2 of our cats are very insecure.
One, Cleo, is feral insecure, with cats, with people(she tolerates me the most). She loves a good stroking, but gets overstimulated or back in feral state and she'll nip. She's turning 3 next month and most of her life she has lived in a 'cage'. It's her home base and she does explore out of it but one sound, one startle and she's right back in. I have tried play but as soon as another cat joins in, she's in her base and will not move nor try again.
The other, Baby, is old age insecure, she had a weird fall which did something to her tail. Vet said it wasn't broken but she had a lump at the base of her tail for quite a while. She is also sensitive to urinary problems when stressed and I suspect she also has nose polyps. She's 13 now. She has chosen the metal crate on top of Cleo's cage where I had her to recover from her fall. She will come out but one startle and she'll climb back in using a scratcher I have standing there.
There are 2 other cats, Thirteen and Amaya, in the same room, they were bullied a lot in the biggest group and they're both real sweet girls but curious. I try to play with Cleo, Amaya joins in and Cleo is gone. Thirteen will just go in to Cleo's base and lie on her pillow and Cleo will remain on her top shelve until I get Thirteen out.
Because of the 2 cages the room is extremely small. There's is a bit of room to run, climb, jump, sit in the window, but it's smoll.
Now ideally I want to evict the cages and have the 4 girls living together but I am worried what that will do to the mental state of both Cleo and Baby.
Any tips on how to do this?
One, Cleo, is feral insecure, with cats, with people(she tolerates me the most). She loves a good stroking, but gets overstimulated or back in feral state and she'll nip. She's turning 3 next month and most of her life she has lived in a 'cage'. It's her home base and she does explore out of it but one sound, one startle and she's right back in. I have tried play but as soon as another cat joins in, she's in her base and will not move nor try again.
The other, Baby, is old age insecure, she had a weird fall which did something to her tail. Vet said it wasn't broken but she had a lump at the base of her tail for quite a while. She is also sensitive to urinary problems when stressed and I suspect she also has nose polyps. She's 13 now. She has chosen the metal crate on top of Cleo's cage where I had her to recover from her fall. She will come out but one startle and she'll climb back in using a scratcher I have standing there.
There are 2 other cats, Thirteen and Amaya, in the same room, they were bullied a lot in the biggest group and they're both real sweet girls but curious. I try to play with Cleo, Amaya joins in and Cleo is gone. Thirteen will just go in to Cleo's base and lie on her pillow and Cleo will remain on her top shelve until I get Thirteen out.
Because of the 2 cages the room is extremely small. There's is a bit of room to run, climb, jump, sit in the window, but it's smoll.
Now ideally I want to evict the cages and have the 4 girls living together but I am worried what that will do to the mental state of both Cleo and Baby.
Any tips on how to do this?