Hey there,
cats are weird, but things have got a little weirder of late; first things first, we live in a house, with me and my girlfriend in a flat in the top storey and my parents using the rest of the house. That being said, we've got two cats, my parents have two dogs (or rather, there are two dogs downstairs and two cats upstairs, there's no real ownership there
), and they don't really interact with each other.
All animals are rescues; the dogs we got from an organisation, the cats were strays whom we adopted from a stable we were at; the dogs are properly socialised and don't pose a threat to cats, the cats were exposed to dogs at the stable, though those were not too kind to them.
Yeah, that is that; the first cat, Momo (~1.5-2 years old), we got about a year ago, the second, Neko (~3 years old; very rough estimate), about three months ago; they didn't use to get along with each other, with Neko beating up Momo at the stable - but the tables have turned here. The former victim has started beating up Neko on a regular basis, and she wouldn't defend herself, just passively blocking her passage, refusing to let her out of the cat litter, etc. I should mention that Neko isn't yet neutered and had lost a kitten prior to us adopting her (her litter was likely mostly dead and there was only one left surviving whom she'd left to die since he wouldn't have made it anyway, which sadly was the case).
At any rate, Neko was quite terrorised by Momo (they're about a year apart) and wouldn't really move; we tried to re-introduce them by first separating them in two rooms, yet Neko wouldn't really ever freely move around, rather staying within a very confined area and only moving if someone came upstairs, at whom she'd occasionally hiss, or to go to the cat litter. She was very reactive and alert whenever Momo was moving around, never seeming to have a moment of peace. Which leads me to yesterday.
With her being very "pacifist" in her demeanour, I thought I should see how far I could carry her down the stairs before she had enough; she didn't do anything, so we ended up in dog territory - on the couch, with our rather large bitch lying on there. At first she didn't seem to like it, but then she got more and more comfortable. And, progressively, started moving towards her, until they were about 2 metres from each other. She was all relaxed, calm, and purry as hell. Our male dog, I put somewhere else; while he's not a threat to cats, he's quite...loud and direct, having some herding dog breed in him which is rather dominant.
Having ensured they'd stay calm and amicable, I went downstairs. The following morning, I'd come downstairs, and yeah, Neko kept moving closer to our bitch, snuggling up to her. I don't quite get it, but yeah, we had kept making jokes she was more cat than dog anyway, so here was proof. She's got some Basenji in her, which is quite dominant, and they're said to be a quite cat-like breed.
The problem we're now faced with is this: she still doesn't move around. Our male dog we've kept under control and are slowly getting him accustomed to her; he doesn't stay in the same room with her over night while the bitch and Neko share the couch. Yet, despite her being calm, relaxed, and arguably content, she doesn't move around. At all. She even shat on the couch, right on the spot where she'd sat for three hours. The other cat, Momo, doesn't enter, she hates dogs, regardless of how they behave. If you place Neko in the cat litter, she'll stay there, too. She eats just fine, she can walk and run and all of that and doesn't seem to be in pain at all, so I'd personally rule out a medical background, especially since she had to hunt and run while she was still living outside merely three months ago.
I don't know whether she's traumatised by either being reconnected with her former victim, having lost her kitten, or anything else. She loves to be stroked as well, so she doesn't shy away from being touched (if she likes it; she did move away quite frequently upstairs, being afraid, now she can't get enough of it). She often sits there, observing and often watching TV. The dogs at the stable were awful for her, so how come she loves our bitch? And instantaenously so? She's arguably not so keen on our male dog. How can I get her to, well, move around, at least to go to the bloody litter? Any help would be greatly appreciated; I guess it becomes quite evident that I'm more used to dogs and have little to no idea about cats :-x
cats are weird, but things have got a little weirder of late; first things first, we live in a house, with me and my girlfriend in a flat in the top storey and my parents using the rest of the house. That being said, we've got two cats, my parents have two dogs (or rather, there are two dogs downstairs and two cats upstairs, there's no real ownership there
), and they don't really interact with each other.All animals are rescues; the dogs we got from an organisation, the cats were strays whom we adopted from a stable we were at; the dogs are properly socialised and don't pose a threat to cats, the cats were exposed to dogs at the stable, though those were not too kind to them.
Yeah, that is that; the first cat, Momo (~1.5-2 years old), we got about a year ago, the second, Neko (~3 years old; very rough estimate), about three months ago; they didn't use to get along with each other, with Neko beating up Momo at the stable - but the tables have turned here. The former victim has started beating up Neko on a regular basis, and she wouldn't defend herself, just passively blocking her passage, refusing to let her out of the cat litter, etc. I should mention that Neko isn't yet neutered and had lost a kitten prior to us adopting her (her litter was likely mostly dead and there was only one left surviving whom she'd left to die since he wouldn't have made it anyway, which sadly was the case).
At any rate, Neko was quite terrorised by Momo (they're about a year apart) and wouldn't really move; we tried to re-introduce them by first separating them in two rooms, yet Neko wouldn't really ever freely move around, rather staying within a very confined area and only moving if someone came upstairs, at whom she'd occasionally hiss, or to go to the cat litter. She was very reactive and alert whenever Momo was moving around, never seeming to have a moment of peace. Which leads me to yesterday.
With her being very "pacifist" in her demeanour, I thought I should see how far I could carry her down the stairs before she had enough; she didn't do anything, so we ended up in dog territory - on the couch, with our rather large bitch lying on there. At first she didn't seem to like it, but then she got more and more comfortable. And, progressively, started moving towards her, until they were about 2 metres from each other. She was all relaxed, calm, and purry as hell. Our male dog, I put somewhere else; while he's not a threat to cats, he's quite...loud and direct, having some herding dog breed in him which is rather dominant.
Having ensured they'd stay calm and amicable, I went downstairs. The following morning, I'd come downstairs, and yeah, Neko kept moving closer to our bitch, snuggling up to her. I don't quite get it, but yeah, we had kept making jokes she was more cat than dog anyway, so here was proof. She's got some Basenji in her, which is quite dominant, and they're said to be a quite cat-like breed.
The problem we're now faced with is this: she still doesn't move around. Our male dog we've kept under control and are slowly getting him accustomed to her; he doesn't stay in the same room with her over night while the bitch and Neko share the couch. Yet, despite her being calm, relaxed, and arguably content, she doesn't move around. At all. She even shat on the couch, right on the spot where she'd sat for three hours. The other cat, Momo, doesn't enter, she hates dogs, regardless of how they behave. If you place Neko in the cat litter, she'll stay there, too. She eats just fine, she can walk and run and all of that and doesn't seem to be in pain at all, so I'd personally rule out a medical background, especially since she had to hunt and run while she was still living outside merely three months ago.
I don't know whether she's traumatised by either being reconnected with her former victim, having lost her kitten, or anything else. She loves to be stroked as well, so she doesn't shy away from being touched (if she likes it; she did move away quite frequently upstairs, being afraid, now she can't get enough of it). She often sits there, observing and often watching TV. The dogs at the stable were awful for her, so how come she loves our bitch? And instantaenously so? She's arguably not so keen on our male dog. How can I get her to, well, move around, at least to go to the bloody litter? Any help would be greatly appreciated; I guess it becomes quite evident that I'm more used to dogs and have little to no idea about cats
:-x
