I've just joined and I'm hoping for some others opinions. I have an 11.5 year old female called Kyo. 8 months ago, my other cat lost his fight with ckd and hypothyroidism. He was 12 and they had lived together all their lives. He was the more dominant, she's a submissive anxious scared cat. They got on well not super bonded but mostly friends except for the occasional boofhead behaviour from him where he would play a bit rough or push her out of the way to sit with me etc. She actually seemed to thrive after he was gone. Still scared and hiding with visitors or rain thunderstorms etc but under normal routines very happy. So I went and rocked the boat 3 weeks ago and adopted a 2.5 year old male from a shelter called Norman. Not because I felt she needed a friend, more that because of health issues I spend most of my time home and was missing the extra company of another cat. Even though she's my world, I was feeling the gap. And there is a huge issue in my state with the rental crisis and shelters, rescues are full and I felt I had the time space etc to at least take one cat out of the system. Norman was bought in with another cat that he wasn't bonded with. He was the submissive of the pair. The shelter was free range in that the cats had their doors open during the day to roam if they wanted. Apparently in 4 months he had very rarely came out and just watched the others from his run. I visited him 3 times before and he was always in his run. Very affectionate but shy. So I thought he could fit with Kyo. I bought him home, safe room etc scent swapped for a week. Kyo never hissed at that stage, checked his door numerous times. Mostly acted normal perhaps a bit cautious if she heard him. She has always spent most of the day up the front of the house in my bedroom, he's in the back end. I tried the shut her door, open his after a week but she panicked about the shut door and he didn't come out and I didn't want to force him. So I left both doors open during the day while I could supervise. After a few days he sat in the doorway a few times, she saw him from across the hallway. A hiss from her and she would walk calmly away while he watched. It's now progressed to him being out all day under my supervision down the back of the house. Kitchen dining family room laundry and bathroom which is his safe room. She mostly stays up in my bedroom, ensuite but comes down the hallway and also into the front lounge near the kitchen entrance. She's eating well, using her tray though I moved one up to my ensuite for her. She comes into the kitchen as normal to eat. He's being fed in his safe room with door open. They have had a few close encounters. She hisses if he gets too close. He's started moving towards her low to the ground, ears forward doing those long drawn out prrt greeting? noises. He gets too close, she hisses, he stops or backs away, a couple of times with a growl. We have basically been at this stage for a week. She's avoiding the back end of the house to mainly coming down at dinner time or maybe once a day for a look perhaps. He does try a few times a day to go up to her room but I call him back or steer him back which he's very good about. Should I just continue on until she eventually gets more confident. Or should I allow him in her room for short supervised visits. I've felt that I should let her keep her safe space as long as she needs but I know from past experience she can avoid uncomfortable situations indefinitely. Sorry for the long post.
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Resident cat avoiding new cat intro.
- Thread starter Joth
- Start Date
Hi, welcome!
Things are actually going pretty well, but you're right, she needs her safe space. If she takes a long time, it's ok. You have all the time in the world, for her and for him
Yes, I think this is the right path to take.
Things are actually going pretty well, but you're right, she needs her safe space. If she takes a long time, it's ok. You have all the time in the world, for her and for him
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- #3
Thanks, that's what I felt too. I guess I'm just feeling guilty that she's confining herself and that he's confined to the bathroom all night. He's fairly good about but is starting to bang a bit on the door when he first goes in for the night.
Just going to second this. It takes as Iong as it takes. But...so far, so good!
Do you have a way to close a door to her room at night, or to set up a screen or baby gates in the doorway if there's no actual door, with towels over them so they can't see each other overnight, so that he doesn't have to stay in a bathroom?
If you scroll down in this article there are a couple photos of what I'm talking about for doorway blocks;
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide - TheCatSite
If you scroll down in this article there are a couple photos of what I'm talking about for doorway blocks;
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide - TheCatSite
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- #6
She's in my bedroom with me at night mainly but she does wander around the house I think to check things out while he's shut up out of her way. At night is the only time she's relaxed because she knows he's in the bathroom problem with shutting her in anywhere is that she tends to really panic and stress. The only times she gets shut in is if something scary is happening. Like workmen at the house or deliveries etc. Or if I have to load her up for a vet visit. That's the problem I'm really finding. Trying to keep things as normal as possible for her so she's hasn't got too many changes to overwhelm her. It's just difficult to know how to proceed to the next step without doing that
I see. Hopefully he can hang in there in the bathroom for a little while longer (maybe a calming treat if he starts to get too frustrated) until you see the chance to start to bring them into closer contact like you described above.
Have you tried any calming products for her?
Have you tried any calming products for her?
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- #8
No I haven't tried anything yet. The only one I know of is feliway? I do have some that I tried in the past but it didn't seem to have any affect on her. I do have a doorway that separates the front half of my house with the back section. At the moment there's no door on it. The previous home owners removed it. But that was an option I was looking at. Putting a screen door there if we don't make any progress soon.
My angel Poppycat was another cat who was completely unaffected by feliway or Comfort zone which is another. Sometimes they work great, but yeah, sometimes they don't. There is a product called Pet Naturals Calming treats that someone said they had good results with.
Sometimes Cat Music can have good results as well. There's RelaxMyCat, MusicForCats, and also classical harp music seems to be a version that can have calming effects on cats.
Sometimes Cat Music can have good results as well. There's RelaxMyCat, MusicForCats, and also classical harp music seems to be a version that can have calming effects on cats.
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- #10
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Hi there, I'm not an expert but recently added a new cat to my household as well. My resident cat,kitkat acts the same as yours. Normal behavior but literally wants nothing to do with the new cat, yeti. Unfortunately, yeti is very rambunctious and just wants to play. Kitkat will sit in a safe place or remove himself to a bedroom when yeti gets crazy. The experts here assured me so long as there is no outright fighting (kitkat does hiss and growl a bit when yeti tried to engage him in chase) that all is well. And so far, it is! It's been 3 weeks and in the last few days, the hissing has greatly decreased. We play with yeti A LOT to wear him out so he doesn't aggravate kitkat too much lol. Good luck and I hope it continues going well for you too!
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- #12
Hi thanks for your response. It sounds like your boy kitkat is a bit more confident than my girl but at least so far my new boy hasn't tried to chase or engage her in play. I don't think she would be particularly pleased. But perhaps some progress today. At dinnertime while he was lurking watching her as he does, she strolled up to him, they sniffed noses then she hissed in his face 3 times then casually strolled back to wait for dinner. He didn't move or show any sort of reaction except interest. So hopefully it's the start of her gaining some confidence
That's actually a very good sign! The hissing is just...well, sometimes a cat's gotta say what a cat's gotta say. The fact that neither of them swatted with serious intent is excellent!
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- #14
