Hello! I’ve lurked for a while but new to actually posting. We have two cats, Oatmeal (4 yo calico female) and Beanie Baby (6 month old female). Both spayed. Oatmeal has been clinically diagnosed with “Calico” by her vet because after we brought Beanie Baby home, the second she smelled her through the door she went on a hunger strike. Very dramatic girl but overall sweetie. We’ve had Beanie Baby since she was 9 weeks old and did slow introductions over 2 months and are in a space where they can be around each other supervised, but the older cat still isn’t the biggest fan.
Beanie Baby is however is obsessed. Like, she HEARS Oatmeal move and she runs to go watch her. She will follow her around and watch her pee or drink water or just sleep.
We call it the “Elmo stare”. Just…follows her around and wants to be close. Recently Oatmeal has definitely opened up to her more. For a while she wasn’t letting her get anywhere close. But they can sit like picture above and as long as Beanie Baby doesn’t try to touch her, she’s fine. Maybe will hiss or a light swat if she wants her to leave.
The problem is, everytime Oatmeal let’s down a barrier, Bean tries to push it. She really wants to cuddle and rub against her but that just gets her a swat or hiss. If she keeps trying then a small growl.
Im worried that it could escalate later on down the road. Some behaviors are confusing (they won’t each next to each other but they will watch each other eat at the others bowls? Like, sit back 2-3 feet and just watch.) and others feel like good signs (they do sniff noses every morning when we open the screen door separating them when we can’t supervise. Sometimes Oatmeal will give a small hiss, others she will just walk away). They also play together and are figuring it out since both were separated very early from their litters and don’t really know how to play with other cats. There is some light hissing/vocalization from Oatmeal, but she will also initiate play and “tap back in” whenever they both had a breather.
Overall we think Beanie Baby has been a good addition because it’s made Oatmeal more active and playful, but I’m just worried we’re not seeing signs that could make it all go south. We don’t really have great space to do separate room isolation again (rail road/shot gun style apartment with one AC unit).
Besides the hunger strike in week 1, there really hasn’t been any other things with Oatmeal. She uses the bathroom regularly (loves there are three litter boxes now), eats and drinks well ect. She’s overall playful, does look a bit down sometimes, so we’ve been giving her extra love and attention. She also gets everything first (first fed, first treat ect ect..)
I guess I mostly need help understanding if we’re on the right path because there are plenty of guides of what to look for when cats end up taking to each other but harder to find stuff when they’re tolerating each other and how to keep it from getting. They’re both extremely food motivated which has been so helpful.
Beanie Baby is however is obsessed. Like, she HEARS Oatmeal move and she runs to go watch her. She will follow her around and watch her pee or drink water or just sleep.
We call it the “Elmo stare”. Just…follows her around and wants to be close. Recently Oatmeal has definitely opened up to her more. For a while she wasn’t letting her get anywhere close. But they can sit like picture above and as long as Beanie Baby doesn’t try to touch her, she’s fine. Maybe will hiss or a light swat if she wants her to leave.
The problem is, everytime Oatmeal let’s down a barrier, Bean tries to push it. She really wants to cuddle and rub against her but that just gets her a swat or hiss. If she keeps trying then a small growl.
Im worried that it could escalate later on down the road. Some behaviors are confusing (they won’t each next to each other but they will watch each other eat at the others bowls? Like, sit back 2-3 feet and just watch.) and others feel like good signs (they do sniff noses every morning when we open the screen door separating them when we can’t supervise. Sometimes Oatmeal will give a small hiss, others she will just walk away). They also play together and are figuring it out since both were separated very early from their litters and don’t really know how to play with other cats. There is some light hissing/vocalization from Oatmeal, but she will also initiate play and “tap back in” whenever they both had a breather.
Overall we think Beanie Baby has been a good addition because it’s made Oatmeal more active and playful, but I’m just worried we’re not seeing signs that could make it all go south. We don’t really have great space to do separate room isolation again (rail road/shot gun style apartment with one AC unit).
Besides the hunger strike in week 1, there really hasn’t been any other things with Oatmeal. She uses the bathroom regularly (loves there are three litter boxes now), eats and drinks well ect. She’s overall playful, does look a bit down sometimes, so we’ve been giving her extra love and attention. She also gets everything first (first fed, first treat ect ect..)
I guess I mostly need help understanding if we’re on the right path because there are plenty of guides of what to look for when cats end up taking to each other but harder to find stuff when they’re tolerating each other and how to keep it from getting. They’re both extremely food motivated which has been so helpful.
