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I think her swiping in the bedroom was much the same as her swiping downstairs.She just doesn't want him to come closer than about 1ft. Looking again I would say the swipe in the video at 3.27 is probably about the same as hers, except that sometimes she does two or three strikes, not just one. And she will growl as well as hiss.You're very welcome. I'm simply enjoying your thread, updates, and your cat-to-kitten introduction process.
So thank you kindly for allowing me to be part of this journey.
I was so hoping that Audrey's swipes, were actually 'less intense'...and not 'slightly more'...but that is okay.
The most intense swipe from that Bengal cat was when she was sitting on her armchair,..and strikes him at the 3:27 mark.
"I will try to film them together but it can be tricky to do whilst monitoring and distracting at the same time!"
See this is where you are really kind to me.
Instead of coming back and saying, "umm catnap, I'm not actually an octopus with 8 arms and legs where I can film, monitor, and distract...and play, plus you probably want me to play classical music, and intervene when it looks like it's going bad, too."
You know, I never really thought about how tricky it actually would be.
If you set up the camera phone somewhere on a stand...I could just see either cat just knocking it down...and there goes a perfectly good phone or camera. And you're also right about how difficult it is to have black cats show up clearly on film, unless the lighting is like perfect. (I think I am wanting a hollywood production now. I shall blame it on the names of Audrey and Elliot J. Clawson. ha. )
(What's strange about the bengal video is that the narrator doesn't think that any of the body language or bengal's movements are threatening. I found that odd. I would never hold a resident cat in my arms...who is clearly upset and hissing...for fear of getting bit myself...no matter if it were my cat or not.
Also, they never tell you that that Bengal cat is, or was, actually a former breeding queen,...so doesn't that mean that she's been around kittens for most of her life? (I only found out this info from watching their other video on introducing a third cat.)
I also find the video useful, ..since it shows what could happen,...but I kind of wandered off at the 8:54 minute mark...since then the bengal is already laying down...you kind of know that she was wanting to play with the kitten.
There is another part, though, where the kitten actually jumps on and attacks the bengal...and I thought..."wow kitten, really bad move" ....but she ends up running away,...so I was really surprised by that. I thought she would have rolled and bit him right back.
Do you think Audrey swiping at Elliot, ...had anything to do with both being 'in the bedroom'...if she feels that is still 'her territory'?
But from your descriptions from before, ...it sounds more like she just does not want him to come too close to her.
Very good thinking about giving the treats, while he is near.
Again, not that bad.
I don't think you'll be able to stop him from chasing her...And the fact that she came back after 20 minutes is excellent.
Curious to know, if both Elliot and Audrey will turn this into 'sort of a game'...where she'll be on the windowsill, go upstairs and he chases her again. Hmm.
Ahh, poor guy. Glad that he's okay.
(My cats, as kittens, would run into walls and furniture, and such, but I don't remember seeing them run into the glass door, yet.)
You might have to put 'tiny stickers' onto the glass door.
(I had to do that for my dog, and myself, actually.) (Yes, I did slam into the sliding glass door a few times. There are two, and I thought I had left one open. Nope and "ouch". Also had to place a 'fabric colored ribbon' on the exterior sliding screen door...same reason...)
Good news with Audrey is that she is starting to play a little bit again: she had basically stopped playing since we brought him home. And she is coming for morning and nighttime scratches too. So she is behaving a bit more normally.
I took him near her bed again this morning and he really kept his distance. Seemed more wary of her. I feel bad for the little guy that she's managed to make him more cautious, but perhaps that is a good thing? Anyway, she growled and hissed as usual but there was no swiping and they both took treats from me.
However, she is venturing downstairs less, and if she is downstairs and sees that he is loose, she basically just turns tail and goes up to the bedroom again. This is the question I have now. If I don't close our bedroom off and Elliot is loose (and especially if he annoys Audrey), she will just go under the bed. But if she goes under the bed I have to take Elliot away (in case he follows her under there and I can't separate them). So Audrey can effectively escape from him *whenever she likes*. She can just end their sessions together. Which will surely inhibit our progress? (Thinking of Art's metaphor - it's like just being able to say, Nope, I don't wanna see no spiders today, thanks very much!)
So there seem to be three choices: 1) Close off the bedroom, i.e. close off her safe space, for set periods of time. (She has other places she likes to be like the downstairs windowsills.) 2) Let Elliot follow her under the bed, and hope I can distract them with treats if anything goes wrong. 3) Keep doing what we're doing and don't worry about the whole process slowing down and them seeing less of one another.
I will try and get my octopus arms on today for filming
Yes to stickers on the doors!! Actually now you mention it I walked into it myself a few weeks ago...