I'm looking for advice on how to make introducing a new cat to my resident cat go more smoothly. Plus reassurance that it will all work out eventually. I've never had this much trouble before.
My resident cat, Emily, is about 3 years old. She was rescued off the streets at 4 months of age and I adopted her from a foster home (where she was one of 13 cats!) when she was 18 months old. She is a rather timid cat but has lived around other cats until I adopted her. I recently moved to a new house on a busy road so she has had to become an indoor-only cat. Previously I let her roam freely during the day. I was worried she'd be bored stuck on her own indoors all day while I was at work (in the old pre-Covid 19 days) so I decided to adopt another cat.
Four weeks ago I adopted an 18 month old male cat called Goblin. He has always been a pet cat but was put up for adoption as he was too playful and was keeping his previous owners up at night. He plays rough so I suspect he was taken from his mother at too early an age. He was said to be a timid cat also and one who likes to be around his human but not sit on laps. I thought he sounded a good match as Emily loves sitting on laps when she's in the mood but otherwise prefers to be off doing her own thing.
The first week I kept Goblin in the spare room. I spent time in there just hanging out and also playing with him. I would pat him with a sock on my hand and then go and pet Emily using the same sock to get them used to each other's scent. There was no hissing so I let them start sniffing each other under the door. Again no hissing so in the second week I let them meet. They were wary but sniffed each other and then backed off, but no hissing so I thought this is going well.
We are now at week four and it has been going mostly downhill. One step forward and two steps back. Initially Goblin was very nervous about leaving his room and exploring the rest of the house. Now he is full of confidence and he is very playful. He wants to play with Emily and pounces or stalks her. She gets frightened and hisses at him before running off. He thinks this is part of the game and chases her. I've tried distracting him by playing with him - wand toys or laser points - and this worked for a while. I would also give Emily treats whenever she would tolerate him having him in the same space.
We've managed to watch Netflix together all three of us on the couch twice and in the same room perhaps twice more but not recently. Goblin really likes being around his human. If Emily is on my lap he has to come over to investigate. She gets agitated, hisses and runs off and he chases. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Today I just gave up and have Emily shut up in my bedroom so she can have some peace and quiet. But I'm not sure what to do next. I can try keeping her here for a few days and then try brief, controlled meetings when Goblin is at his least playful before letting them both have free range of the house but why will it work any better a second time?
I have a two storey house, with two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs - all with doors - but the downstairs is just one big open plan area so one cat gets to roam freely while the other gets a single room. Putting a gate across the stairwell so I can separate upstairs from downstairs won't work unfortunately as letting one be an upstairs cat and the other a downstairs would be a decent, stopgap solution.
Suggestions for what I can try next would be most welcome.
My resident cat, Emily, is about 3 years old. She was rescued off the streets at 4 months of age and I adopted her from a foster home (where she was one of 13 cats!) when she was 18 months old. She is a rather timid cat but has lived around other cats until I adopted her. I recently moved to a new house on a busy road so she has had to become an indoor-only cat. Previously I let her roam freely during the day. I was worried she'd be bored stuck on her own indoors all day while I was at work (in the old pre-Covid 19 days) so I decided to adopt another cat.
Four weeks ago I adopted an 18 month old male cat called Goblin. He has always been a pet cat but was put up for adoption as he was too playful and was keeping his previous owners up at night. He plays rough so I suspect he was taken from his mother at too early an age. He was said to be a timid cat also and one who likes to be around his human but not sit on laps. I thought he sounded a good match as Emily loves sitting on laps when she's in the mood but otherwise prefers to be off doing her own thing.
The first week I kept Goblin in the spare room. I spent time in there just hanging out and also playing with him. I would pat him with a sock on my hand and then go and pet Emily using the same sock to get them used to each other's scent. There was no hissing so I let them start sniffing each other under the door. Again no hissing so in the second week I let them meet. They were wary but sniffed each other and then backed off, but no hissing so I thought this is going well.
We are now at week four and it has been going mostly downhill. One step forward and two steps back. Initially Goblin was very nervous about leaving his room and exploring the rest of the house. Now he is full of confidence and he is very playful. He wants to play with Emily and pounces or stalks her. She gets frightened and hisses at him before running off. He thinks this is part of the game and chases her. I've tried distracting him by playing with him - wand toys or laser points - and this worked for a while. I would also give Emily treats whenever she would tolerate him having him in the same space.
We've managed to watch Netflix together all three of us on the couch twice and in the same room perhaps twice more but not recently. Goblin really likes being around his human. If Emily is on my lap he has to come over to investigate. She gets agitated, hisses and runs off and he chases. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Today I just gave up and have Emily shut up in my bedroom so she can have some peace and quiet. But I'm not sure what to do next. I can try keeping her here for a few days and then try brief, controlled meetings when Goblin is at his least playful before letting them both have free range of the house but why will it work any better a second time?
I have a two storey house, with two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs - all with doors - but the downstairs is just one big open plan area so one cat gets to roam freely while the other gets a single room. Putting a gate across the stairwell so I can separate upstairs from downstairs won't work unfortunately as letting one be an upstairs cat and the other a downstairs would be a decent, stopgap solution.
Suggestions for what I can try next would be most welcome.
