- Joined
- Feb 1, 2021
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- 202
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A little over a month ago, I adopted a new cat. He's five and just the nicest cat ever. I have one resident cat, Oliver, who is very docile and has mild Cerebellar hyperplasia, so he's a little wobbly, but gets around fine. (Just mentioning in case this new cat senses he's different and that's why he doesn't like him?)
So the new cat, Finn, is in the basement and he had his hiding spots, but when you sit down, he comes right out to be pet. Now he is totally friendly and lets you pet and brush him and he's just the easiest cat.
However....he hates Oliver. They are still separate, but any introductions are hissing and misunderstandings (Oliver got away from me one time and ran to hide...in the exact same place Finn was running, so I think he thought he was chasing him.) Oliver is now terrified of Finn and Finn just hisses and runs away. The FIRST few times he met him, Finn hunkered down and started to like stalk him to attack. Another time he went around the coffee table and snuck up on him. I was there both times and clapped my hands and it ended up in both running away, so no violent full-on cat fights.
The thing that really concerns me is yesterday, he hissed at ME. I put Oliver in a room by himself and closed the door. Then I let Finn come up and sit with me in a chair in my bedroom. He really does just want to be around people. We did that for a few hours. Then I went and got Oliver and held him. I always hold him so they can't make eye contact. I just want Finn to see him and get used to him. Well, he hissed and went under the bed. Okay. That's normal. Then he ran into the other bedroom and hid under that bed. I put Ollie in my bedroom, closed the door, and went into other room to coax Finn out and pet him. He let me for a second and then ran downstairs. I walked down after him and he ran back UP the stairs. I started to walk up after him and he stopped 2/3 way up and hissed at me. He did that scary mewling sound and acted like he was going to swat (this is a cat who doesn't even nip when he's overstimulated.). Is he afraid of me or angry or what? He was blocking me from going upstairs. I'm not dumb, so I just stood there. I took a step back and he blinked at me a few times. In fact, he would hiss and then blink! Mixed message? So then he went up and tried to get back in my bedroom, where Ollie was. Now, I don't know if that's because Ollie was in there or if that was a nice place he spent the afternoon or what. I walked up behind him and he ran downstairs. I'll take a moment to say that I don't ever yell or swat at my cats. They don't understand and it just scares them. So is this cat afraid of me? Angry at me or Oliver? I sort of don't trust him now that he turned on me. That was scary. I've never been afraid of my cats before. I think that was a turning point. Up until then, I was like okay we'll work through this....eventually. I asked the shelter for advice and they said bring him back, but it breaks my heart to give up on him. I went down and sat with him last night and he was a doll, as usual. It's so confusing. It's like he's two different cats. Does he just need to be the only cat in the house?
So the new cat, Finn, is in the basement and he had his hiding spots, but when you sit down, he comes right out to be pet. Now he is totally friendly and lets you pet and brush him and he's just the easiest cat.
However....he hates Oliver. They are still separate, but any introductions are hissing and misunderstandings (Oliver got away from me one time and ran to hide...in the exact same place Finn was running, so I think he thought he was chasing him.) Oliver is now terrified of Finn and Finn just hisses and runs away. The FIRST few times he met him, Finn hunkered down and started to like stalk him to attack. Another time he went around the coffee table and snuck up on him. I was there both times and clapped my hands and it ended up in both running away, so no violent full-on cat fights.
The thing that really concerns me is yesterday, he hissed at ME. I put Oliver in a room by himself and closed the door. Then I let Finn come up and sit with me in a chair in my bedroom. He really does just want to be around people. We did that for a few hours. Then I went and got Oliver and held him. I always hold him so they can't make eye contact. I just want Finn to see him and get used to him. Well, he hissed and went under the bed. Okay. That's normal. Then he ran into the other bedroom and hid under that bed. I put Ollie in my bedroom, closed the door, and went into other room to coax Finn out and pet him. He let me for a second and then ran downstairs. I walked down after him and he ran back UP the stairs. I started to walk up after him and he stopped 2/3 way up and hissed at me. He did that scary mewling sound and acted like he was going to swat (this is a cat who doesn't even nip when he's overstimulated.). Is he afraid of me or angry or what? He was blocking me from going upstairs. I'm not dumb, so I just stood there. I took a step back and he blinked at me a few times. In fact, he would hiss and then blink! Mixed message? So then he went up and tried to get back in my bedroom, where Ollie was. Now, I don't know if that's because Ollie was in there or if that was a nice place he spent the afternoon or what. I walked up behind him and he ran downstairs. I'll take a moment to say that I don't ever yell or swat at my cats. They don't understand and it just scares them. So is this cat afraid of me? Angry at me or Oliver? I sort of don't trust him now that he turned on me. That was scary. I've never been afraid of my cats before. I think that was a turning point. Up until then, I was like okay we'll work through this....eventually. I asked the shelter for advice and they said bring him back, but it breaks my heart to give up on him. I went down and sat with him last night and he was a doll, as usual. It's so confusing. It's like he's two different cats. Does he just need to be the only cat in the house?