem to have calmed down at this point. Tempest is napping on hubby's back, Sinbad is snoozing on one of my shawls, and Belit is sprawled across a pile of my laundry.

 

[Columbine]

That sounds just awful I really hope they all heal up fast and regain confidence with each other quickly. too, that they aren't too traumatised by the experience