I'm looking for advice and or reassurance that I"m doing the right thing.
The first time we introduced our new cat Vega to the resident cat Dora things went pretty well at first, and then slowly deteriorated. At a certain point the Dora would not come out of the basement/office area. So we decided to keep them separated for a few weeks and slowly reintroduce them.
As Dora's gotten more comfortable we have swapped her and Vega out of the office space for a few hours a day, and recently Dora had seemed eager to leave the room. So three or four days ago I started feeding them together. That went well initially, they'd eat next to each other and then I would separate them again.
After a while I noticed occasional glances and sniffs exchanged, and sometimes Dora would run back into her safe area. But now she wont come out at all again.
Vega is very eager to check things out and will run back there occasionally. So they have exchanged a couple of hisses, but nothing too dramatic. Dora is just out as soon as Vega is around.
(I know before we reintroduced them she was jumping on her out of the blue, which I THINK was an attempt to initiate play, but it's hard to tell. Vega is VERY playful and we're working on redirecting her energy to appropriate targets like the laser pointer and not my hand/elbow/foot.)
I'm not sure what to do now, I want them to have a chance to interact in positive ways, because otherwise the only time they see each other is when I fail at cat wrangling, and everyone is all stressed.
I was thinking of trying to get a pet gate, and feeding them on either side of it so they could be near each other but not get into spats?
We ARE using the feliway multi cat plug in, and it's plugged in near the entrance to the office.
Dora is 11, but a very vocal active cat. She's very passive and sweet, but likes to be around her humans and enjoys chasing ribbons.
Vega is somewhere between 1 and 2? She's extremely active, and still frightened by loud noises. (SNEEZING IS NO OK YOU GUYS) She is full of energy and if she were a dog I would describe her as food motivated. She is worse than our siberian husky was when it comes to sneaking food off of human plates. She has shown some some signs of settling down a bit recently, but I realize they may just not get along until she grows up a bit more.
Anyway if anyone had any thoughts or other strategies to try? We'll probably go back a step for a little longer and then try the gate.
The first time we introduced our new cat Vega to the resident cat Dora things went pretty well at first, and then slowly deteriorated. At a certain point the Dora would not come out of the basement/office area. So we decided to keep them separated for a few weeks and slowly reintroduce them.
As Dora's gotten more comfortable we have swapped her and Vega out of the office space for a few hours a day, and recently Dora had seemed eager to leave the room. So three or four days ago I started feeding them together. That went well initially, they'd eat next to each other and then I would separate them again.
After a while I noticed occasional glances and sniffs exchanged, and sometimes Dora would run back into her safe area. But now she wont come out at all again.
Vega is very eager to check things out and will run back there occasionally. So they have exchanged a couple of hisses, but nothing too dramatic. Dora is just out as soon as Vega is around.
(I know before we reintroduced them she was jumping on her out of the blue, which I THINK was an attempt to initiate play, but it's hard to tell. Vega is VERY playful and we're working on redirecting her energy to appropriate targets like the laser pointer and not my hand/elbow/foot.)
I'm not sure what to do now, I want them to have a chance to interact in positive ways, because otherwise the only time they see each other is when I fail at cat wrangling, and everyone is all stressed.
I was thinking of trying to get a pet gate, and feeding them on either side of it so they could be near each other but not get into spats?
We ARE using the feliway multi cat plug in, and it's plugged in near the entrance to the office.
Dora is 11, but a very vocal active cat. She's very passive and sweet, but likes to be around her humans and enjoys chasing ribbons.
Vega is somewhere between 1 and 2? She's extremely active, and still frightened by loud noises. (SNEEZING IS NO OK YOU GUYS) She is full of energy and if she were a dog I would describe her as food motivated. She is worse than our siberian husky was when it comes to sneaking food off of human plates. She has shown some some signs of settling down a bit recently, but I realize they may just not get along until she grows up a bit more.
Anyway if anyone had any thoughts or other strategies to try? We'll probably go back a step for a little longer and then try the gate.