- Joined
- Oct 31, 2012
- Messages
- 55
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- 12
Good day everyone!
A few weeks ago I found a lovely stray female (I guessed her age roundabout at 6 months) at work and after a trip to the vet to check on her health (and have her tested for FelHIV and Leukemia) my fiance and I decided to name her Peach and take her home. So we did the whole introduction with our resident cat Rasberry (a sterilised 8 month old kitten), exchanging the smells, keeping separate, and after a daunting (almost) two weeks, (which was also interupted by taking Peach to the vet yet again to be sterilised, so we had to start all over) we finally introduced them face to face. It went okay, they chased each other around the house the whole time. They're getting more comfortable with each other each day, which is a relief.They still don't like to sleep alongside each other, but they're getting along alright.
I just have a few questions regarding multiple cat households. I heard that cats like to establish their dominance over each other and have a hierarchy. Usually this is done by fighting, and this fighting is inevitable, no matter how well the cats get along. Is this in any part true? Rasberry and Peach have not (yet) had such a fight, and it doesn't seem like it will happen soon. Who will be the dominant one then? They don't mind sharing food or litter boxes (although we have tried to discourage both in the beginning, but it's a battle we admitted defeat to hahha!), they both sleep on the bed with us (although on separate places, but they're getting closer to each other with each new night). Rasberry seems very jealous of my fiance though, but I took it cause he's the only male now in the home. Peach used to growl at Rasberry when she was eating any food or using any litter box, but that doesn't happen anymore. Overall, they seem really to be enjoying the presence of the other. is there anything I must do to make their bond stronger? Or are they doing alright like they are now? Also, would it be okay if I place their feeding stations next to each other now, since they are not growling at each other when one of them is eating? Or would that be a bad idea? Also, I'm noticing that they're picking up on each others' habits and copying on the behaviour of the other. Rasberry never used to bother me while I was preparing food in the kitchen, but since she's seen Peach tries her luck to grab something to eat while I'm busy, she now tries to do the same. We're trying to teach Peach the correct manners, the way we taught Rasberry, but needless to say it's not really working. Haha! She's not that badly behaved though, it's just when it comes to food. Any advice on how I can show her what's okay and what's not? I don't want to scare her.
A few weeks ago I found a lovely stray female (I guessed her age roundabout at 6 months) at work and after a trip to the vet to check on her health (and have her tested for FelHIV and Leukemia) my fiance and I decided to name her Peach and take her home. So we did the whole introduction with our resident cat Rasberry (a sterilised 8 month old kitten), exchanging the smells, keeping separate, and after a daunting (almost) two weeks, (which was also interupted by taking Peach to the vet yet again to be sterilised, so we had to start all over) we finally introduced them face to face. It went okay, they chased each other around the house the whole time. They're getting more comfortable with each other each day, which is a relief.They still don't like to sleep alongside each other, but they're getting along alright.
I just have a few questions regarding multiple cat households. I heard that cats like to establish their dominance over each other and have a hierarchy. Usually this is done by fighting, and this fighting is inevitable, no matter how well the cats get along. Is this in any part true? Rasberry and Peach have not (yet) had such a fight, and it doesn't seem like it will happen soon. Who will be the dominant one then? They don't mind sharing food or litter boxes (although we have tried to discourage both in the beginning, but it's a battle we admitted defeat to hahha!), they both sleep on the bed with us (although on separate places, but they're getting closer to each other with each new night). Rasberry seems very jealous of my fiance though, but I took it cause he's the only male now in the home. Peach used to growl at Rasberry when she was eating any food or using any litter box, but that doesn't happen anymore. Overall, they seem really to be enjoying the presence of the other. is there anything I must do to make their bond stronger? Or are they doing alright like they are now? Also, would it be okay if I place their feeding stations next to each other now, since they are not growling at each other when one of them is eating? Or would that be a bad idea? Also, I'm noticing that they're picking up on each others' habits and copying on the behaviour of the other. Rasberry never used to bother me while I was preparing food in the kitchen, but since she's seen Peach tries her luck to grab something to eat while I'm busy, she now tries to do the same. We're trying to teach Peach the correct manners, the way we taught Rasberry, but needless to say it's not really working. Haha! She's not that badly behaved though, it's just when it comes to food. Any advice on how I can show her what's okay and what's not? I don't want to scare her.