A few months ago we got a 2 yr old female cat (a smallish grey tabby) named Gibby after the passing of our previous cat - we figured in time we would find Gibby a new friend. Gibby is a quiet, friendly, laid back sort of cat. She isn't the most fun cat in the world since she doesn't interact with people that often and mainly keeps to herself...still, she is a lovable kitty.. One thing about Gibby is that she has her routine - when to eat, when and where to play and when to rest... pretty much on the clock...
Then we figured she wasn't as interactive with humans because she wants a friend so we got her a 1.5 yr half old female calico (Fibby) who about 1.5x the size of Gibby. Both Fibby and Gibby are spayed and had experiences living other cats in shelters so they should be use to other cats. Fibby is a hyperactive, playful and somewhere restless kitty with stalking tendencies. When we first had her, she was extremely shy and hiding all over the place. As recommended by others who know about introducing cats together, we kept Fibby in another room and slowly introduced her to the rest of the house.
Over the weeks, Fibby appeared more and more comfortable and confident but Gibby was more and more withdrawn. While Fibby wanted to run around and play all the time Gibby didn't...which surprised us since we thought Gibby wanted a friend. Almost immediately, Fibby's idea of fun was to stalk and chase Gibby around which she didn't like and we stopped it whenever we saw it happening. Then we begin to notice that Fibby, who is noticeably larger than Gibby, appeared to be bullying Gibby out of her favorite spots for resting, playing, sleeping and at one point even sat by the Fibby's litter box to prevent her from using it?... and by bullying we mean charging at her to make her move then not really do anything physical... when we witnessed a few of these episodes, we would bring Fibby back to her room so Gibby won't get so stressed out... Our house is big for two kitties, so they should have room for peace, but still, it appears Fibby now goes out of her way to seek Gibby and intimidate her which breaks our heart..now Gibby does very little of her routine except to avoid Fibby. To protect Gibby from the stalking, we put a collar with a bell on Fibby to sound the alert that she is on the prowl...
However when Fibby is on her own with us, she is very affectionate (more so than Gibby), responsive to us and is just one of the most attached kitties we've ever met... what is really strange to us is that both Gibby and Fibby have slept in the same room a few times already practically next to each other (separate beds) without incidence as long as Fibby takes up the best spot. But with more and more frequency, Fibby goes out of her way to search for Gibby and bullies her. It use to be that Fibby acts out her aggression at nights when she prowls, but now she does it whenever she sees Gibby out in the open - day or night. Only times Fibby doesn't do anything is when Gibby rests quietly in her chair while Fibby runs around and have fun... Fibby is the new girl in town so is she jealous of the first girl and is doing this all for to have our attention to herself?
We got Fibby so Gibby can have a friend, but didn't realize we ended up with a bullying kitty? we love them both, but no idea what to do.. we don't want to see Gibby get stressed out.. the idea was for her to have a friend.. Maybe we now have two kitties who preferred to be only ones in the whole house?? any suggestions out there?
Then we figured she wasn't as interactive with humans because she wants a friend so we got her a 1.5 yr half old female calico (Fibby) who about 1.5x the size of Gibby. Both Fibby and Gibby are spayed and had experiences living other cats in shelters so they should be use to other cats. Fibby is a hyperactive, playful and somewhere restless kitty with stalking tendencies. When we first had her, she was extremely shy and hiding all over the place. As recommended by others who know about introducing cats together, we kept Fibby in another room and slowly introduced her to the rest of the house.
Over the weeks, Fibby appeared more and more comfortable and confident but Gibby was more and more withdrawn. While Fibby wanted to run around and play all the time Gibby didn't...which surprised us since we thought Gibby wanted a friend. Almost immediately, Fibby's idea of fun was to stalk and chase Gibby around which she didn't like and we stopped it whenever we saw it happening. Then we begin to notice that Fibby, who is noticeably larger than Gibby, appeared to be bullying Gibby out of her favorite spots for resting, playing, sleeping and at one point even sat by the Fibby's litter box to prevent her from using it?... and by bullying we mean charging at her to make her move then not really do anything physical... when we witnessed a few of these episodes, we would bring Fibby back to her room so Gibby won't get so stressed out... Our house is big for two kitties, so they should have room for peace, but still, it appears Fibby now goes out of her way to seek Gibby and intimidate her which breaks our heart..now Gibby does very little of her routine except to avoid Fibby. To protect Gibby from the stalking, we put a collar with a bell on Fibby to sound the alert that she is on the prowl...
However when Fibby is on her own with us, she is very affectionate (more so than Gibby), responsive to us and is just one of the most attached kitties we've ever met... what is really strange to us is that both Gibby and Fibby have slept in the same room a few times already practically next to each other (separate beds) without incidence as long as Fibby takes up the best spot. But with more and more frequency, Fibby goes out of her way to search for Gibby and bullies her. It use to be that Fibby acts out her aggression at nights when she prowls, but now she does it whenever she sees Gibby out in the open - day or night. Only times Fibby doesn't do anything is when Gibby rests quietly in her chair while Fibby runs around and have fun... Fibby is the new girl in town so is she jealous of the first girl and is doing this all for to have our attention to herself?
We got Fibby so Gibby can have a friend, but didn't realize we ended up with a bullying kitty? we love them both, but no idea what to do.. we don't want to see Gibby get stressed out.. the idea was for her to have a friend.. Maybe we now have two kitties who preferred to be only ones in the whole house?? any suggestions out there?
