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- Nov 5, 2021
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We have a 7 year-old cat who used to make friends with dogs and cats when she was 3 years old (I walked her on a leash for years until two people scared her by riding straight at her on their bikes).
My husband is very ill and because she's not getting as much attention as she used to and doesn't go for many walks now, I decided I'd try to introduce a new cat so that she's have some company (also, we love cats).
I waited for a long time until I saw the cat that had the right profile, and we adopted him two weeks ago. He is 9, and has lived with another cat very successfully. His people had to give up their pets for financial reasons, and it seems to us that he would be a good fit. He is very shy about humans, but has good cat manners, and he is very sweet..
When we first brought Dude home, my Willow seemed to be very interested in his scent, even licking my hand after I'd patted Dude. She indicated that she might even want to play, rolling around outside the door to the bedroom where we put him and licking her tail, which is her play signal. We kept him in the bedroom for a week until he felt comfortable around us, but then he started to demand to be let out.
We placed a gate at the top of the stairs to keep them apart. He definitely wanted to come up, and he also wanted to be friendly with Willow. Willow just stared at him through the gate -- no growling, no puffing up, just staring, with her ear forward. Dude is very socially adept and kept cooing at her and blinking, and eventually she looked away, but she stared at him for a long time.
We kept in him locked up at night and allowed him to come up to the gate for three days, and also allowed him to roam the whole house with Willow locked up so he knows where he lives. But on day four, he got frustrated with the gate and leapt over it. At first it looked like a fight, but he just turned his back on her and climbed into the window sill, where he ignored her. I thought we were good, since they both slept in the living room for several hours that evening before we separated them for the night.
But now I'm worried that she's not going to tolerate him.
Where we are now (two days later) is that she gives him the stink-eye all the time, and he does seem wary of her. She will not allow him to eat nearby, which the thing that worried me most -- there was some stalking behaviour when I tried feeding them in the same room, which I quickly averted by patting her. She follows him with her eyes all the time. When I see that behaviour I distract her with play or treats, but she's still doing it.
She is a very big cat with very sharp claws and I'm worried that she'll jump him and hurt him. There's only been a couple of minor hissing incidents, no fighting, but Willow stares at him all the time. I feel as though we aren't making any progress. We love both cats and would hate to have to take Dude back to the SPCA because he's 9 and hard to place, but we can't have any disruption because my husband is very ill.
The thing is, how do I know they're okay together? I was hoping for this to go better, and I really need it to work. At what point is it going to be okay?
My husband is very ill and because she's not getting as much attention as she used to and doesn't go for many walks now, I decided I'd try to introduce a new cat so that she's have some company (also, we love cats).
I waited for a long time until I saw the cat that had the right profile, and we adopted him two weeks ago. He is 9, and has lived with another cat very successfully. His people had to give up their pets for financial reasons, and it seems to us that he would be a good fit. He is very shy about humans, but has good cat manners, and he is very sweet..
When we first brought Dude home, my Willow seemed to be very interested in his scent, even licking my hand after I'd patted Dude. She indicated that she might even want to play, rolling around outside the door to the bedroom where we put him and licking her tail, which is her play signal. We kept him in the bedroom for a week until he felt comfortable around us, but then he started to demand to be let out.
We placed a gate at the top of the stairs to keep them apart. He definitely wanted to come up, and he also wanted to be friendly with Willow. Willow just stared at him through the gate -- no growling, no puffing up, just staring, with her ear forward. Dude is very socially adept and kept cooing at her and blinking, and eventually she looked away, but she stared at him for a long time.
We kept in him locked up at night and allowed him to come up to the gate for three days, and also allowed him to roam the whole house with Willow locked up so he knows where he lives. But on day four, he got frustrated with the gate and leapt over it. At first it looked like a fight, but he just turned his back on her and climbed into the window sill, where he ignored her. I thought we were good, since they both slept in the living room for several hours that evening before we separated them for the night.
But now I'm worried that she's not going to tolerate him.
Where we are now (two days later) is that she gives him the stink-eye all the time, and he does seem wary of her. She will not allow him to eat nearby, which the thing that worried me most -- there was some stalking behaviour when I tried feeding them in the same room, which I quickly averted by patting her. She follows him with her eyes all the time. When I see that behaviour I distract her with play or treats, but she's still doing it.
She is a very big cat with very sharp claws and I'm worried that she'll jump him and hurt him. There's only been a couple of minor hissing incidents, no fighting, but Willow stares at him all the time. I feel as though we aren't making any progress. We love both cats and would hate to have to take Dude back to the SPCA because he's 9 and hard to place, but we can't have any disruption because my husband is very ill.
The thing is, how do I know they're okay together? I was hoping for this to go better, and I really need it to work. At what point is it going to be okay?