That's really cool! Actually inviting Hooper
Here's hope for that continuing!Thanks for reminding me of this. I need to do thisSo what about making some homemade cat puzzles. (pretty much all these ideas are from other members)
Homemade Puzzles - Food Puzzles for Cats
(the above link was provided byFurballsmom ..and also @Hellenww.)
(I just did a "search" for 'cat food puzzles'....in the upper right hand corner...and you get many threads that mention them.)
We have a couple of puzzles - one that can hold toys or treats and one food puzzle. Unfortunately Hooper isn't very food motivated when he is in hyperdrive! Rotating toys really helps, as does vigorous games of fetch. I am enjoying the fact that he will sometimes calm down enough to nap on my lap.I know you mentioned that you have many toys for Hooper and Twyla, but are you into 'arts and crafts'.
A member on another thread, @Animal Freak, mentioned how mental stimulation for a cat is very effective for tiring them out.
So what about making some homemade cat puzzles. (pretty much all these ideas are from other members)
Homemade Puzzles - Food Puzzles for Cats
(the above link was provided by
(I just did a "search" for 'cat food puzzles'....in the upper right hand corner...and you get many threads that mention them.)
I can easily go back to providing a little more distraction than I did today.
I think a little distraction can be good. It is really about having them have a positive encounter. It really doesn't matter if a person is there or not but it does make it easier to have a person there providing a conduit of positivity. Anything to have them together without any negativity (which is a positive).
Maybe so, hang in there!!
I just updated the post with their second encounter of the day. Super short, but better (and weirder).
Lordy!! I've got nothing lol which is to say, I really don't have a clue!
That tells me he is learning that Twyla doesn't accept some of this stuff. If there was a problem he would be attacking her. He didn't nor did she attack him. This is a major positive.
Eating together : Twyla is always focused just on the food. Hooper sometimes is but his focus will shift from food to Twyla."having them eat together at the gates" - How did they do? Focused on the food and not too much on each other?
"They were playing nicely and peacefully through the gate and so I let Twyla out a little earlier than I planned because she was insistent (she absolutely refuses to use the litter box in the bedroom). I managed to keep him distracted while she did her business but otherwise it was pretty chaotic and my attempts at distraction were pretty useless. Everyone is fine but days like this are pretty discouraging." - Great that they were well behaved at the fate and GREAT that he could be distracted while she used the litter. When you saw chaotic, was it just rough stuff? Was there any hiding (for long periods not short).
When you say everyone is fine - does that mean they acted normal after the chasing, batting, etc?
Was there any serious issues - meaning did you see any fear in wither cat? Or any change in behavior? Or any real fighting?
If they rebounded quickly and you think Hooper may be a bit tired out (I know it is hard to tire them out) then I think you could try again but not a big deal if you don't.
One thing. Does Twyla like the bedroom? I know she doesn't like to use that litter box. I do want to make sure she is using the litter box when she needs to. Hooper is going to be fine in integrating into the house so I would probably err on the side of Twyla having more access to the litter box she likes.
I was going to answer to the question about trying again but I see you did it (which was my advice if you thought it would be positive). And I would call the interaction in the bedroom very positive. Here is why:
"He came up and they touched noses" - Not a sign of distrust. A sign of trust. GREAT.
"and then he slowly opened his mouth as if to bite her neck. She drew back and he stopped" - Yep, cats will do that. Like a Love Bite. AND he stopped!!!
"hen wandered the bed and room a bit and then sat quietly looking out the window from the cat tree next to the bed" - WOW, this is AWESOME!!! Not paying attention to Twyla???? WELL DONE HOOPER!!! And it shows us that Twyla is getting through to him. Teaching him.
"A few minutes later he came up to her again, with me doing some gentle redirection with a pillow." - Good job trying to distract.
"He walked around to her backside and slowly opened his mouth as if to lick her but instead pulled off a little bit of loose fur." - Another love bite. If he anted to attack, hurt he could have. He chose not to. THAT is a GREAT sign. BTW, one of my ferals is exactly like this. Always giving the other boy a love bite.
"she really didn't respond to what he was doing and couldn't even be bothered to get up or hiss." - And if you don't believe my take on it Twyla is telling us the same thing. I can;t tell you how positive her reaction is. TRUST. The cats will tell us when there is a problem. Twyla saw it as a non-event. This tells me you have basically succeeded. We need to finish off the last little bit but this went as well as it can. If there were issues this would not have been like this.
"Everyone was calm at that point so I took him up to his room." - successful positive encounter!!
"So what does THAT behavior mean?" - It means he has no intention of hurting her (if he wanted to he could have), it is play/love, she doesn't fear him and she trusts him (no cat would let another cat get behind them if they didn't trust them).
Everyone was calm and it was a positive encounter. I think this tells us a lot. I tells us that they are basically intro'd. Meaning the trust is there. We still need to finish the process off, getting them to not focus totally on each other (mostly Hooper to Twyla) which we just need to get over the novelty of having this new, cool playmate. She is teaching him so rules and he obeys at times (no as often as we like but he is young).
Just keep making the positive associations (feeding them near each other (treats or a meal, gate or no gate which ever works that they eat instead of focus on each other) and keep trying to make the encounters as positive as possible.
My take is Hooper feels really comfortable with Twyla and wants to play pretty much all the time with her. She tolerates and trusts him but after a while gets annoyed as adult cats aren't about play all the time like young cats. He will get the point that Twyla is not always wanting to play. Use distraction etc to get him to "let up" and hopefully Twyla will do her part to communicate her displeasure.
I know it feels frustrating as they are chasing and it isn't ever calm and feels chaotic and distraction is hard as a toy or food is not as attractive as another cool cat but actually there are a lot of positives in this. I am really pleased because we are not worried about one cat hurting another cat (intentionally) but rather just trying to limit the bother of one cat to another. Watching how they act after (calm, normal) tells me that they think it is fine (though in the heat of the moment Twyla is probably getting tired of it).
Do you ever see Twyla instigate chases etc? And how does Hooper act? I think when Twyla chased him under the bed and pawed and then groomed herself might have been an instance, any others?
They are fine. Just keep making positive associations and positive encounters. The novelty of Twyla will reduce in time.The bedroom is a really good place it seems to make positive encounters.
Don't worry, you are doing great.
(me) just never want to stop eating it. 
Thank you so much! They have had two sessions today, the first was pretty awesome, but I think they were over stimulated during the second and had several wrestling matches, then a peaceful interlude and then a really big tussle, afterwards Hooper shot under the bed and Twyla followed and they just sat and looked at each other before he ran out of the bedroom and I ended things for the day. They were both in a very relaxed state the first session, Hooper was in a quieter mood and followed me into the bedroom when I went to get something. Twyla saw him and woke up, he jumped on the bed and they did a very long greeting with nose touches, attempted love bites and Hooper trying to throw his front leg over Twyla's back, which she gently rebuffed. There was a lot of the same type of activity as on the videos, but Hooper was distracted enough that Twyla was able to go use her box, wander around the living room and do some birdwatching before coming back to the bedroom. The second encounter wasn't planned, Twyla was right at the door to the bedroom and came out ready to rumble! Talk about letting her set the pace. After I put Hooper up in his room, Twyla came out and ate and passed out hard in my lap. Putting that boy in his place is hard work!
