Phases of Introductions

[ritz]

I am fostering Twiddledee. a cat I removed from the colony because he was running on three legs.

After two weeks of scent swaping, etc. I let Tdee and Ritz meet.  About two weeks later, I let Tdee have full run of the house.

Even though Ritz had never been around another cat before, it seemed like things were going well--minimal hissing from Ritz.  They will sleep and cat nap close to one another, especially if they don't face each other.  Twiddledee largely ignored Ritz' hisses, he just kept on walking like "chill, Dude".  Tdee is a passive, calm, affectionate cat.

In the past couple of days Ritz's displeasure has escalated; she has started to swat (and hiss) at Tdee, totally unprovoked.  After about the fourth time, Tdee will swat back once and continue walking.

Ritz is a shy, timid cat, likes her belly rubbed; she is a lap cat. I make sure Tdee sleeps/snoozes by my feet or thigh, not Ritz' place.

I'm puzzled about the escalation.  Is this a 'phase', how long will it last

 

[lolof8]

I adopted Charlie about a year before I decided to adopt my second cat, Boyd.  Charlie is a cat that loves to be around people and is very curious, so I thought she would accept Boyd right away, but I was wrong!  I kept them separate for only a couple days and decided just to let them get used to each other.  Boyd completely ignored Charlies hisses and growls, just as you described above.  But, I could tell Charlie didn't "hate" him because she would follow him everywhere and was really curious about him.  Charlie continued her hissing and "poor attitude" for several days and would even bat at him as he walked by.  I started feeding them close to each other as I read that they will start associating the other cat with the comfort feeling they get from eating.  I would also get out the laser point and basically force them to have fun together.  I'd say it took about 2-3 weeks for them to be completely comfortable with each other.  Since your cat is shy and timid, it may take much longer.  I know of other people that have the same problem and it took months for their cats to finally get along.  They are probably just establishing their rank in the household.  I noticed many times Boyd would just lay down and allow Charlie to approach him, as if he was surrending the dominant role to her.  Just be patient, it will work out eventually  

 

[ritz]

Thanks for the reassurance.

Ritz and Twiddledee are such different cats that I don't expect them to groom one another.  But I would like Tdee to be able to simply look at Ritz without Ritz hissing/swatting/crouching.  I'm just hoping Ritz' bullying stops.  It's not an endearing characteristic.  I'm hesitant to scold Ritz too severely because she already feels insecure.

 

[lolof8]

Aw yeah I think it'll come with time.  She's just being territorial right now and hasn't completely accepted him into her home.  Charlie still hisses at Boyd a lot.   He is always wanting to play and he is a big boy so I think she just doesn't like getting beat up all the time.  I feel bad for Boyd because he just wants to have fun but Charlie wants nothing to do with him.  I've just learned to cater to each of their personalities, meaning more play time for Boyd and more cuddling and quiet time with Charlie.