We're To The Point Of Hissing...and Walking Away..

[Matt M PA]

I suppose we're making progress. Allie stays in our bedroom at night, while Aggie has free run. In fact, Allie leads the way when my wife heads up for the night.

I've been feeding them together in the morning, one in the cat tree and one on the floor. They have spent the last couple mornings looking out the door. Around noon, they go their own ways. Aggie comes down the office.

Tonight, I coaxed them together to feed them, and when they saw each other in the kitchen....each hissed and went their own ways. I did the cat tree-floor feeding and they were on their own the rest of the night. They seem to be avoiding each other...and I'm letting them do their thing.

Am I doing the right things here, or is there something I need to change?

 

[danteshuman]

Hissing isn't fighting. I would keep playing and feeding and petting them together. Eventually they may one day learn good things happen when they are together. How long have you been trying to get them to become friends? How old are they?
My boys snuggle sometimes and tolerate each other the rest of the time. My boys still argue daily. My punk hunts his brother, his brother growls at him or hisses at him..... then goes out of his way to avoid the hyper punk.
That is all in the realm of getting along. Are they best friends? No! Are they not fighting so do I count it as a win? Yes! Sometimes the best case scenario with cats is tolerating each other.

 

[Matt M PA]

They are almost 8 year old sisters. They've been with me since they were 6 weeks. We think another animal came to the back door or window and they are dealing with some misdirected aggression. This started a week ago, Sunday.

It's much better than it was..and I'm thankful. Perhaps I'm expecting things to get back to normal too quickly. These two were always the best of buddies...

 

[Animal Freak]

I think you might want to start focusing on increasing confidence and positive encounters. If you see tension, try to distract them. I always try to distract before I separate my cats. Use food or toys to get their mind off of the other cat.

You can also do the same to create positive encounters. Get them together for a game or give them treats for being close to each. You can even try doing a training session so that way they're together, but ignoring each other and getting treats. Of course, you have to watch them though and know if they're ready to be close and how close that is. You don't want to create more negative encounters.

I have a cat who's pretty sensitive to changes and tends to lash out at another cat. It can be frustrating and it's not an easy cycle to be broken, but it can be done. You want to build confidence and prevent as many negative encounters as possible while creating positive ones.

 

[Matt M PA]

Thanks for your thoughts. I have been playing together with them, etc...but will continue to work on it.

This morning, fed them together...then they went to look out the door and wash each other's faces....