Resident cat is feeling less confident in herself as new cat settles in

[Maurey]

Jumanji, my resident cat, has always been the careful sort. When it was just me and her, she was perfectly happy and confident in her space with me, and little bothered her. She's always been wary of unfamiliar people, but that's neither here nor there, for the current situation.

Her relationship with Chips, the new cat, is perfectly amiable, if still a bit wary, on occasion, as they figure out boundaries. They've slept near each other, groomed each other, and there hasn't been any growling since day 4 or 5 of intros (it'll be a month on the 8th of April). They've even played and had some casual swatting matches. I might be seeing something that isn't there, but it feels like Juma feels more wary in her space than she used to, despite Chip not being an overly dominant cat. He's never actually started anything, that I've seen, just responded when she initiated, more or less.

Is there anything I can do to help Jum feel more confident? It doesn't manifest in many ways, honestly. She's hesitant in playing when Chips is pouncing after a wand toy (though she's less excitable about toys, despite being younger; I'm guessing she just doesn't want to end up slamming into him, perhaps?), and she'll sometimes go off and sit on the corner of the couch, when I feel she'd normally come cuddle with me. She also doesn't walk with her tail held high as often as she used to.
It's hardly all the time, as she's cuddling on my lap now as Chips sleeps in the tree, but I'm concerned that she's more or less letting Chips bully her out of things she'd normally do because he's larger than her, despite him never actually confronting her or having intimidating body language. Am I overthinking, and this is just something she'll settle into as they both get comfortable with each other again (they used to live with each other when Jum was young)?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! There will be members who suggest to just wait and things will be fine, however I'm of the mind that a little extra love and playtime with just her, and with the two of them together, could help bridge the possible "gap" of her confidence now from what it was.

Also, why not try some cat music? It's surprisingly effective in helping cats to relax

 

[Maurey]

I put on cat music when Chip was first settling in, though I haven't since. I'll try it again starting tomorrow, given we're all heading to bed soon. Might put on some purring from purrli for some variation as well. That's what I did when I first brought Jum home. The purring had her come out of her hiding place after a little while of me sitting in her home base with it on, so it might help soothe her a bit now, as well.

I'll definitely try to figure out a way to get her more engaged in play and social time. My main issue is that, if a toy is there, Chip will materialise seemingly from nowhere, since he's just gotta catch it. I don't feel comfortable locking Chip away in a room at the moment, even for a little while. I don't believe he's totally settled yet and it's not even been a month since his first human passed away -- I don't want him to think that he's being left alone again (he and the other cats were left alone for 3 days outside of a couple hours a day for feeding/litterboxes/a bit of social time, as there was too much to handle at the time for full care to be immediately given to the cats, other than essentials). I do want to build Juma's confidence, but not to his detriment. Any thoughts on how I can get her to play a bit more, without locking the boy away? Or am I anthropomorphising Chip too much?

 

[Furballsmom]

How hard does he nap? My Poppycat is really zoned out when he's asleep, so if Chip does that you might be able to utilize that time for her.

oh oh oh, I know just the person and cat who could benefit from purrli - thanks for a terrific tip !

 

[Maurey]

How hard does he nap? My Poppycat is really zoned out when he's asleep, so if Chip does that you might be able to utilize that time for her.

He might sleep through a small play session, or be to sleepy to get himself involved if I catch him in a deep sleep. Definitely worth a try, thank you for the idea!