Introduction not going so good!

[teejay89]

We have a one year old female cat named Iris, and we wanted to her get her a friend to play with because she is very attached to me, and when I leave during the day my boyfriend says she cries afterwards. She was around her litter mates when she was a baby but hasn't been around cats since. So we adopted a 4 month old boy kitty named Oliver, he is super affectionate, playful and sweet. Iris is not that much of a touchy feely cat, she does not sit in our laps and if we pet her too much the teeth come out. But she is still affectionate in her own way, she sleeps with us in the bed and gets super happy when I come home and wake up in the mornings. Anywho..

We brought home Oliver yesterday, so it's still early in the intro game with them but so far not so good. She has seen Oliver, and is not happy about it. We have him in a spare bathroom right now, when she sees him through the crack of the door if we open it slightly she will sit there and stare at him. He accidentally slipped by us last night and got out, and Iris started growling and hissing at him. I knew that was going to happen for a while, but I just don't know to what extent and I'm scared we're going to have to bring him back to where we got him if in a few days Iris doesn't calm down. She not only is getting aggressive towards him, but she bit my boyfriend really hard when he was trying to put him back in the bathroom.

I tried last night to take the blanket he has been laying on and put it near her, she sniffed it and hissed at the blanket. He slept in the bathroom last night. I tried this morning to feed her her wet food outside of the bathroom door because I saw that maybe that could help, but as soon as she heard him moving around in the bathroom she backed away from her food and didn't eat at all. So I put her food back in the kitchen and took his blanket and put it in the kitchen too, a few feet away which she sniffed but still wouldn't touch her food. She usually vacuums up her food in the mornings when I give it to her.

My question is..do I have to keep him locked up in the bathroom for weeks? It hurts me so much knowing he wants to be with us but can't be unless we go in there with him. We are trying to take it slow with them, but then I have people I know say just let him out, because they will never get used to each other through a door cracked open. I just don't want him to get hurt!

 

[catpack]

It can take months or longer for cats to acclimate to each other. Patience is key. You need to move at the pace of the cat progressing slowest (Iris) and let them dictate when to move to the next step.

You've had Oliver for less than 24 hours and Iris has already had direct sight/contact with him. This is moving too quick.

Oliver needs to stay confined to his area. Do not let him out right now. You can put a baby gate up at his door to keep him from bolting out when you go in (step over gate to enter room).

Hold off on scent swapping for awhile. Iris can smell Oliver in his room. Also, hold off on feeding Iris close to where Oliver is. You really want to keep Iris's routine as close to normal as possible right now.

Once Iris can sit at Oliver's door without showing signs of aggression (no growling/hissing) you can move into the next step.

The idea with introductions is to get the cats coexisting and sharing space. They may or may not end up being buddies.

I know you got Oliver as a companion for Iris. She may or may not want this. The biggest question is do *you* want another cat? Are you willing to give both cats proper time to adjust?

This article has some really good tips
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-successfully-introduce-cats-the-ultimate-guide

 

[teejay89]

Thanks for the reply!

When you say sit at the door without showing aggression, do you mean cracking the door open or it just being closed? We are going to be taking it a lot slower now, we want them to get along but since this is Iris's first interaction with another cat in a long time I dont know if it's just going to take her a long time to adjust, or sadly if she just needs to be the only cat in the home. I'm hoping it gets better because I would hate to get attached to Oliver then have to find him a new home because Iris just can't adjust. But we are going to do everything we can to try to make it work!

 

[catpack]

When I say sit by the door, I mean with the door closed. She doesn't need anymore contact with Oliver than that at this point.

Also, not that you are, but don't scold Iris for growling or hissing. This is completely normal behavior. You can, however try to offer her special treats (freeze-dried meat treats or even Gerber stage 2 meat baby food (the plain meat...chicken and chicken gravy or turkey and turkey gravy) when she is close to the door or even if she walks by the door without showing any aggression.

 

[teejay89]

Ok thanks!

No we don't scold her at all for anything she is doing. My boyfriend got upset at her when she bit him, but he didn't react on it at all because he knows shes just stressed. We will try the treats today and see how that goes with her. I know I tried to give her some last night but she was upset and didnt eat them at all.