Long term introduction success stories?

[PurpleYogaCat]

We have 3 cats in our family: we've had Luna and Boo for 5 years (we were told they are from the same littter, we adopted when they were 1.5 years). We adopted Dobby 1 year and 2 months ago, she is 4 years old now. We tried introductions according to Jackson Galaxy's guide and kept them separate at the beginning. Boo accepted Dobby in a few weeks, and they can live peacefully around each other. Luna is a completely different story. It all started one day a few weeks after Dobby arrived in the house (at this point, I had done scent swapping and site swapping). The cats were separated by a pet gate, and Dobby started crying because she wanted to be on the side I was on. This triggered Luna, who darted towards the pet gate trying to attack Dobby. Luna is an anxious cat in general, and I think she confused Dobby's high-pitched crying with territorial noises.

It's been over a year since then, during which we tried to slowly introduce them. We've been making progress along the way, but it's been incredibly slow. Feeding through a slightly open door didn't work, so we moved to a screen door. We got them to eat on the other sides of a screen door, and Luna then looking at Dobby and walking away. After this stage when trying to get them in the same room there was a fight. We changed to feeding them through an initially covered and then uncovered baby gate. We made progress this way, to the point where Luna eats and then stays in the same room for a while - a few minutes at first, then up to 1.5h. We tried to keep her entertained, either through play, treats, or watching her youtube birds channel. She always still checks to see what Dobby is doing on the other side of the room, and she gets anxious if Dobby is not in sight. This is only if separated by the gate. If she ever sees Dobby outside of this routine, she charges at her and tries to attack. There have been fights along the way, a few times when we accidentally let them meet. The 2 of them are fully separated at this point.

Rehoming is not an option - Dobby has been abandoned by her previous families, and we won't be the next ones to break her heart. It would also devastate us.

I am just looking for any success stories you lovely people might have with long-term introductions, for a bit of hope. It's been super stressful to keep them separated at all times like this. And of course, any advice is appreciated.

 

[Furballsmom]

hi! Welcome, I'm so glad you're here!

I have had only single cats, but there are a number of members who have had success, some of which took months but it did happen

It sounds to me that you are doing a marvelous job with quite a complicated situation. Are you using any calming products? Maybe Cat Music?

 

[PurpleYogaCat]

hi! Welcome, I'm so glad you're here!

I have had only single cats, but there are a number of members who have had success, some of which took months but it did happen

It sounds to me that you are doing a marvelous job with quite a complicated situation. Are you using any calming products? Maybe Cat Music?

Thank you so much! I am using calming diffusers and tried various ones (Feliway, Felisept, Pet Remedy). I also tried CBD oil, cat music - most seem to help but only a tiny bit. After introducing each of them, she seems slightly more relaxed, but nothing major.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hang in there!
You should be hearing from some of the other members soon

 

[MeezeIfYouPlz]

We've had to play a bit of musical cats over the years. When we first sold our farm and moved to town we brought with us our two indoor spayed cats, Kitty and KiKi and a semi-feral barn cat, Braveheart. Kitty was a feral orphan that I had raised since she was two weeks old and KiKi was about two when we adopted her. We had Brave neutered in preparation for the move and intended for him to live in the large backyard with a 6 foot privacy fence. Kitty and KiKi tolerated each other before we moved but were never really close. Braveheart, always an excellent mouser on the farm, started killing songbirds at our new home right away, so he became an instant house cat. At that point it became Kitty and KiKi against the interloper, Brave. K & K became very close whilst they completely ignored Brave. When Brave would try to play attack one of the ladies we only intervened when the it turned into a serious confrontation. If you watch and listen carefully you learn the difference between "I hate you! Go away!" and "I'm going to kill you!".
Kitty passed away in 2020 and KiKi mourned. She still had our two german shepherds that she loved dearly so she was content enough. Unfortunately we lost both of german shepherds to old age this year but both deaths were whilst Brave was missing for seven months. Brave came home with a new appreciation for indoor living and KiKi, I'm not sure if Brave could sense her grief or just because of his new attitude, became very gentle with her. While not loving with each other, Brave and KiKi will curl up together to sleep. The thing that we find funny is that Brave has decided he is KiKi's knight in shining armor. If KiKi cries out because our two aussies bang into her when wrestling or our new kitten is irritating her, things like that, Brave will come rushing in and deal with the offender with lots of hissing and swipes of his paws. The aussies have learned a great deal of respect for Brave and the kitten is learning it.
Now KiKi's health is in decline and, which the exception of Brave cuddling with her, the animals all know she is off-limits. I tried to make her an appointment for what will likely be her last vet visit today but they are closed for the holiday. We do have a new kitten named Ollie we adopted at the beginning of December. KiKi hates Ollie and completely ignores him. Brave runs hot and cold with the kitten, sometimes willing to play, sometimes not. Brave lets the kitten know which mood he's in without hurting him (Ollie's pride doesn't count).
I'm sorry I wrote a novel. I was just trying to illustrate our perspective when dealing with our critters relationships with each other. I have the same attitude I had when raising kids, and later, a multitude of chickens and waterfowl - supervise to ensure that no one is being hurt or bullied, but for the most part we let each new member find their own place in the family, the whole pecking order thingy. Interfere when necessary but let them work out status. This may not work for every family or situation but it has always worked for us in our semi-peaceful family.

 

[PurpleYogaCat]

We've had to play a bit of musical cats over the years. When we first sold our farm and moved to town we brought with us our two indoor spayed cats, Kitty and KiKi and a semi-feral barn cat, Braveheart. Kitty was a feral orphan that I had raised since she was two weeks old and KiKi was about two when we adopted her. We had Brave neutered in preparation for the move and intended for him to live in the large backyard with a 6 foot privacy fence. Kitty and KiKi tolerated each other before we moved but were never really close. Braveheart, always an excellent mouser on the farm, started killing songbirds at our new home right away, so he became an instant house cat. At that point it became Kitty and KiKi against the interloper, Brave. K & K became very close whilst they completely ignored Brave. When Brave would try to play attack one of the ladies we only intervened when the it turned into a serious confrontation. If you watch and listen carefully you learn the difference between "I hate you! Go away!" and "I'm going to kill you!".
Kitty passed away in 2020 and KiKi mourned. She still had our two german shepherds that she loved dearly so she was content enough. Unfortunately we lost both of german shepherds to old age this year but both deaths were whilst Brave was missing for seven months. Brave came home with a new appreciation for indoor living and KiKi, I'm not sure if Brave could sense her grief or just because of his new attitude, became very gentle with her. While not loving with each other, Brave and KiKi will curl up together to sleep. The thing that we find funny is that Brave has decided he is KiKi's knight in shining armor. If KiKi cries out because our two aussies bang into her when wrestling or our new kitten is irritating her, things like that, Brave will come rushing in and deal with the offender with lots of hissing and swipes of his paws. The aussies have learned a great deal of respect for Brave and the kitten is learning it.
Now KiKi's health is in decline and, which the exception of Brave cuddling with her, the animals all know she is off-limits. I tried to make her an appointment for what will likely be her last vet visit today but they are closed for the holiday. We do have a new kitten named Ollie we adopted at the beginning of December. KiKi hates Ollie and completely ignores him. Brave runs hot and cold with the kitten, sometimes willing to play, sometimes not. Brave lets the kitten know which mood he's in without hurting him (Ollie's pride doesn't count).
I'm sorry I wrote a novel. I was just trying to illustrate our perspective when dealing with our critters relationships with each other. I have the same attitude I had when raising kids, and later, a multitude of chickens and waterfowl - supervise to ensure that no one is being hurt or bullied, but for the most part we let each new member find their own place in the family, the whole pecking order thingy. Interfere when necessary but let them work out status. This may not work for every family or situation but it has always worked for us in our semi-peaceful family.

Thanks a million for sharing! Your family sounds lovely. So sorry Kiki is not well these days, sending positive thoughts.

 

[MeezeIfYouPlz]

Thanks a million for sharing! Your family sounds lovely. So sorry Kiki is not well these days, sending positive thoughts.

I do need to correct myself and don't have use of the edit feature yet. Kane, our younger GSD at 12 years old, passed while Braveheart was M.I.A. (that's a whole 'nother story) but our older GSD Jax passed shortly after Brave returned. It was Jax that KiKi loved the most.
Thanks for the positive thoughts. I'm sending you some positive thoughts too. It'll all play out as it should, even if it does break our hearts just a bit to watch the furbabies struggle.
KiKi with "her" dog, Jax and our younger aussie, Jasper.

 

[abella1995]

Hi -- hopefully this will give you peace of mind that you are not alone in your situation!

I also started a thread with a very similar situation, we've had our new cat for about 5 months she's female and 2 years old and so is our resident cat (female 2 yrs). The two still don't roam together because our resident cat is very dominant and aggressive, we interchange gates and swap the cats often.

We started to worry they would never co-exist so what we've been doing latley is basically babysitting them throughout the whole house when we can on a whole Saturday or end of a work day. It's a small victory for us that they both sit on the window ledge together (it's a long ledge lol) but after about 45 minutes our resident cat wants to attack our new cat. She's territorial and doesn't have any cat social skills. She's also a medium hair tuxedo so she's just a jerk to be a jerk sometimes

I read your post and you said it's been over a year for your situation. I'd say any minor bit of progress is progress. For example today our resident cat has been obsessed with getting near and chasing our new cat, but when she decides to walk away and do something else instead of swipe or attack her it feels like a step in the right direction. We try to give encouraging words to our resident cat followed with a treat or brush session if she is good (hopefully she feels less jealous when we do this).

Through the process so many other cat owners on the thread have said to keep patience and give it time as key...we are trying!

Our resident cat also charges at the gate most days, but some days they lightly batt at eachother and touch noses nicely. I feel we may be in the long haul for the coexisting or even semi friendly Interactions or roaming as well. We have faith that it will work out because re-homing is not an option for us either. We cant do that to our new cat she's been in a few foster homes.

The mindset we've been having after the 5 months is to try and let them both be free together with supervision more, so our resident cat knows the new cat isn't going anywhere. It takes a toll on us a bit having to babysit, but we have been doing this a few times a week and even making the effort feels good.

Both cats are also quite playful, so we try and play with them in the same room. We hope there is some sort of bonding there.

One other thing I try is when I get home from work, I will let my resident cat in the new cat's room, and pet them both together on either side of me for about 5 to 10 minutes. We try our best to practice positivity.

Hope this helps!

 

[PurpleYogaCat]

Hi -- hopefully this will give you peace of mind that you are not alone in your situation!

I also started a thread with a very similar situation, we've had our new cat for about 5 months she's female and 2 years old and so is our resident cat (female 2 yrs). The two still don't roam together because our resident cat is very dominant and aggressive, we interchange gates and swap the cats often.

We started to worry they would never co-exist so what we've been doing latley is basically babysitting them throughout the whole house when we can on a whole Saturday or end of a work day. It's a small victory for us that they both sit on the window ledge together (it's a long ledge lol) but after about 45 minutes our resident cat wants to attack our new cat. She's territorial and doesn't have any cat social skills. She's also a medium hair tuxedo so she's just a jerk to be a jerk sometimes

I read your post and you said it's been over a year for your situation. I'd say any minor bit of progress is progress. For example today our resident cat has been obsessed with getting near and chasing our new cat, but when she decides to walk away and do something else instead of swipe or attack her it feels like a step in the right direction. We try to give encouraging words to our resident cat followed with a treat or brush session if she is good (hopefully she feels less jealous when we do this).

Through the process so many other cat owners on the thread have said to keep patience and give it time as key...we are trying!

Our resident cat also charges at the gate most days, but some days they lightly batt at eachother and touch noses nicely. I feel we may be in the long haul for the coexisting or even semi friendly Interactions or roaming as well. We have faith that it will work out because re-homing is not an option for us either. We cant do that to our new cat she's been in a few foster homes.

The mindset we've been having after the 5 months is to try and let them both be free together with supervision more, so our resident cat knows the new cat isn't going anywhere. It takes a toll on us a bit having to babysit, but we have been doing this a few times a week and even making the effort feels good.

Both cats are also quite playful, so we try and play with them in the same room. We hope there is some sort of bonding there.

One other thing I try is when I get home from work, I will let my resident cat in the new cat's room, and pet them both together on either side of me for about 5 to 10 minutes. We try our best to practice positivity.

Hope this helps!

Thanks so much for sharing! Good point regarding being free together with supervision, we need to focus on that too. Good luck with your cats, hope you achieve peace soon!

 

[susanm9006]

I am at 18 months right now of introducing a 12 and a 10 year old. Not sure whether where we are would be considered a success but it is moving ever so slowly in that direction. I keep the new girl, Lola, in her own room from late afternoon until morning. This allows my older girl to come out of hiding, eat and interact with me. But they are now able to be face to face without an all out brawl breaking out.

 

[PurpleYogaCat]

Congratulations on the progress! I hope it all works out for everyone in the end.