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This is going to be a long one, but I'm just feeling so lost! Hopefully someone can help!!
I found Gooby under a car when he was about 3 months old, and took him in. That was a bit over two years ago, so he is now around 2.5 years old. My boyfriend and I have moved in together since then, and have always talked about getting Gooby a friend. We were at a shelter checking out some cats, and our hearts landed on Fluffy (also around 2-3 years old). We are currently 'fostering' her, but she is just loving us so much that us and the shelter have generally decided we will keep her.
For some background, Gooby is very playful and goofy. He loves sprinting around the house, and jumping for his toys. He loves being in the room with someone at all times (which is why we thought he would enjoy having a cat friend around), and is not intimidated by big groups of people. Fluffy on the other hand, is an absolute cuddle bug. She would do anything to be pet, and sleeps curled up on us every night (she is staying in our bedroom as her sanctuary room, while Gooby roams the house), and basically tries to groom us and every toy she has. She is a bit more of a mellow player than Gooby, but she has her wild moments.
We have been following Jackson Galaxy's guide, and did a ton (honestly probably too much) of reading other peoples experiences, etc on reddit and other blogs, and watching YouTube videos.
When we brought her home, she immediately went into our room. Over the course of two weeks, she slowly got more comfortable, and Gooby would patiently wait by the door. Sometimes he would growl and hiss at the door, so we just kept consistently placing their food near the door and over time, Gooby stopped hissing at the door. Now, they constantly play under the door with eachother. So, we got a screen to set up for our door. Gooby, being the curious guy he is, would consistently go up to it, do a little grumbling and hissing, but in general didn't seem to mind. We kept having those meetings for around 1-2 weeks every night and they would eat their dinner there too. We also did scent swapping and site swapping, and neither mind that AT ALL. Its just when they can see each other.
At this point, we decided to try a face to face playdate. It actually was going pretty well, they both ate their treats and played with toys separately. Then all of the sudden, Fluffy went to play with the same toy Gooby was playing with and all hell broke loose. There was fur flying (no blood), and we separated them. Back to no visual access, and they went right back to playing under the door with each other. It was suggested to us that it was possible that they were having a 'cage aggression' response to the screen, so we decided to do more playdates, but time them and keep them shorter. The next 3 playdates actually went really well, although were for only 10 minutes at a time and were distracted by treats the entire time, but no growling or hissing from Gooby. The fourth playdate, Fluffy charged at Gooby (there were no signs of aggression whatsoever. It definitely was more of a playful run). Gooby obviously didn't like that and they got into a huge fight, causing Goobys nose to get a cut on it and some missing fur on each of his front legs. Back to the screen. Fluffy still (and has always done this, but we just thought she was trying to climb out) launches herself at the screen. Everything is totally fine until she does that. In face to face meetings, she definitely does less of it, so we thought about putting her in a harness to hold her back. We havent done a face to face meeting since The Incident, and are now back to just screen time. Again, everything is fine until Fluffy charges at the screen and it freaks Gooby out. Here is a video I took just an hour ago of it happening. Fluffy is the long haired, Gooby is the tuxedo.
I am just so lost with what to do. I distract them with treats so that that doesn't happen, but I'd have to be funneling treats to them basically the entire time (Fluffy is FAR more food motivated than Gooby is)
Help! Any advice is welcome! I just feel so so lost and discouraged.
I found Gooby under a car when he was about 3 months old, and took him in. That was a bit over two years ago, so he is now around 2.5 years old. My boyfriend and I have moved in together since then, and have always talked about getting Gooby a friend. We were at a shelter checking out some cats, and our hearts landed on Fluffy (also around 2-3 years old). We are currently 'fostering' her, but she is just loving us so much that us and the shelter have generally decided we will keep her.
For some background, Gooby is very playful and goofy. He loves sprinting around the house, and jumping for his toys. He loves being in the room with someone at all times (which is why we thought he would enjoy having a cat friend around), and is not intimidated by big groups of people. Fluffy on the other hand, is an absolute cuddle bug. She would do anything to be pet, and sleeps curled up on us every night (she is staying in our bedroom as her sanctuary room, while Gooby roams the house), and basically tries to groom us and every toy she has. She is a bit more of a mellow player than Gooby, but she has her wild moments.
We have been following Jackson Galaxy's guide, and did a ton (honestly probably too much) of reading other peoples experiences, etc on reddit and other blogs, and watching YouTube videos.
When we brought her home, she immediately went into our room. Over the course of two weeks, she slowly got more comfortable, and Gooby would patiently wait by the door. Sometimes he would growl and hiss at the door, so we just kept consistently placing their food near the door and over time, Gooby stopped hissing at the door. Now, they constantly play under the door with eachother. So, we got a screen to set up for our door. Gooby, being the curious guy he is, would consistently go up to it, do a little grumbling and hissing, but in general didn't seem to mind. We kept having those meetings for around 1-2 weeks every night and they would eat their dinner there too. We also did scent swapping and site swapping, and neither mind that AT ALL. Its just when they can see each other.
At this point, we decided to try a face to face playdate. It actually was going pretty well, they both ate their treats and played with toys separately. Then all of the sudden, Fluffy went to play with the same toy Gooby was playing with and all hell broke loose. There was fur flying (no blood), and we separated them. Back to no visual access, and they went right back to playing under the door with each other. It was suggested to us that it was possible that they were having a 'cage aggression' response to the screen, so we decided to do more playdates, but time them and keep them shorter. The next 3 playdates actually went really well, although were for only 10 minutes at a time and were distracted by treats the entire time, but no growling or hissing from Gooby. The fourth playdate, Fluffy charged at Gooby (there were no signs of aggression whatsoever. It definitely was more of a playful run). Gooby obviously didn't like that and they got into a huge fight, causing Goobys nose to get a cut on it and some missing fur on each of his front legs. Back to the screen. Fluffy still (and has always done this, but we just thought she was trying to climb out) launches herself at the screen. Everything is totally fine until she does that. In face to face meetings, she definitely does less of it, so we thought about putting her in a harness to hold her back. We havent done a face to face meeting since The Incident, and are now back to just screen time. Again, everything is fine until Fluffy charges at the screen and it freaks Gooby out. Here is a video I took just an hour ago of it happening. Fluffy is the long haired, Gooby is the tuxedo.
I am just so lost with what to do. I distract them with treats so that that doesn't happen, but I'd have to be funneling treats to them basically the entire time (Fluffy is FAR more food motivated than Gooby is)
Help! Any advice is welcome! I just feel so so lost and discouraged.