Foster fail in progress.... that’s if I can get Sophie to approve...

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huxleysmom

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I have a feeling this will happen a lot! I just don’t want her to be full on aggressive. I’m going to continue bringing him out to spend time with her and for her to smell him. Hopefully it’ll work out. 🤞🏻
Some hissing, and even swatting, is absolutely normal between an older cat and a kitten. Most of it is the older cat heaving a great sigh, and saying, "Well, I'm stuck with the little upstart, may as well teach him some manners." His mama would be doing the same thing to him. And for the same reason!
 
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huxleysmom

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No. She doesn’t. I can sit on the bed with him in my arms and she’ll just stay there and blink. I can pet her too. She often stands up and walks away, but that’s ok. They don’t have to be best friend. I can’t get her to eat in his bowls in case they have some Coccidia on it, but I give her her favorite liquid treat with my hand (that just pet him for a while) under her nose to get her used to him =good things. She eats it, but towards the end I can tell she’s getting a little worked up (she huffs and puffs lol) but keeps on eating! Haha
It really is sounding good. She doesn't automatically go into "I HATE YOU" mode every time she sees him now, and that's real progress!
 
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Continuing the process. Sophie has ups and downs. She definitely doesn’t care so much when I carry him around the room or we are at a safe distance from him. When we get close, she can go either way. When she is relaxing on the bed or couch, she usually stays chill. If she’s fully awake and alert, then she’s not that pleased and will hiss. I’ll have to adopt him in 2 weeks and hope for the best long term I guess cause it’ll definitely take longer than that for her to be ok with him. I got the Jackson Galaxy’s peacemaker and some Feliway. Hoping it’ll help, it I’m not convinced by these things. It’s not so much the hissing, it’s the growling and biting the air that worry me long term. Yesterday poor Lance didn’t seem so good, he pooped so many times he lost a lot of liquid. I started giving him Pedyalite 3ml every few hours. It seems to have perked him up. He’s only been to the bathroom once this morning. I hope we’re going in the right direction with this. I wouldn’t wish Coccidia on anyone!
 
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Tonight I brought his crate condo in the main room. I disinfected it all, every shelf, floor, the box, his blankets... everything was cleaned before I brought him in the room. I sprayed the room with copious amounts of Feliway before bringing him out. Sophie was a bit skeptical at first but she started to become curious. We ate some treats, played, she came on the couch and on the bed to inspect him. He didn’t play it cool at all and literally threw himself at the crate towards her. Needless to say, she wasn’t best pleased but she came back to the bed afterwards and now everyone is asleep. I am hopeful that this is going to give Sophie the safe exposure she needs to get used to him. He pooped while he was in the room, but I removed him from the box before he had the time to try to bury it and brought a clean litter box back. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it.
 

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This is where we are at today. He’s been in the room pretty much since I woke up. Sophie was hissy and growling to start with, but she’s been doing her thing since then. Sometimes she lies down or sits and looks at him for a while, sometimes she just goes about her business. She just decided to go and lie down close to the crate. This is definitely the kind of exposure she needed. I think it’s going to work. She’s never gone to the crate trying to attack him, she’s not pacing or showing any signs of distress, unless he comes close but she t’en runs away. I’m hopeful. 🤞🏻
Don’t mind the unmade bed, I have to wash the sheets everyday for as long as I have lesions and I haven’t gotten round to it yet.
 

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huxleysmom

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I wish I was. Looks like Lance is going to go back to the vet tomorrow. The poor thing is not eating well. Food goes right through him and he seems dehydrated. He just can’t catch a break. There is one thing I do worry about, besides his health. When I adopted Sophie, she was so affectionate at the rescue when I met her, and for the first couple days I had her at home. Then I realized she wasn’t eating well and saw that her spray incision was infected. Took her to the vet, she got better, and I found myself with an entirely different cat that was no longer affectionate. I am now worried that the same thing will happen with Lance. He is not well, and has never been since the moment they trapped him and brought him to me. So maybe I haven’t seen his real personality yet. I do know that kittens can change anyway with age, so in the end, he may not grow up to be affectionate; but part of me would like to know him when he is healthy.
I think it bears repeating, you are simply fantastic!
 

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Now, don't be dismayed if he comes home from the vet, and your girl backslides. She'll get over it. That happens even with cats who know each other very well, and get along like gangbusters. It's called "Non-recognition Aggression," and happens when a cat comes home smelling totally different. I know more than one multi-cat household that takes ALL of the cats when one has an appointment so everyone stays smelling the same!
 
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So tonight was interesting. I brought him back out. She was on the bed and the crate was close. He kept coming to her she got annoyed, started growling, more than I’ve seen her before. Eyes fully dilated, ears back. Bless his little heart, he was oblivious and kept going. She didn’t attack, just left. A few minutes later, she came back up, slowly to the same place. He went back for the gate, but she didn’t growl. Just sat there and looked at him for a while. Eventually, they both settled and fell asleep. I guess that’s the whole point of a slow introduction. Repeated exposure for her to get used to him being around, but it’s not for the faint of heart! I wasn’t sure how that was going to go and at some point I was half expecting her to charge the crate!
 
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So Lance didn’t go to the vet today, they just did not have anyone to pick him up and drive him to the vet, which is really far away. He is doing better though so I’m not even sure he needs to go. Anyway. Today was bad. I have tried to download the video, but it won’t let me. She growled, snarled and swatted. She did the same to me a little while later as I was walking past her (he wasn’t in my arm) I worry that she will hurt him, and possibly me. Today doesn’t look good. It’s like the more she’s exposed to her, the more she gets upset. 🥺
 

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Looking back, I think there have been more good days, but she really wasn't in a good mood about anything today, I'm sorry!
 
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She’s getting more aggressive. She attacked the crate today and swatted at me. Every time she sees him now she hisses and growls. I don’t know what went wrong. I’m in a small studio and he’s already been in that bathroom for 3 weeks. I love him and would love to keep him, but I do not have the space to do a long drawn out introduction. It’s not fair on him and even if Sophie is a moody cat who ignores me most of the time, she’s my responsibility and I gotta do what is right for her. With each interaction getting more violent, I think I have no choice but to tell the rescue to put him up for adoption. 🥺😭
I’m disappointed but not surprised. Sophie is the Queen, and as such, she will be the one and only.
Looking back, I think there have been more good days, but she really wasn't in a good mood about anything today, I'm sorry!
 
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