Whew!! How long will it take?

kiva13

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Well, we got a new 14 month old cat for my 7 month old Javier. Her name is Sophie and she is a female orange tabby with a white chest and she is the sweetest, most gentle sweetheart imaginable. And she is skittish, having been through 4 different living situations and a very serious illness in her first year.

I really felt like we rescued her because she has been through hell. From sitting in the corner of the bathroom with her faced pressed up against the wall and shivering in fear, she is now playful, and talkative and wants to be friends with our resident cat, the wacko bully, Javier. The first 2 weeks, we kept them apart doing everything by the book. We introduced them full body about 5 days ago.

At first, Javier was terrible all the time. He would jump on her and bite her back legs, and he was just a butt head. We separated them again, and started over again and they were both meowing at each other wanting to be together. So we let them be together every day this past week. We have gone from 3 minutes to a few hours. This is the situation and I'd love to hear if it is positive or if Javier is hopeless. He's so psycho and unpredictable. Sometimes he is so gentle with her, touches her with his paws, and she starts to relax. Then he jumps on her and bites the back of her neck to show he's the boss. Every once in a while, the balance of power shifts, and she actually chases him. This is a good sign, right? I'm not sure how cats play but it seems really rough to me. He is happiest when she is either inside of a laundry basket or cornered. I have ended up squirting with him a squirt gun when he chases her and hurts her.

But this is the weird thing. He attacks her, she screams and I intevene. Then she follows him out of the room. At least we have a few minutes now every day when she either chases him instead, or they are just sitting looking at each other. And they have eaten side by side, with Javier of course finishing her food as well as his. These are all good signs, right? I'm sorry if this is hard to follow. Are we making progress? Will he ever just let it be and let her be? And how long will this all take? It's pretty stressful and difficult to keep them apart at this point, but it's often stressful when they are together as well. I love them both! It's been three weeks since we got her. Whew! How exhausting.
Thanks for reading all this,
Mimi
 

bonnie1965

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I am not an expert and am sure others with more experience will pop up. I do think you are making progress. At 7 months, your little guy is still very kittenish. It sounds like Sophie is learning to hold her own. Are they both fixed? If not, that could help.

Please keep us posted. Would love to hear how it works out. Thank you for taking Sophie in. Poor thing went through so much!
 

goldenkitty45

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Charlie's 7 months - have had him since 4 months old. Ling's 2 yrs old and Charlie wants to be top cat - so he picks on her a lot. She's still bigger, but won't be for long.
 
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