I rescued a kitty 2 weeks ago who got caught up in my feral traps. I kept him at my house for a bit under a week, then found a "foster" home for him while I had a friend staying with me, with the view for that to maybe be his permanent home.
Leo was very shy, and hid under our spare bed most of the time he was here, but was a lovebug and loved headrubs and belly rubs, and was very snuggly. So his new meowmy said he's now the same with her - the first few days at her place he was unsettled, and would hiss at her, but purr as soon as she soon patted him. He's still confined to a spare room and has supervised visits into the rest of the house because of her current cat Roxie.
She's had Roxie for 2 months, and Roxie is about 2 years old - she adopted her from a shelter. She thought Roxie might be territorial, so did the bedding swapping, ran Feliway diffusers, and after about 4 days, let them sniff each other. Leo met our girls and was very submissive. He tried to rub against Stumpy, and rolled over in front of her, and was generally very sweet. Apparently he did the same for Roxie - no growling or hissing, just very submissive.
Roxie is hissing at Leo when he gets too close, which isn't too worrying - it's still fairly early days, but Roxie is attacking her meowmy. Apparently she has claw marks all up and down her arms. She said Roxie has never exactly been a "loving" cat since she had her, and won't sit on laps, and doesn't like being picked up, but does like a pat. She's really seeing a mean streak in her now but it's not directed at Leo, it's directed at her meowmy - and it's worse when she's just been patting Leo and has Leo's smell on her.
She's completely fallen in love with Leo who is getting more and more brave and has already made huge improvements, and snuggles up into her arms when she picks him up, and I think is the snuggler she's looking for. No matter how much she loves him though, she won't adopt him if her current cat is going to be this angry toward her.
She's still keeping the cats separated during the day, but isn't sure how long to give Roxie or what else she can do.
Anyone got suggestions? If Roxie isn't showing too much aggression toward Leo (she just hissed when Leo was lying in HER favourite sleep spot), but IS showing aggression toward her meowmy, is that a "good" sign? Do you think that will settle down? Or does it mean she really can't cope with change and would prefer to be an only cat?
Leo was very shy, and hid under our spare bed most of the time he was here, but was a lovebug and loved headrubs and belly rubs, and was very snuggly. So his new meowmy said he's now the same with her - the first few days at her place he was unsettled, and would hiss at her, but purr as soon as she soon patted him. He's still confined to a spare room and has supervised visits into the rest of the house because of her current cat Roxie.
She's had Roxie for 2 months, and Roxie is about 2 years old - she adopted her from a shelter. She thought Roxie might be territorial, so did the bedding swapping, ran Feliway diffusers, and after about 4 days, let them sniff each other. Leo met our girls and was very submissive. He tried to rub against Stumpy, and rolled over in front of her, and was generally very sweet. Apparently he did the same for Roxie - no growling or hissing, just very submissive.
Roxie is hissing at Leo when he gets too close, which isn't too worrying - it's still fairly early days, but Roxie is attacking her meowmy. Apparently she has claw marks all up and down her arms. She said Roxie has never exactly been a "loving" cat since she had her, and won't sit on laps, and doesn't like being picked up, but does like a pat. She's really seeing a mean streak in her now but it's not directed at Leo, it's directed at her meowmy - and it's worse when she's just been patting Leo and has Leo's smell on her.
She's completely fallen in love with Leo who is getting more and more brave and has already made huge improvements, and snuggles up into her arms when she picks him up, and I think is the snuggler she's looking for. No matter how much she loves him though, she won't adopt him if her current cat is going to be this angry toward her.
She's still keeping the cats separated during the day, but isn't sure how long to give Roxie or what else she can do.
Anyone got suggestions? If Roxie isn't showing too much aggression toward Leo (she just hissed when Leo was lying in HER favourite sleep spot), but IS showing aggression toward her meowmy, is that a "good" sign? Do you think that will settle down? Or does it mean she really can't cope with change and would prefer to be an only cat?