There's definitely no hate there, if there was you would know it instantly. There would be hissing, growling, shrieking, and very loud chasing through the house with fur flying everywhere and each interaction would end with blood. There would be no calm talking to eachother through the door, they would be hissing and growling very loudly with laid back ears.Trust me, I have thought of everyone in my life as a potential home for Finn, and I've come up empty. My nerves are actually much better when they're out, I just can't watch them interact- I have to busy myself doing something and then we're fine. It's when I hear the yelping that I go step in. It's always Charlie yelping - I don't hear aggressive noises, just defensive noises. And that breaks my heart.
However, I'm not willing to rehome Finn if this is simply a time issue. If there's a good possibility of them being able to work through this with time, I will do that. What I'm not willing to do is continue to try integrating two males who will always hate each other (or rather, one hate the other). That's no quality of life for any of us. I can give it another month or two, but I don't have another year of living like this in me.
Baby gate and shelving up, but door is closed unless I can be there to directly supervise, because Finn is Houdini. I learned through experience that he can scale and escape anything.Do you still have the baby gates up to Finn's room? Or is the door closed?
I agree. What you hear is resident Charlie, who I think really wants to be friends with Finn. Last night when they were out, I was playing with a new toy with Finn. Charlie came over and joined us just to watch for a while. Then he moved away and laid down, relaxed. The minute his guard was down, Finn charged and attacked with zero warning. One minute he was playing with me, and the next he was on top of Charlie with Charlie crying. Then Charlie runs away to escape, and Finn chases him while trying to bite him. Charlie stops and hisses and smacks him, Finn circles and positions himself to pounce again, then I step in. This is how it goes every time. I don't hear shrieking from Finn, though, but he's not the one being attacked. What do you make of that behavior? I'm genuinely stumped and just trying to understand what's happening. I feel like a slow learner in the cat department.There's definitely no hate there, if there was you would know it instantly. There would be hissing, growling, shrieking, and very loud chasing through the house with fur flying everywhere and each interaction would end with blood. There would be no calm talking to eachother through the door, they would be hissing and growling very loudly with laid back ears.
You may be right. How exactly is dominance established - does there have to be a fight? Charlie already flees when Finn attacks, which appears to my human eyes to be acceding dominance to Finn. Is there something that typically happens that settles this between cats? I've tried searching google but..nada.I can't be 100 sure but from what you describe it sounds like they're still trying to work out who's the alpha.
I guess having a Houdini cat makes it harder.Baby gate and shelving up, but door is closed unless I can be there to directly supervise, because Finn is Houdini. I learned through experience that he can scale and escape anything.
That's another hard thing to nail down. For some Cats seeing another animal run away triggers their "hunt" instinct even if it's obviously not something they would eat and they now see that animal as prey, even if it's another Cat. If Charlie is actively running away from Finn it's possible this is what is going on.You may be right. How exactly is dominance established - does there have to be a fight? Charlie already flees when Finn attacks, which appears to my human eyes to be acceding dominance to Finn. Is there something that typically happens that settles this between cats? I've tried searching google but..nada.
I have tried leaving the door open, but Finn is an escape artist and requires constant supervision when door is open. I have an extra-tall baby gate and 6-ft shelving behind it, and he easily jumps the baby gate and scales the shelving. I tried putting a baby gate over the top of the shelving to block the top exit, and when I turned around he had somehow gotten on TOP of that and was sitting looking for a way to jump down. I tried stacking baby gate on top of the extra tall one, and that leads a 9 inch space on top which he can get through. When I do leave the door open and observe from around the corner, he wails incessantly and gets agitated that he can see out but can't be out, and that's when he starts feverishly trying to scale and escape the room.It's a good sign that Charlie is at Finns door.
Sorry you are going through this, but yeah I agree step back is good.
Is there any way you can modify the door so they can hang out with each other when your not there safely?
I think Finn would calm down without the door closed and Charlie and Finn can interact in a way that is safe for Charlie, they may even play through the door.
I have a toy on a string in between Joey and Walli, Joey plays with it, but Walli won't even come close to the door.
I have had to close the door, because Walli took backwards steps.
Oooh, how did you get a piece of board up there without damaging the door frame? If I could figure out a way to cover that space up, I could try this!I have baby gates on hinges and yes I understand the gap, I had to fill the gap with a thin piece of board, Joey is a climber too!
I will pray for you! looking back it's only been 2 months for all you have gone through, don't be discouraged! you have come a long way.
this is just a little setback, I know it's frustrating, dang it Finn, be a good boy!!
Yes, I do, too. Up until now he has been peeing a LOT. As in I'm cleaning out his litterbox 3x daily and filling up his litter genie every 2-3 days. Today is the first time I've seen him squatting and straining. It's not poop problems because he had just done that. so I wonder if the issue never resolved, or did it just return, and why? Most IMPORTANT question - So this is not an emergency that I need to rush to emergency vet tonight? I won't be home tomorrow til 1:20-2:00 and I worry about his little bladder filling up. I put a lot of water in his food tonight, so if I don't see a pee ball in his box before bed...emergency vet or no? Thank you - never a need to apologize for saying anything, I want to hear it!I think his urinary issue is still there. After your test tomorrow, call the vet. You said he has loose Pooh so I doubt he is straining to poo. Urinary stuff makes you feel like you need to pee all the time. You go but , don’t produce. It’s uncomfortable and will make it hard for him to be tolerant of Charlie. Solve this and things should change. Call the vet tomorrow. You may be able to get oral meds without going in. You could leave a message on their machine now, probably.
Yes! I will try to post from my phone in just a minute. Thank you! I'm not a 'handy' person at all, so I envy your skills and welcome your suggestions and ideas!I will take a pic of what I have, can you take a pic of the top part of your door
no rush, I seem to be pretty good at figuring out the containment issues!
just in case my thing doesn't work for you.
That is wonderful - good luck tonight and let us know how it goes!I won't be able to post pics till tomorrow, Going to Towne Council meeting with my Friend to talk about Feral Cats!!!