I have three cats (now four), three dogs. Everyone brought in at different times, so am familiar with the process of leaving the new comer in it's own space for however long it takes.
My husband called from work. A co-worker giving his cat away after four years. The co-worker got it as a kitten, shots up to date, fixed and declawed. He named her Crew.
I asked a lot of questions (mainly why after so long?) we didn't get any satisfactory answers (allergies developed). We decided to take her in simply because we knew we would provide a good home for her and didn't want him dropping her off at a shelter.
Crew is so very loving. A beautiful calico. My female cat, Harleywood, keeps attacking Crew.
I have three floors. I keep Crew on the first floor, the other two can come and go on the other two floors. One cat is an outdoors cat, they get along fine. I chose the first floor because the 'two troublemakers' rarely go down there. The first month I kept Crew in the laundry room, door open but two baby gates up in doorway to prevent any border crossings. I kept the doorway to the first floor closed, and the only time I opened it was to go down to do the laundry and care for Crew. I would open the top gate, step over the bottom gate and cross through into laundry room. Play with Crew, feed him, do laundry and supervise interactions she had with others at gate. Mostly staring from a distance. I would play with all of them, trying to make it a smooth transition. All have separate food bowls and litter boxes.
They seemed ok before the first incident happened...I had to use the bathroom, just one door down. I kept gate closed. But I heard a cry, saw Harleywood dart up the stairs. And Crew sitting on my water heater in the corner. I've since seen other attacks, where Bumbles (male) or Harleywood attack at the gate. Both paws, nails out. I start all over again. Restrict them from the first floor, keep baby gates up but also close laundry door. Over three months now and making no headway.
I'll play with everyone upstairs, head downstairs to check on Crew. Bring him out of the laundry but he always goes back to the door. She doesn't feel safe. I don't like that. I don't want her going to another home. I also don't want her to live in fear.
Any advice would be very appreciated
My husband called from work. A co-worker giving his cat away after four years. The co-worker got it as a kitten, shots up to date, fixed and declawed. He named her Crew.
I asked a lot of questions (mainly why after so long?) we didn't get any satisfactory answers (allergies developed). We decided to take her in simply because we knew we would provide a good home for her and didn't want him dropping her off at a shelter.
Crew is so very loving. A beautiful calico. My female cat, Harleywood, keeps attacking Crew.
I have three floors. I keep Crew on the first floor, the other two can come and go on the other two floors. One cat is an outdoors cat, they get along fine. I chose the first floor because the 'two troublemakers' rarely go down there. The first month I kept Crew in the laundry room, door open but two baby gates up in doorway to prevent any border crossings. I kept the doorway to the first floor closed, and the only time I opened it was to go down to do the laundry and care for Crew. I would open the top gate, step over the bottom gate and cross through into laundry room. Play with Crew, feed him, do laundry and supervise interactions she had with others at gate. Mostly staring from a distance. I would play with all of them, trying to make it a smooth transition. All have separate food bowls and litter boxes.
They seemed ok before the first incident happened...I had to use the bathroom, just one door down. I kept gate closed. But I heard a cry, saw Harleywood dart up the stairs. And Crew sitting on my water heater in the corner. I've since seen other attacks, where Bumbles (male) or Harleywood attack at the gate. Both paws, nails out. I start all over again. Restrict them from the first floor, keep baby gates up but also close laundry door. Over three months now and making no headway.
I'll play with everyone upstairs, head downstairs to check on Crew. Bring him out of the laundry but he always goes back to the door. She doesn't feel safe. I don't like that. I don't want her going to another home. I also don't want her to live in fear.
Any advice would be very appreciated