- Joined
- Sep 9, 2020
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Hi,
It's month 14 of cat introductions (Insert confetti canon here). Sorry for the constant posting but maybe fresh perspectives will help.
Brief recap:
1. Ruthie is 9ish (fixed female) and Jellybean (fixed male) is now 2. We got Jellybean as Ruthie was mourning the loss of her buddy, pulling hair out, etc. Vet said maybe another cat. We go to shelter, JB is approached by two female cats - 7 and 9, declawed, immediately backs down, seems like such a love and we're like great, that's the best endorsement we might get.
2. Cat intros start, a few weeks later, JB escapes twice (our fault - sleep depravation unrelated) and chases Ruthie, the two scuffle, fur flying, about 30 seconds, everyone is ok minus a cut on Ruthie - obvs. this was traumatic for her so we go back to square one. JB gets at least 2-4 hours out of his master bedroom with attached bath (more than 300 square feet).
3. We consult a vet who is also a behaviorist, both kitties go on Prozac (still on Prozac) play enrichment starts for JB, both cats go on Prozac and we start clicker training plus foraging for JB.
4. I get COVID (BAD), so have to isolate for 14 days meaning cat intros stop. Afterwards, we talk to behaviorist again, try to start up. Jellybean develops a food allergy and seems stressed so we stop again until his diet is sorted out because not feeling good he was stressed to the max.
5. About month 9-ish into the process, I get good advice on the cat site that maybe we just let them see each other as exposure therapy and they'll adjust - problem is Ruthie hides every time and our apartment isn't really set up so that they can easily see each other without her hiding.
So fast forward to today and basically we still separate them. I've read the Pat Johnson Bennett book Cat vs. Cat, watched Jackson Galaxy, shelled out the money for a vet behaviorist, read all the articles and advice on the cat site etc. they have a billion toys and four cat towers so I'm not worried about them not living their best lives - it's more a pain at this point and I'm kind of wondering if maybe we just accept that they might have to be separate or if it's worth trying step 1 again and seeing if we can solve this. I mean some people say it takes years to get cats to be friends but 14 months is a long time. I don't like stopping the process but if we're sick and another time if the cat is sick then we have to take care of those first, maybe it's worth to keep trying now that health issues are solved? Any thoughts/advice or even stories of encouragement about kitties getting at least frenemies situation going?
It's month 14 of cat introductions (Insert confetti canon here). Sorry for the constant posting but maybe fresh perspectives will help.
Brief recap:
1. Ruthie is 9ish (fixed female) and Jellybean (fixed male) is now 2. We got Jellybean as Ruthie was mourning the loss of her buddy, pulling hair out, etc. Vet said maybe another cat. We go to shelter, JB is approached by two female cats - 7 and 9, declawed, immediately backs down, seems like such a love and we're like great, that's the best endorsement we might get.
2. Cat intros start, a few weeks later, JB escapes twice (our fault - sleep depravation unrelated) and chases Ruthie, the two scuffle, fur flying, about 30 seconds, everyone is ok minus a cut on Ruthie - obvs. this was traumatic for her so we go back to square one. JB gets at least 2-4 hours out of his master bedroom with attached bath (more than 300 square feet).
3. We consult a vet who is also a behaviorist, both kitties go on Prozac (still on Prozac) play enrichment starts for JB, both cats go on Prozac and we start clicker training plus foraging for JB.
4. I get COVID (BAD), so have to isolate for 14 days meaning cat intros stop. Afterwards, we talk to behaviorist again, try to start up. Jellybean develops a food allergy and seems stressed so we stop again until his diet is sorted out because not feeling good he was stressed to the max.
5. About month 9-ish into the process, I get good advice on the cat site that maybe we just let them see each other as exposure therapy and they'll adjust - problem is Ruthie hides every time and our apartment isn't really set up so that they can easily see each other without her hiding.
So fast forward to today and basically we still separate them. I've read the Pat Johnson Bennett book Cat vs. Cat, watched Jackson Galaxy, shelled out the money for a vet behaviorist, read all the articles and advice on the cat site etc. they have a billion toys and four cat towers so I'm not worried about them not living their best lives - it's more a pain at this point and I'm kind of wondering if maybe we just accept that they might have to be separate or if it's worth trying step 1 again and seeing if we can solve this. I mean some people say it takes years to get cats to be friends but 14 months is a long time. I don't like stopping the process but if we're sick and another time if the cat is sick then we have to take care of those first, maybe it's worth to keep trying now that health issues are solved? Any thoughts/advice or even stories of encouragement about kitties getting at least frenemies situation going?
