- Joined
- Aug 4, 2020
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- 4
- Purraise
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Hi guys!
So I have a 6 year old female resident cat who is typically very energetic, playful and chatty. She welcomes people at the door and has previously gotten along very well with new people, children and dogs. Ive never heard her even hiss before. She's very bold and self assured and not much except riding in the car ever seemed to faze her. She NEVER hides and follows us around most of the day... She's really fun and does well when people are around but when she's left by herself and she is now the only animal in the household so once covid is over that is going to happen more often... Which is why we decided to get a kitten given her history of getting along with everything...
THEN EVERYTHING CHANGED.
New kitten is 11 weeks old and male and is a very calm, sweet, curious little guy.
We kept him in a separate room for a week and slowly introduced them both over a week and a half with meals behind the door, smell swapping, and then with meals behind a screen and after all that was fine with zero aggression, no growling, no hissing, we decided to try the in person intro with toys and whatnot.
Resident cat was immediately distracted from playing when the kitten sidled up to her. No hair raised, resident and kitten seemed fairly confident, though I could tell resident cat was a little on edge, she just seemed cautious. I distracted her with a toy for a second, and then like a switch, she broke off and just pounced on top of the little guy. He squealed, we made a loud noise, and she jumped off and hissed at him so freaking aggressively it freaked me out.
We immediately removed them from the situation and they both seemed fine. He didn't seem distressed and she just rubbed against my bf and went about her day and he just started playing in his room.
I on the other hand, was completely discouraged and heartbroken. I'm so worried she is going to hurt him. She didn't give any warning before just launching at him and I've never seen her do more than annoyedly bop the former dog on the head before. I'd never seen her with another cat before and when I adopted her 4 years ago, they said she was fine with other cats...
I've never introduced cats before but could really use some help or advice... I've read about cats hissing and swatting but not full on pouncing on without warning - no hair was even raised and I'm just so worried it's not going to work out or that she'll hurt the kitten... Our current plan is just to introduce over the course of a month instead of a week and a half and hope for the best?
Since the encounter two days ago, whenever she smells him, her pupils get huge and she is more standoffish than usual... She likes to sit outside his door but doesn't scratch to try to get in like she does for other closed doors. I found her under the bed yesterday and she was NEVER an under the bed cat and now I'm worried she'll hate me forever...
Any advice or insight would be GREATLY appreciated. I plan on talking to my vet as well...
So I have a 6 year old female resident cat who is typically very energetic, playful and chatty. She welcomes people at the door and has previously gotten along very well with new people, children and dogs. Ive never heard her even hiss before. She's very bold and self assured and not much except riding in the car ever seemed to faze her. She NEVER hides and follows us around most of the day... She's really fun and does well when people are around but when she's left by herself and she is now the only animal in the household so once covid is over that is going to happen more often... Which is why we decided to get a kitten given her history of getting along with everything...
THEN EVERYTHING CHANGED.
New kitten is 11 weeks old and male and is a very calm, sweet, curious little guy.
We kept him in a separate room for a week and slowly introduced them both over a week and a half with meals behind the door, smell swapping, and then with meals behind a screen and after all that was fine with zero aggression, no growling, no hissing, we decided to try the in person intro with toys and whatnot.
Resident cat was immediately distracted from playing when the kitten sidled up to her. No hair raised, resident and kitten seemed fairly confident, though I could tell resident cat was a little on edge, she just seemed cautious. I distracted her with a toy for a second, and then like a switch, she broke off and just pounced on top of the little guy. He squealed, we made a loud noise, and she jumped off and hissed at him so freaking aggressively it freaked me out.
We immediately removed them from the situation and they both seemed fine. He didn't seem distressed and she just rubbed against my bf and went about her day and he just started playing in his room.
I on the other hand, was completely discouraged and heartbroken. I'm so worried she is going to hurt him. She didn't give any warning before just launching at him and I've never seen her do more than annoyedly bop the former dog on the head before. I'd never seen her with another cat before and when I adopted her 4 years ago, they said she was fine with other cats...
I've never introduced cats before but could really use some help or advice... I've read about cats hissing and swatting but not full on pouncing on without warning - no hair was even raised and I'm just so worried it's not going to work out or that she'll hurt the kitten... Our current plan is just to introduce over the course of a month instead of a week and a half and hope for the best?
Since the encounter two days ago, whenever she smells him, her pupils get huge and she is more standoffish than usual... She likes to sit outside his door but doesn't scratch to try to get in like she does for other closed doors. I found her under the bed yesterday and she was NEVER an under the bed cat and now I'm worried she'll hate me forever...
Any advice or insight would be GREATLY appreciated. I plan on talking to my vet as well...