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- Dec 3, 2015
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I recently adopted two female cats who were listed as a bonded pair who had lived together for 5 years. Their former owners got divorced and surrendered the cats to a rescue. They didn't stay in the shelter long, they went to a foster home for at least a week or two. That's all I know of their history.
I've had them for 2 weeks and they seem fairly confident and lovable towards me (they seem scared of my husband at times so I wonder if the male in their former home was loud, angry, or abusive in some way) but they do not seem bonded to one another at all. They don't snuggle together, play together (Contessa rarely plays at all but Juliet loves to play), groom each other, etc. The bigger cat (Contessa) seems to bully the smaller cat (Juliet) and forces her away from her food bowl or favorite sleeping spot.
I'm taking steps to prevent that like feeding them separately and distracting Contessa if she tries to take something from Juliet. That seems to help a little bit. Juliet is a very slow eater though so I'll have to come up with a longer term solution so I don't have to stand guard by the food bowl 3 times a day lol.
We had them both groomed yesterday by a mobile groomer since they had some matting and tangles that needed taken care of. They seemed okay afterwards but today Contessa is hissing at Juliet which makes me feel so bad. I don't know if yesterday was just really traumatic (they had to be in their carriers for a long time since the groomer showed up late) or if something happened while we were sleeping. Or maybe it's because Juliet smells different but as far as I know, they were bathed in the exact same thing so wouldn't Contessa smell like that herself?
Am I just expecting too much too soon? Will they settle in together in the future? I love these girls so much already and I want them to be happy. Maybe they are happy not being attached at the hip and I'm just being silly?
I've had them for 2 weeks and they seem fairly confident and lovable towards me (they seem scared of my husband at times so I wonder if the male in their former home was loud, angry, or abusive in some way) but they do not seem bonded to one another at all. They don't snuggle together, play together (Contessa rarely plays at all but Juliet loves to play), groom each other, etc. The bigger cat (Contessa) seems to bully the smaller cat (Juliet) and forces her away from her food bowl or favorite sleeping spot.
I'm taking steps to prevent that like feeding them separately and distracting Contessa if she tries to take something from Juliet. That seems to help a little bit. Juliet is a very slow eater though so I'll have to come up with a longer term solution so I don't have to stand guard by the food bowl 3 times a day lol.
We had them both groomed yesterday by a mobile groomer since they had some matting and tangles that needed taken care of. They seemed okay afterwards but today Contessa is hissing at Juliet which makes me feel so bad. I don't know if yesterday was just really traumatic (they had to be in their carriers for a long time since the groomer showed up late) or if something happened while we were sleeping. Or maybe it's because Juliet smells different but as far as I know, they were bathed in the exact same thing so wouldn't Contessa smell like that herself?
Am I just expecting too much too soon? Will they settle in together in the future? I love these girls so much already and I want them to be happy. Maybe they are happy not being attached at the hip and I'm just being silly?