Well, I am keeping my fingers crossed!!

I finally let Cammie (now Autumn) out of the bathroom. She is very keyed up and is pacing all over and moving quickly. She hardly seems to take notice of Lily. Lily on the other hand is quite put out that this new cat is roaming in her territory. She has hissed and growled when Autumn has gotten too close, but hasn't even struck at her (yet). Autumn seems to have no real house manners as such and I had to shoo her away from my recliner when she scratched it, and also my area rug! I will work on training her not to scratch my carpets and furniture. I have a huge scratching post, NO-SCRATCH spray, a squirt bottle and catnip. Wish me luck!

I wish you loads of luck! Autumn is doing exactly what Billie did when I let her out of quarantine last week, and Scarlett reacted to her as your Lily is doing. Billie had no house manners either, but being the intelligent, inquisitive cat she is (and I suspect Autumn is), I quickly redirected her towards the right things to do. She touched the couch once, I grabbed her, gave her a no and showed her the cat tree. She left the couch alone after that.

Try not to use the squirt bottle. Autumn is going to be a little scared for a while and the squirt bottle will only cause more fear in her. I'm a firm believer in positive reinforcement rather than negative corrections. Cats will learn quickly if shown what to do rather than being reprimanded on what not to do.

Good luck! It sounds like you got a wonderful, smart, playful little girl on your hands!

Yes, Autumn is very smart and very sensitive. When I used the squirt bottle I didn't squirt her, just near her and quickly. I then brought her over to the scratching post and moved her paws up and down on it. I also shined the lazer light on the top part of the pole and that did the trick. She had to scratch the pole to get at that tempting little dot! Lily did almost rush her once and is guarding somewhat, but with a sharp NO! and the squirt bottle, she hasn't gone after Autumn to attack. Actually, Autumn almost seems oblivious to the fact that Lily doesn't like her.

Lazer light on the scratch post: what a great idea! Billie was oblivous to Scarlett also, which really surprised me (I hadn't seen that before), and she kept that up all week. Scarlett eventually settled down cause Billie didn't respond to her. Perhaps you will have the same good luck with Autumn and Lily.

Are you going to post pics? We would love to see some!!

Originally posted by catlover67
[B Actually, Autumn almost seems oblivious to the fact that Lily doesn't like her. [/b]

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Oh oh, she's gonna be the alpha! My QT acted the same way towards my 2 cats when she was new and now she is bullying them whenever she thinks I am not looking!

turned into the shelter because she was supposedly "unfriendly" with the lady's female cats that she had when Autumn showed up as a stray in her barn. Apparently she had Autumn two months before turning her in.

I have high hopes. Even though Lily has no claws and Autumn has them all, Lily has been the aggressor. Autumn does't run neccessarily, but hasn't fought back yet either. I am hoping with a gradual intro and keeping Autumn seperate at night for awhile, they can learn to live together without serious fighting. Spats are o.k, I can handle them, but if one or the other resorts to biting and/or scratching, I don't know what I will do, as I am attached to both cats.

Sending "Lily get along with Autumn" vibes!!! How exciting! Are you gonna post pic's?? Pleeeeease??? :

technological dark ages, and I cannot afford my own digital camera at this time. I have one pic of her that I saved from her Petfinders web photo.