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Here we go... introductions! (adivce please)

post #1 of 5
Thread Starter 

As of tonight, Daymon will have been home for a full week. His cold symptoms are gone, and I'd really like for the face-to-face meeting to happen soon, as I am off work between tomorrow and next Tuesday, and would like to have that time to supervise Holland and Daymon being together.

 

So far, Daymon has been in my bedroom full time. He desperately wants to get out of there, and I can already tell he's going to be a troublemaker (but that's another story). He doesn't seem to care that there's another cat in the apartment - he lived in a colony at the shelter. Holland, on the other hand, knows there is a cat in "her" bedroom, and she has slowly been adapting. For the first day, she wouldn't go near the bedroom door. She would hiss at me after I visited Daymon and had his scent on me. Over the past few days she's gotten comfortable with sitting outside the bedroom door (she doesn't puff up when she gets near it anymore). She doesn't seem too bothered (just a little annoyed) when I go in there and spend time with him. She hasn't hissed at me for days.

 

This morning, Holland did hiss when she saw Daymon putting his paws under the door. I have allowed them to see each other by holding the door ajar when they're on either side of it. Like I said, Daymon seems like he couldn't care less, Holland seems curiously cautious. I don't have a kennel, the only thing I have to contain one and not the other is a carrier, and I don't think I want to plop Daymon in the carrier to "meet" Holland.

 

So I need to know... Do you think it's safe to let them meet each other in the next day or so? I've got a spray bottle and a blanket handy. If I tried to predict their behavior, I'd say Holland will be the aggressor, and she has claws, but no teeth. Daymon hasn't shown any sign of aggression, even when Holland has hissed at him, so I don't know what to really expect from him. He's just a sweet, laid-back guy.

 

Thoughts?

 

EDIT - nice way I spelled "advice" in the title... laughing02.gif

post #2 of 5
Have you done any type of scent swap with them yet? Take a blanket that Daymon has been laying on and put it out for Holland to smell. Do the same with something Holland has laid on and give it to Daymon. When you give them the others blanket, sit by them and love all over them, so that they relate the smell of the other cat to something very good. Go overboard with Holland, as to your point, it sounds like she is going to be the one that is put off more so than Daymon (it's her territory after all).

When you do introduce them, you can use the vanilla extract trick to help. Dab a little vanilla extract (get pure form, not imitation) under their chin, at the base of their neck and the base of their tail. They will smell the same and it will throw them off when they are face to face.

Do the scent swap for a couple of days and see their reactions before you open the door. It will ease the introduction.
post #3 of 5
Thread Starter 

Thanks for your reply! I swapped their blankets when I came home from work, Holland was wary of Daymon's, and Daymon just laid right out on Holland's. rolleyes02.gif

 

I planned to continue the blanket swap through tomorrow, and pick up some vanilla extract (I have a very bare kitchen...), but then Daymon went and pushed the issue by getting past me out of the bedroom the last time I went in to see him. He has been absolutely itching to check out the rest of the apartment, and the little troublemaker finally got past me.

 

I was pleasantly surprised at the 15 or so minutes that he was out here... He was poking around, checking things out. Holland planted herself in the middle of the room and just hissed at him if he got too close to her. As I suspected, he really couldn't have cared less about her reaction. When she hissed, he just turned his attention to another place. I think the whole thing came out win-win - Holland stood her ground and Daymon got to explore. No fight, no claws or teeth, nothing more than some mild hissing. I let them check each other out and then I scooped Daymon up and put him back in the bedroom. I think MY anxiety level was higher than the two of them combined... laughing02.gif I tried my best NOT to let them know I was nervous, and after I put Daymon back in his room, I praised Holland and gave her lots of treats!

 

I admit I was most nervous about the first time the two of them were in the same room, and I think it turned out better than expected. I am off work until Tuesday, so hopefully I'll be able to get them a little used to each other before then. I don't know when I'll be able to actually leave them alone together without being separated, but so far I'm thrilled. biggrin.gif

post #4 of 5
Quote:
Originally Posted by Momofmany View Post

When you do introduce them, you can use the vanilla extract trick to help. Dab a little vanilla extract (get pure form, not imitation) under their chin, at the base of their neck and the base of their tail. They will smell the same and it will throw them off when they are face to face.
Do the scent swap for a couple of days and see their reactions before you open the door. It will ease the introduction.

yeah.gif I can testify to this one..... I just did it last week and it works like a charm.
Bugsy had an incident with Hope, and he was being completely NASTY with her - I mean.... this boy was stalking her to no end. She could not even come down from the cat tree for a sip of water :-/ (My Bugsy, that huge, fluffy furball, can you picture? rolleyes.gif)
So I did precisely that.....
Then MA, (Hissy) gave me an excellent tip - get a shirt of your that has your scent totally impregnated. If you don't have, go out for a good run/sweat. Then rub this shirt on both kitties....... Give it a gooooood rub - everywhere - you want to spread your scent all over them.
I took this a step further: Since Bugsy was the aggressive one, I took that shirt, that now has mine, his and Hope's scents, and put under his food bowl. Now he is associating those scents with a good thing: food.
On your case, you would put it under Holland's bowl.
Anyways, while Bugsy is still giving her a tiny bit of trouble - I think they are all adjusting to Gracie's passing and trying to work out their place in the house - , he is no longer stalking, or beating her up. Things got pretty peaceful quite quickly.
Hope this helps!
Congrats on the new baby, so happy for you and Holland hugs.gif
post #5 of 5
Quote:
Originally Posted by Momofmany View Post

Have you done any type of scent swap with them yet? Take a blanket that Daymon has been laying on and put it out for Holland to smell. Do the same with something Holland has laid on and give it to Daymon. When you give them the others blanket, sit by them and love all over them, so that they relate the smell of the other cat to something very good. Go overboard with Holland, as to your point, it sounds like she is going to be the one that is put off more so than Daymon (it's her territory after all).

When you do introduce them, you can use the vanilla extract trick to help. Dab a little vanilla extract (get pure form, not imitation) under their chin, at the base of their neck and the base of their tail. They will smell the same and it will throw them off when they are face to face.

Do the scent swap for a couple of days and see their reactions before you open the door. It will ease the introduction.

Pure Vanilla Extract clap.gif Excellent tip!!!!! And great idea, never heard of this before. biggrin.gif
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