My resident cat is a female tabby. She was a stray rescue at 6/8 weeks of age. She has been very sweet and compliant and her only downside is that she sometimes bites when you cuddle her. She went into heat at about 6 months of age and we got her spayed a week later, so 11 days ago. She had been living in the living room mostly, but since of her spay we moved her litterbox, food, and some toys to our bedroom. She was extremely sweet since she got home and good and sleeping a lot, but mostly being calm and cuddly.
New cat is 4 month old Russian Blue mix. He was adopted from a shelter, and his story is that he was bottle-fed by humans since he was found abandoned in a building at 1 week of age. He is extremely sweet and playful, and purrs as soon as you pick him up, and is a shoulder kitty that fetches. The lady at the shelter hand picked him for us based on the personality description of resident cat, since we expressed how we wanted mostly a partner for her. He was already neutered. So new cat came to the house 7 days ago, on day 5 post-spay of resident cat. We set him up in the living room and placed a towel under the door so they would not be able to see each other. The first day went very smoothly, and she was extremely indifferent to the new prescence. He was very curious about hers, sniffing under the door at any given chance.
Fast forward to day 2. Logistical errors happened. The towel moved out of place and new cat made eye contact with resident cat. She hissed 3 times. Began hiding and sulking. Stopped eating. Pooped outside her box. He was unaffected. Gave her some space, but still to this day, tries to dash into the room as soon as he sees the chance. (He is VERY slippery.)
I was trying to get Feliway when my friend stopped me and gave me these natural calming drops (opti-balance) which I slipped in resident kitty's food. Immediate change. More relaxed demeanor. Less defensiveness. Eliminating in box again. Eating again. Leaving the corner she was hiding at. I only gave her 2 drops since her stools got a little runny.
2 days ago we began switching their rooms for a few hours during the day. She is uncomfortable and I have to heavily coax her with treats and play time, but it is very time consuming since I have to go above and beyond to keep her engaged. The boy is fine wherever we put him.
I have also tried the sock thing and she just attacks the sock at the first hint of his scent. Like, kicking and everything. Obviously, that makes if very difficult. She is just not taking it well, and I think maybe the hormonal imbalance from the spay may be affecting her.
Is there any way to speed up this process? Temperatures are getting chilly and the bedroom has no heat. Also, I need to go back to work next week. Husband and I have been taking turns sleeping with each cat in a different room at night. I just want all of us to be together. My heart breaks every time I have to leave one of them alone to spend time with the other.
He is also a very sweet boy and I would absolutely hate to have to rehome of him.
New cat is 4 month old Russian Blue mix. He was adopted from a shelter, and his story is that he was bottle-fed by humans since he was found abandoned in a building at 1 week of age. He is extremely sweet and playful, and purrs as soon as you pick him up, and is a shoulder kitty that fetches. The lady at the shelter hand picked him for us based on the personality description of resident cat, since we expressed how we wanted mostly a partner for her. He was already neutered. So new cat came to the house 7 days ago, on day 5 post-spay of resident cat. We set him up in the living room and placed a towel under the door so they would not be able to see each other. The first day went very smoothly, and she was extremely indifferent to the new prescence. He was very curious about hers, sniffing under the door at any given chance.
Fast forward to day 2. Logistical errors happened. The towel moved out of place and new cat made eye contact with resident cat. She hissed 3 times. Began hiding and sulking. Stopped eating. Pooped outside her box. He was unaffected. Gave her some space, but still to this day, tries to dash into the room as soon as he sees the chance. (He is VERY slippery.)
I was trying to get Feliway when my friend stopped me and gave me these natural calming drops (opti-balance) which I slipped in resident kitty's food. Immediate change. More relaxed demeanor. Less defensiveness. Eliminating in box again. Eating again. Leaving the corner she was hiding at. I only gave her 2 drops since her stools got a little runny.
2 days ago we began switching their rooms for a few hours during the day. She is uncomfortable and I have to heavily coax her with treats and play time, but it is very time consuming since I have to go above and beyond to keep her engaged. The boy is fine wherever we put him.
I have also tried the sock thing and she just attacks the sock at the first hint of his scent. Like, kicking and everything. Obviously, that makes if very difficult. She is just not taking it well, and I think maybe the hormonal imbalance from the spay may be affecting her.
Is there any way to speed up this process? Temperatures are getting chilly and the bedroom has no heat. Also, I need to go back to work next week. Husband and I have been taking turns sleeping with each cat in a different room at night. I just want all of us to be together. My heart breaks every time I have to leave one of them alone to spend time with the other.
He is also a very sweet boy and I would absolutely hate to have to rehome of him.