- Joined
- Nov 12, 2019
- Messages
- 6
- Purraise
- 2
Two weeks ago we adopted a beautiful tortie medium hair 3 yr old female cat from Petsmart. Her description indicated that she was good with people, children, dogs, and cats (umm, not so sure about this) which is great since we have two senior rag dolls cats (12 and 14 years old). New kitty was found as a stray on someone's property and then brought to a shelter where she was then transferred to the Humane Society and then to Petsmart to be adopted out. It was a month's time that she was in the shelter's hands. No idea how long she was a stray for. She did have an old ratty collar on. No one came to claim her.
We brought her home and have had her in our basement family room which is a nice area for her since it is where we go to watch TV at times and is nice and cozy for new kitty. There is also an attached bathroom that has her litter box, food, and water. Since our two resident cats have their litter boxes in the back utility area, at night we close new kitty in the bathroom. It also gives our resident cats time to have the whole house to themselves and easy access to their litter boxes. New kitty seems fine with it being in the bathroom. New kitty is very social and loving and when we do go down, she is so happy to see us. However, she isn't happy at all about the resident cats! When we are trying to introduce them with the door closed and food/treats, she growls and charges the door. We have also had to carry our resident cats down to the utility area for them to use the litter box (we do this very carefully and quickly so she doesn't see them), but on two occasions new kitty has ATTACKED US while coming down the steps. I guess she ultimately knows we are carrying a cat in our arms. Since our one kitty is very very old, we have let new kitty upstairs to get to explore the rest of the house and i have kept old kitty out since all she is doing is sleeping, and even with no movement of old kitty, new kitty growls at her. Good thing old kitty sleeps through it all.
My question is, should we move new kitty to a bedroom so we don't have the issue of resident cats needing special maneuvers to their litter boxes? We feel as though new kitty has become territorial of her basement and doesn't like any other kitty entering. We are just worried it will be too small and too isolating. She is really ready and loving exploring the house (although she is a bit jumpy and startles easily) so we hate leaving her locked up too much.
Are we doing this right? Is it normal for this to take weeks? She really scares us when she becomes so aggressive. Is Jackson Galaxy the best resource to follow?
In addition, we noticed that our one male ragdoll has started to sleep more than usual. He also isn't nearly as playful as he usually is. He just looks at his toys with blank stares. This is very concerning to me as he is my baby. He has had IBD in the past, but has been doing well. I'm really worried this is stressing him too much or is it unrelated and he is having some health issues return. He seems indifferent about the new kitty, although he has grumbled at her and then walked away.
We really don't want to give up on her, but we also don't like seeing her stressed and are worried about our one resident kitty. A vet visit is in order for our resident male but he is HORRIBLE at the vet and I don't want to stress him more for her to only say it is the new cat making him upset. Is this a common thing for resident cats to become lethargic and isolate themselves and less playful? As of now, they aren't really interacting at all, but my resident kitty knows new kitty is around I'm sure. When do you say something isn't working out before you take them back to the shelter? Ugh. Any HELP or GUIDANCE would be wonderful!
Just as a side note, the plan is that in 2 months I was going to fly with new kitty out to take her to my daughter in Denver where she will be an only cat. Can a kitty be kept for 2 months in a bedroom? With her being so social I hate to do that. Now at least she has the whole basement and even the TV to keep her company. And in the evenings we spend lots of time with her.
This is new kitty! You can see how gorgeous she is! She is truly a sweet girl, just not sure about how much she can tolerate other cats? Or is it just a time thing?
We brought her home and have had her in our basement family room which is a nice area for her since it is where we go to watch TV at times and is nice and cozy for new kitty. There is also an attached bathroom that has her litter box, food, and water. Since our two resident cats have their litter boxes in the back utility area, at night we close new kitty in the bathroom. It also gives our resident cats time to have the whole house to themselves and easy access to their litter boxes. New kitty seems fine with it being in the bathroom. New kitty is very social and loving and when we do go down, she is so happy to see us. However, she isn't happy at all about the resident cats! When we are trying to introduce them with the door closed and food/treats, she growls and charges the door. We have also had to carry our resident cats down to the utility area for them to use the litter box (we do this very carefully and quickly so she doesn't see them), but on two occasions new kitty has ATTACKED US while coming down the steps. I guess she ultimately knows we are carrying a cat in our arms. Since our one kitty is very very old, we have let new kitty upstairs to get to explore the rest of the house and i have kept old kitty out since all she is doing is sleeping, and even with no movement of old kitty, new kitty growls at her. Good thing old kitty sleeps through it all.
My question is, should we move new kitty to a bedroom so we don't have the issue of resident cats needing special maneuvers to their litter boxes? We feel as though new kitty has become territorial of her basement and doesn't like any other kitty entering. We are just worried it will be too small and too isolating. She is really ready and loving exploring the house (although she is a bit jumpy and startles easily) so we hate leaving her locked up too much.
Are we doing this right? Is it normal for this to take weeks? She really scares us when she becomes so aggressive. Is Jackson Galaxy the best resource to follow?
In addition, we noticed that our one male ragdoll has started to sleep more than usual. He also isn't nearly as playful as he usually is. He just looks at his toys with blank stares. This is very concerning to me as he is my baby. He has had IBD in the past, but has been doing well. I'm really worried this is stressing him too much or is it unrelated and he is having some health issues return. He seems indifferent about the new kitty, although he has grumbled at her and then walked away.
We really don't want to give up on her, but we also don't like seeing her stressed and are worried about our one resident kitty. A vet visit is in order for our resident male but he is HORRIBLE at the vet and I don't want to stress him more for her to only say it is the new cat making him upset. Is this a common thing for resident cats to become lethargic and isolate themselves and less playful? As of now, they aren't really interacting at all, but my resident kitty knows new kitty is around I'm sure. When do you say something isn't working out before you take them back to the shelter? Ugh. Any HELP or GUIDANCE would be wonderful!
Just as a side note, the plan is that in 2 months I was going to fly with new kitty out to take her to my daughter in Denver where she will be an only cat. Can a kitty be kept for 2 months in a bedroom? With her being so social I hate to do that. Now at least she has the whole basement and even the TV to keep her company. And in the evenings we spend lots of time with her.
This is new kitty! You can see how gorgeous she is! She is truly a sweet girl, just not sure about how much she can tolerate other cats? Or is it just a time thing?