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- Aug 28, 2021
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Hello, looking for advice. We have resident cat, Frankie, who is about 2 years old and we've had him for 6 months. I recently brought in a new cat, Buddy, who is about 10 years old. I hadn't planned to get another cat but Buddy's owner is going into long term care and needed to find him a home. I was going to bring him home and try to find him a new home but, of course, we fell in love with him. Frankie is playful and boisterous and always getting into things, he is super fun and sweet. Buddy is much more mellow, of course he's still getting used to all this new stuff. He doesn't seem to be aggressive at all, just a really sweet guy. We followed the recommended steps and had them to the stage where they were eating on either side of a baby gate with no issues. Initially there was some hissing from Frankie but we had gotten past that. We decided to try an introduction and seemed to be going well until Frankie lunged aggressively at Buddy. I was able to separate them immediately but then Buddy was quite fearful of Frankie. We went back to having them separated behind a closed door and worked back to them being able to see each other and eat on either side of the baby gate. So back on track. Then we went away for a week, this had been planned for months before we got Buddy. Our usual cat sitter backed out on us so Frankie ended up going to a Cat Hotel for a week and Buddy stayed at home with a friend coming in every day to spend time with him, it was too late to get Buddy into the Hotel. So we got home, Frankie had an awful time at the hotel, very nervous and hid the whole time so he had a bad week. Buddy was fine. After we got home, Frankie slipped through the baby gate and attacked Buddy, bit his ear, scratched him. We got them separated quickly but the damage was done, now Buddy is totally afraid and hiding/hissing in his safe room. I brought in something with Frankie's scent to Buddy's room and he immediately started hissing.
Some other details that may be helpful- Frankie was a very nervous cat when we got him, he is now totally cool but is definitely nervous about new things. Ever since we got him, Buddy has sprayed around his litter box marking his territory. We have one litter box that they can both access (when we allow them into each other's area) Buddy will spray around this box as well. I've never had a cat who sprayed before so not sure if this is normal. They both have their own litter box as well. We have the Feliway diffuser.
Can this relationship be saved? I'm worried Buddy will now be so afraid of Frankie after being attacked. We have them separated completely again and planning to slowly work through the steps again until they are able to see and eat around each other without a reaction but nervous about how we will be able to introduce them in person. Any advice appreciated!
Some other details that may be helpful- Frankie was a very nervous cat when we got him, he is now totally cool but is definitely nervous about new things. Ever since we got him, Buddy has sprayed around his litter box marking his territory. We have one litter box that they can both access (when we allow them into each other's area) Buddy will spray around this box as well. I've never had a cat who sprayed before so not sure if this is normal. They both have their own litter box as well. We have the Feliway diffuser.
Can this relationship be saved? I'm worried Buddy will now be so afraid of Frankie after being attacked. We have them separated completely again and planning to slowly work through the steps again until they are able to see and eat around each other without a reaction but nervous about how we will be able to introduce them in person. Any advice appreciated!