New cat introduction questions

[sammie5]

I've had Bailey here for almost two weeks, and over all things seem to be going well. She has settled in, and is getting to know me, she eats, drinks, does all of her normal cat stuff.

Sam was quite overwhelmed, but now he seems to be wanting to make friends. He lets her eat out of his food dish, and licks her head and ears while she is eating. He likes to watch what she is doing, although he does has some safe spots to escape to when he wants a break. He tries to get her to play, but so far she doesn't seem interested.

Now, Sam has tried to approach her when she is just lying around, he licks her a bit, then she hisses at him and swats him. He backs off pretty quickly, and actually comes to me a cries a bit, he seems upset by that. Is this just Bailey putting him in his place? Should I try to keep them separate a bit more time?

And Sam has been used to free feeding. I put out his canned food in the morning, he spends a couple of hours going back to snack on it. Now, as soon as he is done, Bailey goes and finishes the bowl. She probably has the stray cat attitude to food - eat while its there. Sam doesn't eat a lot of kibble, I am worried that he won't get enough to eat during the day. And Bailey certainly does not need all of that food - she has quite a tubby belly already. So what do I do - one little tub of a fur ball who eats too much, and one big cat who is too stupid to eat the food that is in front of him.

 

[lotsocats]

It sounds like they are still getting used to each other and working out what their rules are with each other. I wouldn't change a thing because it sounds like everything is going quite well as is.

The one exception is with the food. What I have to do with my cats is to feed only about a tablespoon of canned food at a time. I feed them the canned food in the evening so that they don't wake me up begging for treats in the morning. So after feeding the tablespoon at dinner time, I give them the remainder at my bedtime. This way all the cats are ready for the remainder and my little piggy boy doesn't get to eat everyone else's food. By the way, I do let them free feed on dry food and haven't had a problem with that.

 

[sammie5]

Thanks, that was what I decided to try. I bought a large tin of food, so that is more practical to feed smaller servings out of. (rather than just putting down a whole tin of food at a time).

I did get a weight loss formula kibble for free feeding, it won't hurt Sam to lose a little weight either, although he will still primarily get tinned food in "single serving" portions.

Another interesting development I noticed today, Bailey mimics what Sam does - sits the same way, lies the same way, plays with whatever he was playing with when he is done. Its pretty funny to watch.

 

[lorie d.]

Originally posted by Sammie5

Bailey mimics what Sam does

Snowball's companion for 10 years was an all black cat named Midnight, (R.I.P. Midnight).
The two cats used to mimic each other quite often and it was really cute. When they were in identical positions, we would sometimes refer to them as either bookends or salt and pepper shakers.