Resident cat says "Pass" when asked to meet new cat

[ameliashuman]

We agreed to foster a 2 year old cat (Trinity) at the start of our state's stay at home order went into place (I posted earlier about her on some biting issues that have resolved, except for the occasional overstimulated nips). I really would like to adopt this girl, but so far the introductions are reaching a standstill due to one of our resident cats refusal to participate (2 resident cats, 7 year old female Amelia and 6 year old male Charlie). Charlie refuses to engage in the line of sight feeding and nothing seems to convince him to engage. He's not food motivated and has essentially refused to eat for a day if we put his food within sight of Trinity (even when she's calmly eating). He will eat with no problem right at Trinity's door if the door is closed, but once he can see her he isn't interested. We've tried playing with him in view and he'll bounce in to grab the toy then runs away with it.

He's always been slow to warm up to changes whether its new humans, a new cat patio, a new cat (last introduced to a new cat 3 years ago and did the same thing), new appliances. He gets scared for a day or so (up to a week if really big change) and just observes the new thing until he gets his courage up and approaches. With our other cat we introduced three years ago he was scared for about a week while the other cat would just occasionally hiss/swat at him, then after a week Charlie decided the new cat would be his best new play mate (not that the other cat agreed to this). So I'm not entirely sure what steps to take:
1) Just keep going with line of sight with our other cat (which hasn't been an issue) and see what happens with Charlie and Trinity when we let her out? I'm just so worried she'll use her teeth with him given the fact she used her teeth when she was scared/in pain before.
2) Leave Trinity's door open with it blocked off with a screen so she can't leave? Would this be cruel to her to expose her to the new area without access? It would give Charlie time to work through his anxiety.
3) We thought about putting charlie in the bathroom with no hiding place except a box that would allow him to watch her while hiding. This seems like it may be upsetting for him to be confined like that and we won't have a good reinforcer for him, but it would force the line of sight.
4) Other ideas?

I really would like to be a foster fail, but I don't want to set up a situation where either Trinity or Charlie gets hurt.

 

[ArtNJ]

I'm a little unclear on exactly what you have done when, timeline wise, in this introduction process. In general, we sometimes have people come to this forum with trouble with feedings near each other, even through a door, especially those that read Jackson Galaxy's guide which is by no means a bad guide, but does seem to attach some importance to the step. Thing is, the feedings thing is a decent idea, but it is not a necessary step, and it doesn't have to happen at a particular point in the process. The whole process is to gradually step things up and get the cats used to each other at each step without undue stress -- so if a particular step is causing stress, you modify it or do it later. In other words, move the food dish further from the door, or just do the step later. Or not at all. Sometimes meaningful stress is unavoidable at the final step, face to face introduction, and that is ok, but we want to keep stress to a modest level prior to that point even if it means an introduction process of three weeks (or even longer). I'm not a fan of the notion that they will eat when they are hungry enough in this context. I just don't see sufficient benefit to rushing to get this step in, if its causing significant stress.

Your idea #2, visual access only is a good one. We sometimes recommend double stacked baby gates. Of course, you shouldn't move to this step if there is still significant stress merely from the presence/smell of a new cat behind a closed door, or significant stress from any of the scent swap ideas.

Anyway, I'll link this site's guide below. If you have any further questions for us, give us a timeline of your introduction process so far. Good luck!

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide

 

[ameliashuman]

We're in week three and so far we've been doing 1) scent swapping, 2) eating near closed doors, and 3) site swapping with all three cats with good results. Only minor growls, some prolonged staring, but everyone has been able to eat or exist in the areas without excessive distress. We have successfully done feeding with visual contact (baby gate separating them) with Trinity and our other female cat Amelia. However, we can't get our other resident cat Charlie to participate given that he's not food motivated and prefers to just watch/observe until he gets comfortable. This worked with a prior cat introduction since that cat tended to avoid Charlie. But I worry Trinity would be more aggressive/go after Charlie (she seems to have a more dominant/alpha type personality). I think having constant visual but not physical contact would help Charlie get more comfortable (as he can quietly observe/warm up to the idea of Trinity), but I worry that it may agitate Trinity more seeing the outside but not being able to leave the safe room.

 

[ArtNJ]

Well, you are in week three and it sounds like it is going well enough - I'd try leaving the baby gates up for a few days and see how they do. Seems like the fastest way to move things along and get the new cat out of there.

 

[ameliashuman]

We're going to try the extended open door/baby gate idea tonight. I think if I spend more time in Trinity's room during the open door time she may not get so agitated that she can't get out. She is a food motivated and being around people motivated kitty. Thanks!

 

[r-kins]

Baby gate and door open is the way to go! It sounds like no one is being aggressive and Charlie is just concerned. It's also possible that he's picking up on your stress or excitement when he's near Trinity, so that could be adding stress every time he sees her. You should also swap places for Charlie and Trinity for small periods of time. Take him into the room that smells like her, and let her roam around the house so her scent gets everywhere and becomes familiar. Lastly, let him see you interacting positively with her through the baby gate. If you're playing with her or just sitting and being together, he'll probably view that as positive as well.

Trinity may howl and want to get out if she sees everyone having fun outside the room, but it's worth a little annoyance on her part to get her and Charlie off to a good start.

 

[ameliashuman]

We tried the approach of leaving the door open with potential escape routes blocked. It went well, several sightings with no significant amounts of growling or other signs of distress. Did this for about two hours (I was watching outlander and cross stitching with Trinity and she hung out quietly by my side). Then we brought out the food for her and the other cats to do line of sight feeding and Trinity got overstimulated and bit me again (cleaned, no infection, all is okay). It was not play biting, she looked scared. She's not gotten aggressive before during feedings so maybe we went too long? Poor thing, its heart breaking when she gets so scared.

 

[ArtNJ]

I wouldn't use the term overstimulated. Rather, I'd say that your cat had stress, even if there was no hissing, and you got too close and the result was redirected aggression. I'll link the article on redirected aggression. Important for you to understand since this might reoccur. Just give the kitty some space when appears hyper focused on the new cat. Re-directed Aggression In Cats

 

[ameliashuman]

Well after a few jail breaks and hide speed chases we decided to pull back on the introductionsm. We're now clicker training Trinity since she's so food motivated and pretty smart. We're hoping this helps with some of her energy especially when activated and we're going to teach her some calming behaviors which hopefully will make the next phase of introductions a bit more peaceful.