- Joined
- Jan 12, 2018
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- 24
- Purraise
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Hello everyone! Me again. Not quite as panicked and teary this time, we've been making steady progresses with both Sasha and Chloe, I think. They're still not remotely getting along, but our exposure therapy has gotten more aggressive since my last post. The hissing and growling doesn't concern us so much anymore, but there's this one awful scream that Chloe does that I don't know how to deal with.
Quick summary: Sasha is approx. 4 1/2 months old, and booked for spay soon. Chloe is our 9 year old resident cat. We have been at this since the beginning of January, about 2 and 1/2 months. Sasha is pretty much completely unafraid, but she is usually pretty good about standing down and being submissive when Chloe gets vocal with her. For, uh, about a minute at least before she charges for her again. Chloe, on the other hand, seems quite fearful. She is vocal, hisses, growls, and shrieks when Sasha moves anywhere in her direction. She also charges for cover (usually under my parents bed or under the computer desk on our top floor). We don't necessarily like that she hides, but she does (eventually) come out later on. Typically she only comes out when Sasha has been returned to the safe room, though.
So, basically, everyone including our vet said it is time for us to show the cats that this is the New Normal, and let them out in the same spaces at the same time (supervised). We have tried really hard to take that to heart. Previously we were following the Jackson Galaxy notion of cat introduction, feeding through a door, site swapping frequently, play in the general vicinity. Perhaps that was just too conservative for my resident cat's personality?
4am is a frustrating time, almost every night without fail, I get woken up by the two of them scrapping it out through the safe room door. I'm not sure who is lunging into it or what but Chloe growls and it makes Sasha meow-cry and no one is sleeping through that.
Anyway, more specifically, what am I supposed to do with this horrible screaming sound that Chloe does when Sasha is around? It's absolutely horrible, I've never heard a cat make that sound. It's not every single time either, I've been trying to catch an audio of what it sounds like to post so you guys can advise more accurately, but I've been unsuccessful so far. And what about the running and hiding? I'm glad there's no fur flying, clawing, or bloodshed, but I don't think one of my cats sounding absolutely terrorized is fantastic either.
My vet suggested that we shouldn't scold Chloe for making the sounds that establish her as the Boss. To me, that means hissing and growling. Like I said, we are getting used to those sounds just being a part of a multi-cat household. But this awful SCREAM is just terrible.
It is worth mentioning that she is generally back to her affectionate regular self after Sasha goes back to her safe room. She comes to be pet, she chases her tail and plays like normal, she is still eating, and she is still using her litter regularly.
Does anyone have any advice about this? What can I do next? Why does it seem like everyone in the world can introduce their cats to each other but me? I feel like we're making good progress and I don't want to rush things, but I just feel like I need sage wisdom from people who have done all of this before.
Quick summary: Sasha is approx. 4 1/2 months old, and booked for spay soon. Chloe is our 9 year old resident cat. We have been at this since the beginning of January, about 2 and 1/2 months. Sasha is pretty much completely unafraid, but she is usually pretty good about standing down and being submissive when Chloe gets vocal with her. For, uh, about a minute at least before she charges for her again. Chloe, on the other hand, seems quite fearful. She is vocal, hisses, growls, and shrieks when Sasha moves anywhere in her direction. She also charges for cover (usually under my parents bed or under the computer desk on our top floor). We don't necessarily like that she hides, but she does (eventually) come out later on. Typically she only comes out when Sasha has been returned to the safe room, though.
So, basically, everyone including our vet said it is time for us to show the cats that this is the New Normal, and let them out in the same spaces at the same time (supervised). We have tried really hard to take that to heart. Previously we were following the Jackson Galaxy notion of cat introduction, feeding through a door, site swapping frequently, play in the general vicinity. Perhaps that was just too conservative for my resident cat's personality?
4am is a frustrating time, almost every night without fail, I get woken up by the two of them scrapping it out through the safe room door. I'm not sure who is lunging into it or what but Chloe growls and it makes Sasha meow-cry and no one is sleeping through that.
Anyway, more specifically, what am I supposed to do with this horrible screaming sound that Chloe does when Sasha is around? It's absolutely horrible, I've never heard a cat make that sound. It's not every single time either, I've been trying to catch an audio of what it sounds like to post so you guys can advise more accurately, but I've been unsuccessful so far. And what about the running and hiding? I'm glad there's no fur flying, clawing, or bloodshed, but I don't think one of my cats sounding absolutely terrorized is fantastic either.
My vet suggested that we shouldn't scold Chloe for making the sounds that establish her as the Boss. To me, that means hissing and growling. Like I said, we are getting used to those sounds just being a part of a multi-cat household. But this awful SCREAM is just terrible.
It is worth mentioning that she is generally back to her affectionate regular self after Sasha goes back to her safe room. She comes to be pet, she chases her tail and plays like normal, she is still eating, and she is still using her litter regularly.
Does anyone have any advice about this? What can I do next? Why does it seem like everyone in the world can introduce their cats to each other but me? I feel like we're making good progress and I don't want to rush things, but I just feel like I need sage wisdom from people who have done all of this before.
This all seems a bit unusual since most cats seem to tolerate kittens after an initial introduction period.
