Where to start...
Evie used to be really great with Maiya when she was a baby. She LOVED her, would always cuddle up with us and groom her. But as Maiya gets older and more active, Evie is getting more and more tempermental.
Maiya is 14 months now, and LOVES Evie. She would follow her everywhere if I let her. Since I've been working with her since day 1, Maiya is actually very very gentle with Evie. She's NEVER hurt her, but she also can't read Evie's cues and doesn't know to go away from her.
Evie, of course, is a cat about the whole thing. She will not move away from Maiya when she starts getting irritated by the constant pettting. She will always lay right in the middle of where we're playing. We have a TON of baby proof areas that Evie usually loves (couches, couch backs, stairs, table, cat tree...), but Evie generally lays right smack dab in the middle of Maiya's play mat and toys. Which thrills Maiya to no end, and she starts petting her (honestly gentle pets), but Maiya can't "read" Evie's body language to know when Evie is getting over stimulated, and has been whacked by her many times now.
Evie is getting far less tolerant of Maiya as time goes on. She has started to smack her, with claws out, just when Maiya crawls up to her, before Maiya even touches her. You think Maiya would learn eventually, but I can't risk Evie hurting her any more than she already has!
I've tried everything I can think of, all the typical stuff. Maiya has even learned to pretty much leave Evie alone, despite how much she positively ADORES her "sister". The problem comes when Evie plops right down a foot away from her, in the middle of all Maiya's toys. Maiya can't ignore her then!
I spend ALL DAY trying to keep these two apart, but with Evie getting so testy and short tempered, I am getting very scared that one day I'll be a second too late and Maiya will be really hurt.
It's getting to the point where I want to lock Evie up in the bedroom 24 / 7, but that would be cruel. So I'm thinking of giving her up for adoption, but I LOVE Evie! It breaks my heart to even think about it. It's just so scary...
Do you have any other suggestions as to how to teach Evie to leave Maiya alone? Anyway I can keep our precious kitty??
Thanks in advance if you read this entire book!
Evie used to be really great with Maiya when she was a baby. She LOVED her, would always cuddle up with us and groom her. But as Maiya gets older and more active, Evie is getting more and more tempermental.
Maiya is 14 months now, and LOVES Evie. She would follow her everywhere if I let her. Since I've been working with her since day 1, Maiya is actually very very gentle with Evie. She's NEVER hurt her, but she also can't read Evie's cues and doesn't know to go away from her.
Evie, of course, is a cat about the whole thing. She will not move away from Maiya when she starts getting irritated by the constant pettting. She will always lay right in the middle of where we're playing. We have a TON of baby proof areas that Evie usually loves (couches, couch backs, stairs, table, cat tree...), but Evie generally lays right smack dab in the middle of Maiya's play mat and toys. Which thrills Maiya to no end, and she starts petting her (honestly gentle pets), but Maiya can't "read" Evie's body language to know when Evie is getting over stimulated, and has been whacked by her many times now.
Evie is getting far less tolerant of Maiya as time goes on. She has started to smack her, with claws out, just when Maiya crawls up to her, before Maiya even touches her. You think Maiya would learn eventually, but I can't risk Evie hurting her any more than she already has!
I've tried everything I can think of, all the typical stuff. Maiya has even learned to pretty much leave Evie alone, despite how much she positively ADORES her "sister". The problem comes when Evie plops right down a foot away from her, in the middle of all Maiya's toys. Maiya can't ignore her then!
I spend ALL DAY trying to keep these two apart, but with Evie getting so testy and short tempered, I am getting very scared that one day I'll be a second too late and Maiya will be really hurt.
It's getting to the point where I want to lock Evie up in the bedroom 24 / 7, but that would be cruel. So I'm thinking of giving her up for adoption, but I LOVE Evie! It breaks my heart to even think about it. It's just so scary...
Do you have any other suggestions as to how to teach Evie to leave Maiya alone? Anyway I can keep our precious kitty??
Thanks in advance if you read this entire book!