Project Saving Gracie" - Intro Day 14 - The gate is Down, Gracie is in the house!

carolina

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Now it is for Real! The gate is finally down, Gracie is in the house!

Today marks the 4th day of Gracie coming down to explore the house and I finally feel secure enough to let her out for good...
Day one and two she came out for only about 10 minutes each time, and the reaction was pretty much what you saw on the video (for those who didn't see it, here is the thread http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=223516).
Day three, yesterday, the gate was down for about 3-4hours. She came out a couple of times, explored the house, hissed a few times and went back to the bathroom on her own.
Today the gate was down the whole day. She came out a few times, but this time she hung out in the living room for a while. She did hiss a few times, but also laid down in there with all of us for about 30 minutes just relaxing "watching TV"... She did this twice! All kitties were in the room, everybody relaxed, just laying in there... They were not playing or running around, but didn't flee the room either. She did hiss a few times whenever one of them approached her, but there were no threats, no claws showing, no movement towards them, no back arching, nothing that would indicate a fight...
After a while she just got up, stretched and went back to her bed in the bathroom, where she is now.
I think I am finally where I want to be to let the gate down.
On the health front, she is doing wonderful!

She is gaining weight, I can feel much less of her spine bones now! She seems much much happier now and soooo much sweeter! Sometimes I go in there to give her love and she just meows meows and melts in my hands
It is sad to realize that she might never had this kind of love and care before

Even though she came infested, covered with fleas, there are no fleas to be found on her now - she must be feeling much much better withouth those pesters on her too

Anyway, just wanted to update you all! It seems we are on track here... Wish us good luck!
 

otto

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YAY! I've got tears in my eyes reading this, And I read it twice!


Congratulations to all of you, well done Carolina.
 

jcat

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It sounds like she is really transitioning well; a few hisses with no aggression towards the other three are unimportant, especially if your crew let her chill out in the bathroom when she wants to. I thought she already looked much better in last week's video - much sleeker after her bath, and less gaunt. You're making such a huge difference in her life!
 

catmom2wires

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What a lovely story. Thanks for the update. Sounds like she is really and truly YOURS now!!!!
 

libby74

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Yea for Gracie! Sounds as if she's on the way to making herself right at home.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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Woohooo!


Your three resident cats must be REALLY mellow for this integration to have gone this smoothly! I'm so happy for all 5 of you!
 

bastetservant

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Really well done! Lucky Gracie!

I'm jealous because my Tonya has been home for 8 weeks tomorrow, and she still won't come out of the guest room.



Robin
 
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carolina

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Originally Posted by mrsgreenjeens

Woohooo!


Your three resident cats must be REALLY mellow for this integration to have gone this smoothly! I'm so happy for all 5 of you!
Yes, they are.... But things are not perfect, by any means... There is still a lot of hissing, and a lot of distance kept in between them. Actually, the only interaction they have is hissing. I am fortunate there are no fights, but I took things very slowly...

Originally Posted by bastetservant

Really well done! Lucky Gracie!

I'm jealous because my Tonya has been home for 8 weeks tomorrow, and she still won't come out of the guest room.



Robin
Yeah... Gracie doesn't come out often either, she spends most of the time in the bathroom... Hope things get better for you guys soon!

Originally Posted by otto

How did it go, overnight?
It went well overnight, she slept in the bathroom and all respected each other's spaces.
During the day however, there were some homeric hisses

In one instance she got cornered - Lucky in one side, Hope in the other and Bugsy in the other - They formed a triangle around her and laid down - wouldn't move... Boy, she freaked! They were about 3ft away from her each.... OMG she did this thing where she threw a very very looooooong hiss and ran passed Lucky, all the while hissing and growling
"just in case", she might have thought

She has been hanging out more but she is extremely stressed around the house, unless she is in the bathroom. I guess with time she will become more and more comfortable...
Bugsy.... poor kiddo.... He is so sweet
Tries to make friends allthe time.... Hisssss Hisssss she says

She was sleeping today under my desk, and mind you, she hisses atme when she is around the house
, and Bugsy got really really close to her, like 1/2 ft away from her, and just laid in there... looking at here and softly wagging his tail... left and right.... HISSSSSSSSS.... He looked at me with his "what's wrong mommy?" cutest look.... I feel so bad for my sweet boy at times...
 

otto

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looking at here and softly wagging his tail... left and right.... HISSSSSSSSS.... He looked at me with his "what's wrong mommy?" cutest look.... I feel so bad for my sweet boy at times.
Oh OH! I know just what you mean! When Jennie was first integrated we had a similar incident. I was up on the bed petting Jennie and Mazy jumped up, wanting to make friends.

Mazy approached Jennie with her head lowered, as is her way, Mazy is always slightly submissive, but all she really wanted was to share a head bump, or even (she hoped) a lick on the head from Jennie.

Instead she got her ears boxed and a string of filthy language (Jennie can really put some profanity into her hissing).

Mazy looked SO HURT! She looked up at me and I could just tell she was saying "Why doesn't she love me, mommie?"

Anyway Carolina, to this day Jennie still hisses and growls at everyone, and the other cats no longer take the slightest bit of notice. It's just her way.

I did enjoy reading about how they were all gathered round her. Poor Gracie did not appreciate the Welcome Wagon!


Maybe next time put some treats in front of her when they do that. (welcome wagons usually come with goodies, don't they?) Treats all around, will help them all associate these meetings with good things.
 

ldg

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Originally Posted by otto

Anyway Carolina, to this day Jennie still hisses and growls at everyone, and the other cats no longer take the slightest bit of notice. It's just her way.
That's our Spooky (though she's not a potty mouth!
).

Originally Posted by otto

I did enjoy reading about how they were all gathered round her. Poor Gracie did not appreciate the Welcome Wagon!


Maybe next time put some treats in front of her when they do that. (welcome wagons usually come with goodies, don't they?) Treats all around, will help them all associate these meetings with good things.
an excellent idea! And maybe breaks up the wagon so she doesn't feel boxed in.
 

3catsn1dog

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Originally Posted by otto

Oh OH! I know just what you mean! When Jennie was first integrated we had a similar incident. I was up on the bed petting Jennie and Mazy jumped up, wanting to make friends.

Mazy approached Jennie with her head lowered, as is her way, Mazy is always slightly submissive, but all she really wanted was to share a head bump, or even (she hoped) a lick on the head from Jennie.

Instead she got her ears boxed and a string of filthy language (Jennie can really put some profanity into her hissing).

Mazy looked SO HURT! She looked up at me and I could just tell she was saying "Why doesn't she love me, mommie?"

Anyway Carolina, to this day Jennie still hisses and growls at everyone, and the other cats no longer take the slightest bit of notice. It's just her way.

I did enjoy reading about how they were all gathered round her. Poor Gracie did not appreciate the Welcome Wagon!


Maybe next time put some treats in front of her when they do that. (welcome wagons usually come with goodies, don't they?) Treats all around, will help them all associate these meetings with good things.
My Gigi is the same way...she has a potty mouth too but its gotten better over the last couple days. Her and Bacon have bonded over the Christmas tree since they both like to play in it or under it.
 
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carolina

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Originally Posted by otto

Maybe next time put some treats in front of her when they do that. (welcome wagons usually come with goodies, don't they?) Treats all around, will help them all associate these meetings with good things.
Originally Posted by LDG

an excellent idea! And maybe breaks up the wagon so she doesn't feel boxed in.
I would love to be able to put some treats in front of them.... But this is a no treats house.... Bugsy has IBD, Hope IBS, the only treats they can eat is ZD and they grew tired of it
... The only treat Lucky likes is Pill Pockets
but the others can not eat... And gracie... Well... she is a junkie, but I am afraid if I put treats in front of her only the welcome wagon would close in even more
 

otto

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I don't use commercial treats either, Carolina. I use their kibble as treats. Mazy gets her c/d at treat or snack time, the others get the kibble of the month, I vary the brand, currently we have two brands going, Innova (prebuyout) and Blue.
 

rubsluts'mommy

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This used to be a Greenies household, but since I discovered they have wheat in them, no more. Three Dog Bakery has some We Pity The Kitties treats that are pretty much freeze dried chicken. Nothing else. I had JoJo next to me, growling away last night, and Portia up on the back of the couch behind me. I pulled those out and started giving them both the chicken... no growling until after I put the treats away... one growl from JoJo and then she jumped off the couch. She also has quite the potty mouth.
 

darkmavis

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Well all in all it sounds like it's going well. Give it time, they'll adjust.. and maybe Gracie is just a hisser. She may talk the talk, but I'm sure she is still much happier inside with you than outside.
 
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