In May, I gave one of our cats to a friend and her family. It turned out that he didn't acclimate well with her young sons and was spending all of his time hiding. Thankfully, she was willing to give him back and we got him last night.
He is having many issues but, recovering fairly quickly. He was our best behaved cat out of all 5. Very athletic, always came when called, talkative, never hissed. (hissed 1x in 2 years)
It was an hour drive home and he was purring in the cage the last few miles. But, he was also pinned to the back of the cage the rest of the time with his back to me. When we got home, he saw the other cats under the door to attic and started growling and hissing. He immediately headed for the basement and hid. We gave him some time and then went down and called him. He came out and let me pet him. I discovered that he no longer likes his tail touched in any way. When I did gently touch it, it went right up between his legs and he would move away. He had no interest in coming upstairs so, we left him there until bedtime.
I set him up in my bedroom and he could see the other cats under the door again so, he was growling and hissing. This time, he was doing this directly at me. He hid in various places (closet, top of book shelf) the entire time growling. When he started, I immediately put the rest of the cats upstairs. He continued growling and hissing for about an hour in the dark while I was falling asleep.
Around 2am, I woke up and he was cuddled next to me.
His personality has quickly bounced back with my boyfriend and I today. He is very agitated by the other cats still. We let 2 of the cats see him and they recognize him and are very excited he is here! They were all great play buddies before. The older Alpha cat doesn't seem to be bothered or notice any of this going on.
We put him in the upstairs for the rest of the day and are taking our time reintroducing him. I think the next step may be putting him in a carry cage and letting them see him.
I'm trying not to project my emotions on them too much. Trying to stay in the positive and be grateful it's not worse. We purchased Nutri-vet paw ease gel for stress and anxiety. We also have some Quite Moments from NaturVet. Also, we are giving all of the cats extra attention to help ease some of the stress.
I'm also reading plenty of articles on cat introduction but, there haven't found any that are exactly like this situation. If anyone has advice, we would most certainly appreciate it.
He is having many issues but, recovering fairly quickly. He was our best behaved cat out of all 5. Very athletic, always came when called, talkative, never hissed. (hissed 1x in 2 years)
It was an hour drive home and he was purring in the cage the last few miles. But, he was also pinned to the back of the cage the rest of the time with his back to me. When we got home, he saw the other cats under the door to attic and started growling and hissing. He immediately headed for the basement and hid. We gave him some time and then went down and called him. He came out and let me pet him. I discovered that he no longer likes his tail touched in any way. When I did gently touch it, it went right up between his legs and he would move away. He had no interest in coming upstairs so, we left him there until bedtime.
I set him up in my bedroom and he could see the other cats under the door again so, he was growling and hissing. This time, he was doing this directly at me. He hid in various places (closet, top of book shelf) the entire time growling. When he started, I immediately put the rest of the cats upstairs. He continued growling and hissing for about an hour in the dark while I was falling asleep.
Around 2am, I woke up and he was cuddled next to me.
His personality has quickly bounced back with my boyfriend and I today. He is very agitated by the other cats still. We let 2 of the cats see him and they recognize him and are very excited he is here! They were all great play buddies before. The older Alpha cat doesn't seem to be bothered or notice any of this going on.
We put him in the upstairs for the rest of the day and are taking our time reintroducing him. I think the next step may be putting him in a carry cage and letting them see him.
I'm trying not to project my emotions on them too much. Trying to stay in the positive and be grateful it's not worse. We purchased Nutri-vet paw ease gel for stress and anxiety. We also have some Quite Moments from NaturVet. Also, we are giving all of the cats extra attention to help ease some of the stress.
I'm also reading plenty of articles on cat introduction but, there haven't found any that are exactly like this situation. If anyone has advice, we would most certainly appreciate it.
