Getting second cat, doubts, advice, stories

[Yzma-86]

Hi everyone, so I'm currently fostering a felv female cat who is 3yo, she was rescued with her kittens in April, the kittens have been adopted since then. My organisation asked if I could welcome a second cat who is also felv, a 1yo male who arrived this saturday, I'm experiencing a lot of guilt and doubt towards my resident foster and need to talk to people who got a second cat. It's my first time introducing cats and having more than one adult cat (aside from the litter of kittens), plus because of my apartment layout I couldn't isolate one to introduce them slowly. I've put two litterboxes both easy to access with full view of the room and separate feeding areas but close so they can see each other.

The resident foster isn't happy it's not disastrous but she hisses if he comes too close, the 1st day she stayed on her chair and refused to go down to eat, use the litter box or anything, this morning she did come down to eat but quickly went back to her safe place. Fortunately the boy is friendly and he respects her boundaries.

I've been feeling so guilty seeing her so unsettled, it took me awhile to gain her trust, and even if things come around I still feel a lot of doubts for the future, for example if they do end up getting along and I keep fostering him. I was told the little guy was calm but he's still pretty playful and active and I'm afraid he'll be too much, that playing with her will be tougher because he'll be too fast. That she'll stop sleeping through the night with me, he's quite active at night unlike her.

 

[Draco]

Sounds normal so far.
I recently adopted two boys with an existing senior resident cat. She behaved the same way as your current foster. She didn't eat much in the first few days.
It took several weeks for her to stop growling and accept the boys (mostly). They respect her boundaries as well. it takes time, sometimes months or more.

I did separate them for a few weeks when I took them home, the boys in the bathroom and she got the rest of the house. it allowed them to smell each other through the door and hear each other. The small short supervised visits with one another, by letting the boys out of the bathroom to roam and put their scent out while smelling her too.

I'd say as long as there's no chunks of fur flying and blood, it'll be okay soon. Maybe play with your new foster before bed, get him nice and tired so he'd rest that night. Teach him to change his habits, eventually he'll learn that night time is for sleeping and not playing.

Im wondering, is it possible to get another to keep him company and to play with? I adopted a bonded pair, and it worked great because they left my senior girl alone for the most part and played with each other.

 

[Yzma-86]

Sounds normal so far.
I recently adopted two boys with an existing senior resident cat. She behaved the same way as your current foster. She didn't eat much in the first few days.
It took several weeks for her to stop growling and accept the boys (mostly). They respect her boundaries as well. it takes time, sometimes months or more.

I did separate them for a few weeks when I took them home, the boys in the bathroom and she got the rest of the house. it allowed them to smell each other through the door and hear each other. The small short supervised visits with one another, by letting the boys out of the bathroom to roam and put their scent out while smelling her too.

I'd say as long as there's no chunks of fur flying and blood, it'll be okay soon. Maybe play with your new foster before bed, get him nice and tired so he'd rest that night. Teach him to change his habits, eventually he'll learn that night time is for sleeping and not playing.

Im wondering, is it possible to get another to keep him company and to play with? I adopted a bonded pair, and it worked great because they left my senior girl alone for the most part and played with each other.

Thank you very much for your answer. Yes I've been told it's all normal, and it's true this little guy just arrived two days ago and is still adjusting. I guess I've been really worried for things to go smoothly and it's been a lot.
Sadly since they're both felv positive they can't be around cats, that's why his family gave him up (they have another cat) and why he can be in contact with my current foster since they have the same disease already. I found sometimes my foster seemed bored and in demand of more stimulation than me, and I knew when she was a stray she was friends with another cat, so I thought I had to try and if all goes well she'll get some company.

 

[Draco]

It is certainly worth a try for sure!
I’d continue to try and keep patience. Keep things slow. Hopefully with time they will learn to tolerate one another and live happily together

 

[doomsdave]

Y Yzma-86 welcome to TCS and bless your heart for providing a home to kitties that really need one!

In my experience, most cats do eventually come to at least tolerate one another, though they rarely bond with others of their species like dogs often do.

If your living space has enough room to give each kitty a place to sit or sleep by itself, most cats will come to at least tolerate each other over time. The hard part is that sometimes it takes a lot of time.

I’ve also found it helpful to have the litter box on one end of the house and food and water on the other. That way, a would be warlord kitty will have a much harder time dominating any others you might have.

 

[doomsdave]

Y Yzma-86 let us know how it goes, good or bad or unsure.

 

[Yzma-86]

Thank you for your reply! Things have evolved a bit, my resident foster does wander around more now so she's less fearful, and when I play with them, they can be close to each other and she tolerates him so that's pretty positive. I think I will try to move the litterboxes in a more suited area they are indeed not to far from the eating area, I put them there temporarily initially but I guess it's not ideal.

The new "issue" but I guess it's normal since he's a bit younger, playful and likes other cats is that he's been trying to approach her to play, he tries to play with her tail, etc he's nice about it but he waits for her to eat or use the litterbox to try and get closer and she hates it, I found she seemed pretty stressed when moving around which makes me sad. When he minds his own business and when I keep him busy all is good but he can't keep his distance for too long and I can't be there all the time.

 

[Draco]

Cassie hated to play with Monet (RIP baby), and I've had them since they were kittens (a year apart). Monet would always want to play with her, but she'd hate it. He would pounce and wrestle her. Through the years she never tolerated him playing with her and they never bonded.

And that's alright.

Try to take time to play with the boy. Wear him out before bed time to have him sleep at night. Give him as much attention as you can. Search for interactive toys that can give you a bit of a break too

 

[Yzma-86]

Glad to see I'm not alone to have experienced this although I do wish he had a play partner and the resident foster got a break. I do have interactive toys which work, I also have various toys like a laser, rope at the end of a stick, balls, cardboard box I cut through to make a tunnel, he plays with it all with me and by himself but temporarily and at some point he redirects his energy to Yzma (the other cat) especially if he hears or sees her, the people who found him did say he seemed to care more for cats than humans and I kinda see it. He's still pretty sweet he deserves a nice family

For some reason the 3 kittens were worse in term of mess and energy, they were the definition chaos, but at least they could take it out on each other.