Need Feedback On Introducing Adult Cats

olivecat

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Hi everyone,

I could use some advice on our situation. My husband and I have a 10-year-old tabby named Olive and a 9-year-old greyhound. We adopted Olive as an older kitten (about 8 mos.) as a companion for our 5-year-old cat Henry after his "brother" died. We lost Henry to CHF two years ago, and Olive has seemed fine as an only, but I missed having a big ol' cuddly boy kitty. Olive is a sweet cat, but only on her terms. :) Three weeks ago we adopted Momo, a DLH who turned 10 on March 2. He is a total lovebug with us and seemed to settle in right away. So much so that we rushed the process of letting him have access to the whole house. I work from home and he seemed so laid-back that we thought it would be okay to speed things along because I'd be here to supervise interactions. Well...

Olive is still hissing and growling a lot every time he's around. She mostly stays in our master bedroom, which is the top floor of our house. I put Momo in the guest room several times a day so she can be out and about, but she seldom takes advantage. He is always shut in the guest room overnight. I have Feliway diffusers on every floor: the master bedroom, the main level, and the finished basement where Olive's litter box is. Feliway worked well when we first adopted the dog and Olive stayed in a closet for almost two weeks and couldn't keep her food down (should have been our hint, huh?), but I haven't seen any improvement this time around.

Momo has generally been very good about walking away when she tells him off, although he's obviously curious about her (he also had lived with another cat previously). On a couple of occasions, though, it's like he reaches his threshold and just goes after her. The first time it happened she had run into the guest room to get away from him, so we assumed he followed her to defend his turf. He pounced on her, they tussled, and we threw a blanket on them to break it up. No one was hurt.

Today was a scarier incident. Olive had come downstairs from our bedroom and Momo was on the couch. She noticed him, hissed, and headed to the basement. He ran after her, she yowled, and she ran under the futon where he began "stalking" her. I put a pillow in front of him to break his line of sight, and that's when Olive decided to run out. He chased her and launched himself at her, and it was like a feline tumbleweed. Scared me to death. I clapped and yelled to break it up, and Olive ran to the basement window (another favorite spot of hers) but Momo even chased her up there. She was cornered and they went at it again. I finally managed to break it up. It took a while before Olive would let us check her out, but other than looking like a plucked chicken with all the tufts of hair sticking up and falling off, she wasn't injured. Momo was fine as well, but he's got a lot of fur to protect him. Olive did pee herself during the incident. :(

I'm feeling really discouraged and need some opinions. Is this normal, cause for concern, and/or all part of the process? We wonder if Momo's had too much access to her territory too soon. We have done the rubbing towels on them, swapping their bedding, letting them explore each other's space, and giving them treats in each other's presence (which works 50/50, as Olive's very hard to distract when he's around). Their interactions have really been limited to 5-10 minutes a couple times a day. Unfortunately today that was long enough for a fight. My vet says it can take anywhere from a month to two years for things to settle, but as these are both senior cats already, two years does not seem fair to either of them. Do I throw in the towel now before I become more attached to Momo, or do I give it more time? I think we have been spoiled with very tolerant cats in the past, as we never expected this to be so hard.

If you made it through this long post, thank you. :)
 

FeebysOwner

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Oh boy! I think you kind of need to practically go back to Square 1 - meaning you need to let Olive have the run of the place and do slow introductions with Momo. It is still doable, but you will need to let the dust settle for a while.

See if there are any tips in this TCS article that might help.

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction
 

Mamanyt1953

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Two years is an outside number. Although many take weeks or months. And even with the rocky start, it can be done. I'm going to give you links to several articles that will outline a really good plan of attack for doing this. Remember, TIME is your friend (especially with seniors) and you canNOT go faster than the most reluctant cat!

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction
How To Safely Introduce A Cat And A Dog (you mentioned a greyhound)
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide
Introducing Cats To Cats
How To Safely Break Up A Cat Fight (athough you seem to have this one down pretty well!)
Are My Cats Fighting Or Playing? (I think this is really fighting, but as some point, you'll need to trust the process...this will help)
 

rubysmama

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Hello and welcome to TCS. Sorry it's a not so good cat introduction situation that brought you here. :(

I also think you need to go back to square one, with Olive having her normal full run of the home, and Momo kept in a separate room with his food, water, litter box and toys, and only being let out when Olive is in another room with the door closed.

Eventually you will want to let them see each other, but in a way that they can't do more than maybe touch toes. Some people stack 2 baby gates to a doorway. (there's a pic in the How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide)

The introduction process normally takes a while, and as Mamanyt1953 Mamanyt1953 said, "you canNOT go faster than the most reluctant cat!" :sigh:

Since both cats are older, you definitely need to ensure they are eating normally, and not showing any signs of stress. Here's an article that explains what to watch out for: Is Your Cat Stressed Out?

Good luck. I hope they eventually become best buds. :catlove: Or at least learn to co-exist. Keep us posted. :compsurfing:
 
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olivecat

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Thank you all very much for the support and input. I'm going to spend my evening reading the articles you've linked. A few silver linings: Sweep the greyhound and Momo are doing great. Sweep wasn't thrilled when Momo landed on her in pursuit of Da Bird (my husband's fault!), but other than that it's been wrinkle-free with those two. And thankfully Olive has been eating, though I sometimes have to deliver it upstairs to her. No litter box issues with either cat. (Knock on wood.)

Thanks again.
 

Mamanyt1953

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I also think you need to go back to square one, with Olive having her normal full run of the home, and Momo kept in a separate room with his food, water, litter box and toys, and only being let out when Olive is in another room with the door closed.
This is certainly the first step. At some point, you are going to want to site-swap, with Olive kept separate while Momo roams. Let both cats be accustomed to the sights, scents and smells of the ENTIRE home without being in each other's faces!

And let us know how things progress!
 

PaulinPilsen

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I hope this works out! I feel really bad for Olive because this has been her home for so long. But I agree with the advice to start this process again. Olive needs her house back, and Momo needs to figure it out. Keep them separate and use some kind of see-through barrier (crates, baby fence) so they can work it out from a distance. I adopted a much younger cat for my senior cat once, but the younger cat stressed out the senior cat so much with the chases (hair starting to fall out) that I decided that I was going to stay loyal to my senior cat, and took the younger cat back to the foster home. I adopted an older cat instead, and that worked fine! I hope you don’t have to do that but Olive deserves her peaceful home with you. I think the age of the cat is important to consider.
 

PaulinPilsen

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But I see momo is 10 years and senior himself. Hm.. I believe that cats (like people) have personalities that are compatible or not! I like the advice that someone told me to show attention to both cats in front of each other. This seemed to work with my cats. Keep us updated!
 
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olivecat

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I hope this works out! I feel really bad for Olive because this has been her home for so long. But I agree with the advice to start this process again. Olive needs her house back, and Momo needs to figure it out. Keep them separate and use some kind of see-through barrier (crates, baby fence) so they can work it out from a distance. I adopted a much younger cat for my senior cat once, but the younger cat stressed out the senior cat so much with the chases (hair starting to fall out) that I decided that I was going to stay loyal to my senior cat, and took the younger cat back to the foster home. I adopted an older cat instead, and that worked fine! I hope you don’t have to do that but Olive deserves her peaceful home with you. I think the age of the cat is important to consider.
I feel really bad for her too. I know I screwed up the intro process, and now she seems terrified of Momo. I let him out of his room for an hour this morning, then put him back in and brought Olive downstairs so she could see that it was safe. She was fine for a while but then saw his shadow under the door and hissed several times and retreated upstairs. Sigh. He's still in his room so hopefully she'll come down again in a bit. As hard as it will be, I will return Momo if I don't see any improvement (not perfect harmony, but progress) in another few weeks. It's a quality of life issue, and she's been with us for 9+ years so she takes priority. He is a gorgeous cat and very sweet, so despite his age I don't believe he will have any trouble getting adopted. But obviously I do hope we can work it out so he can stay.
 
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olivecat

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Maybe a tiny glimmer of hope? Today and yesterday Momo's been in his room all but an hour 3 times a day (I went in and worked from there for a while too to keep him company). Olive has come downstairs more and today, even though he was meowing his head off, she didn't hiss. She was maybe about 10 feet away from his door. She was definitely on high alert and that tail was twitching, but she didn't hiss or run away. She took a couple of treats but couldn't be distracted by play. I am sure Da Bird smells very Momo-esque; that boy has no idea he's 10 and seems to have the energy of a kitten.

It's my 40th birthday today and I'm considering this a gift. Baby steps, right?
 

PaulinPilsen

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This is really good news! Give time. And intervene when necessary. They will grow to tolerate each other. That is better than Olive being alone often because it will give her something to do even if it is to keep one eye open.
 

rubysmama

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Definitely sounds like baby steps forward. So, yes, consider it a gift. Keep doing what you're doing, and resist the temptation to rush things. Slow and steady will, usually, give the best results.

Do keep spending time with both cats. And keep telling Olive how much you love her, and that she's not being replaced.

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olivecat

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So a week after the fight, we're still keeping them separated 24/7. Olive has the run of the house most of the day, though she still prefers our bedroom, and Momo gets an hour or so a few times a day to come out and explore. I try to give him plenty of exercise while he's out so he doesn't get bored in his room (he has toys in there but I don't know how much he plays with them). His evening ritual is to sit on the couch and snuggle with us while we watch TV. He's such a sweetheart and really social. I hope this situation isn't too frustrating for him! But like you wise people have said, we have to move at Olive's pace, and she's proving to be a glacier. :lol: Still hissing at his door when she sees his shadow, but less so and not as much growling. She still won't eat if she's within a few inches of it though. Thoughts on whether I need to wait for zero hissing before letting her see him again through a cracked door or in the mesh dog crate?
 

PaulinPilsen

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I think this will be a process with Olive and Momo. Momo sounds so sweet, but this is Olive's home. I think you are doing the right thing keeping them separated. Eventually, I think, Olive will come around and "tolerate" Momo if not outright like him. I had two elderly cats who were like that, until one day I saw them sleeping together! I thought, "Well, these two make strange bedfellows!" So, who knows? Olive might come around but it must be on her terms.
 

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As a general rule - Greyhounds are pretty calm - not aggresive dogs. As far as the rest of your difficuties - well you brought those on yourself :) Good Luck!
 

rubysmama

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Still hissing at his door when she sees his shadow, but less so and not as much growling. She still won't eat if she's within a few inches of it though. Thoughts on whether I need to wait for zero hissing before letting her see him again through a cracked door or in the mesh dog crate?
Hissing isn't too bad, as that's just a cat's way of communicating. I've never introduced cats, so I can't advise from experience. But maybe wait until she'll at least eat closer to his door.
 
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olivecat

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A little update. A couple of weeks ago it was clear Olive was not going to eat next to Momo's door, so I moved on to putting a screen between them. I used a dog crate and a window screen like so:

(There is a door on the other side to a jack-and-jill bathroom so the humans can get in and out easily.)

This has been working okay. She knows he's in there even though she can't always see him, and she walks by without too much fuss--though she does move quickly. I hung out with her in there one night when he was downstairs, and wrapped her in his blanket. She screamed bloody murder like she was being attacked. Can we say drama queen?

They really haven't had many interactions so I'm feeling a little stuck at this stage, though also glad we've had no more fights. She did come down to eat the other night and she was on the counter while I stayed on the kitchen floor with Momo feeding him chicken to distract him and keep him from jumping up there. Amazingly, she noticed him, hissed once, and went back to eating. Small victory!

I have a friend staying here next week so I plan to move Momo's stuff into my office and put him in the finished basement at night. He'll have everything he needs down there and more space, and my friend won't have to sleep with a litter box in her room. I think this will also help Olive because "his" litter box will be in my office and she'll be forced to use it instead of "hers" in the basement. Is that a bad idea? She still seems to prefer being in our bedroom most of the day, so anything I can do to encourage her to be out and about more in the rest of the house would be progress.
 
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