snick and jasper's integration thread

[micknsnicks2mom]

i thought i'd start a thread to chronicle my snick and jasper's integration. it'll also keep track of the progress and any setbacks.

some info on both cats -- my snick is a 14 year old girl with several medical issues, which we work with our vet to manage. she's very sweet, enjoys quiet, and is a very relaxed and well-adjusted girl. snick and i have been together since she was just under a month old. jasper is a two year old boy who we're fostering (with the hope of adopting eventually). in his foster home, he was overwhelmed by the fosterers 3 permanent cats and other foster cats. another foster cat, an alpha male, had been chasing and intimidating jasper to the point that jasper needed to stay in one room alone. his foster did visit with jasper often and he was cared for very well. but they knew that jasper really wanted to spend more time with people and so needed a different situation. jasper is very shy and uncertain/scared of other cats right now. i will work with jasper to help him feel more secure and comfortable sharing a home with my snick.

here's my snick --

bb0a2b30-77e8-4b26-98c6-7c809d1b3c21_zps941799a6.j

• micknsnicks2mom
• Oct 12, 2014

and here's our jasper -- (while playing with his "chewy", a petstages wiggle worm cat toy)

SUNP0010_zps44f242da.jpg

• micknsnicks2mom
• Oct 12, 2014

it's currently just about starting day 4 since jasper has been with us.

so far, my observations are that my snick is totally not concerned or upset at all that jasper is in our home and jasper has been very relaxed with me and very affectionate but is very shy and uncertain/scared of snick.

the two brief and at a distance contacts snick and jasper have had are as follows -- two nights ago jasper scooted out of the upstairs bedroom/his safe room (when i got up in the middle of the night to make a trip to the bathroom) and explored a bit of the upstairs hallway. after a couple of minutes, he looked down the stairs and saw my snick just sitting at the bottom of the stairs watching. jasper growled and quickly ran back into his safe room. yesterday evening when i was giving jasper his before bed snack and was up with him in the safe room, snick ventured upstairs and was walking around the upstairs hallway. i don't think she smelled at/under the closed door. jasper heard snick walking around and did some growling and his tail and top of his back hair puffed up. i was able to calm him with my voice telling him that i was right there with him and that snick was just coming up to say hi. within 5 minutes snick went back downstairs, and jasper relaxed again.

i'm serving snick her meals first, then serving jasper his meals. i'm also alternating where i sleep at night -- one night downstairs with my snick, and the next night upstairs with our jasper. both cats have smelled each other on me, and have not gotten upset by each others scent.

this week the last level of the roof is being done, and while the roofers are here they're going to put together a makeshift screen door to replace the solid door from the kitchen to the stairs/upstairs. the idea is to give jasper a more secure feeling, but also allow him to get to know a bit of the downstairs of the house and be able to see snick at a distance when she's in the kitchen occasionally during the day and night. i'll put up a short kitchen curtain on a curtain rod over the lower part of the screen door, so i'll be able to gradually open the curtain to allow more up close views and eventually up close greetings between both cats.

i'm not going to rush things with this integration. we're just going to take all the time both cats need to get to know each other and become comfortable around each other.

 

[shadowsrescue]

Sounds like everything is going well so far!!  Keep up the work and my advice is to take it slow.  Once you rush the steps, it's hard to go back and redo the introductions and it takes twice as long.  The last steps are the ones most people rush.  Take it slow and all will be fine!! 

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
Sounds like everything is going well so far!!  Keep up the work and my advice is to take it slow.  Once you rush the steps, it's hard to go back and redo the introductions and it takes twice as long.  The last steps are the ones most people rush.  Take it slow and all will be fine!! 

thank you! yes, i'll definitely take it nice and slow, no rush.

i'll remember that, that the last steps are the ones most people rush. and i'll make sure to take it nice and slow the whole way through the integration.

 

[misty8723]

Your Snick is gorgeous and jasper is also a cutie.

I am interested in this thread because I'm also beginning introductions between my Swanie (9 year old male) and 1 1/2 year old Persephone we just brought home yesterday.  I like the sentiment that the last steps are the ones people rush, and I need to get my DH to read that, because he's in an almighty hurry to get the two of them together.

I'll be following to see how things go for you! Good luck!

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

awww......thank you! snick is my little sweetheart. jasper is indeed a cutie!

will this be your first integration? this is my first integration. i've read a lot about integrations over the years, but never have done one. snick and her brother (mickey, who crossed the rainbow bridge in april 2013) were litter mates, so never needed an integration. snick is 14 years old now, and she's pretty laid back/doesn't let much phase her. jasper is 2 years old and comes from a foster home where he was attacked/intimidated/chased by another cat, so jasper is pretty shy and scared of other cats in general. for us, it'll be very important to move along very slowly and carefully, watching how both cats (and especially jasper) is doing. so the sentiment that the last steps are the ones people rush is something i'll keep at the front of my mind.

i'll be hoping your integration goes smoothly!

 

[maureen brad]

I will be following this closely too. I am in the process of integrating my new cat with my existing cats.The new guy ( not sure if I will change his name. It is presently Milo) is 2. Desmond is also 2 and Remy is 7.

New guy has been here for 2 weeks and 1 day.I met him at a no kill shelter and he adopted me. He was very overwhelmed by the other cats ( no cages) and while friendly he arrived here scared. I can't blame him he had been with the same family all his life and suddenly his world was turned upside down. He was primarily in his safe room the first 10 days ( incubation period) we did let him out in the living room and upstairs section of the house. he met Remy the other day.Remy is so easy going that was easy even though new guy was afraid.They do well together and I am increasing their time together . It is difficult because of course Desmond realizes there is another cat in the house. Desmond is VERY upset about that so I have decided that I will keep swapping places in the house and when Desmond is less reactive and calmer and when new guy is more confident in the entire house , then I will put up the baby gates and let them see each other. It is hard to be patient and I am tired of running to different rooms trying to give everyone time but, I want them to all get along so I am trying to remember that is a marathon and not a race.I wish you the best with your introductions and will look forward to your updates.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

@Maureen Bradley -- milo, desmond, and remy -- those are great cat names! in fact, remy is one of my favorite cat names. i've thought about changing my jasper's name, but i'll probably just change the spelling to jaspurr -- he's very much a purrer.

it sounds like your remy's reaction is very similar to my snick's. i had wondered how snick might react to introducing a new cat, but never thought she'd seem almost happy about it. for the first few days my snick didn't even venture upstairs near jasper's safe room, though i did ask her a few times if she wanted to go upstairs to investigate a little. the night before last, as i had posted earlier, snick did venture upstairs and while she remained quiet while investigating, jasper (on the other side of the safe room door with me) puffed up and growled a little. last night was jasper's turn to have me sleep upstairs with him, and snick came up to investigate a little more. snick was very quiet, and jasper did puff up a very small amount but no growling. he even was at the door looking/smelling under it -- i assume my snick was right on the other side of the door or close to it. i take this as a positive step, and the first bit of progress in the integration. but i won't be trying to move forward right away, i'll let both cats get/stay comfortable with this kind of contact for longer.

i'm thinking that on tuesday i'll put a towel with the other cats scent on it in their current areas with them, and let them check it out when they're ready. we'll see how this goes. they've already smelled each others scent on me, and jasper's safe room has my snick's scent all over it/on everything.

it sounds like you've got good plans on moving forward at this point! i read that at first, to lay a towel over the baby gate so they can't see each other. then after they're comfortable with that to lift up the bottom edge of the towel about an inch and have the cats 3 feet away from the baby gate on each side eating some tasty food to help distract them a bit as well as help them start to associate good things happening when they're together/near each other.

i agree, it's hard to work between different rooms and make sure all the cats are having time with us. i'm keeping in my mind that this careful slow integration is laying the groundwork for their long term relationship, and i very much want my snick and jasper to become comfortable around each other and peacefully coexist.

thank you! i'll be hoping your integration goes smoothly too!

 

[angels mommy]

It's good to hear the integration is going well. I had to giggle when you said Jasper growled "from the safe distance of upstairs." 

   Sounds like your doing a great job!

I also like the idea of changing the spelling of his name. 

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
It's good to hear the integration is going well. I had to giggle when you said Jasper growled "from the safe distance of upstairs." 

   Sounds like your doing a great job!

I also like the idea of changing the spelling of his name. 

thank you! i do think we're doing fine with the integration so far.

i had a very long, very busy day here yesterday. cleaning, cooking, mowing the lawn, salvation army came a picked up a piece of furniture i donated and hauled a second piece of furniture out to the curb/road (i put a "free" sign on it, and was picked up within two hours), pureed and froze the homemade apple butter, and the list went on and on. both snick and jasper were longing for me to finish so i could spend time with them. i finally got finished around 11pm, and went to bed by 12:30am. it was jasper's turn to have me upstairs with him to sleep, and he snuggled with me and demanded scritchins pretty much all of the 4 hours i was in bed upstairs.

the night before last, snick followed me upstairs again when i went to serve jasper his before bedtime snack and spend some time with him. this time snick walked around the upstairs hallway again, and also meowed a little and came close to the bedroom (jasper's safe room) door. jasper's reaction was to approach the door with almost no puffing up of hair and no growling/hissing, and peer/smell under the door. he seemed more relaxed than the two previous nights, and after a short while walked back over to me and flopped on the floor next to me. so i think we're making some progress. i feel the key with jasper is going to be taking it very slowly, and with each bit of progress letting both cats settle in and become comfortable at those points.

thanks! jasper is very much into purring often, sometimes constantly purring.

 

[angels mommy]

That's great! I think they will end up being buddies. 

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
That's great! I think they will end up being buddies. 

oh, i really really hope that snick and jasper will end up being buddies! i've thought that snick might be missing the companionship of another cat.

i'm planning on putting towels with each cat's scent on them in with the other cat on saturday, and see how they do with that.

 

[misty8723]

 
awww......thank you! snick is my little sweetheart. jasper is indeed a cutie!

will this be your first integration? this is my first integration. i've read a lot about integrations over the years, but never have done one. snick and her brother (mickey, who crossed the rainbow bridge in april 2013) were litter mates, so never needed an integration. snick is 14 years old now, and she's pretty laid back/doesn't let much phase her. jasper is 2 years old and comes from a foster home where he was attacked/intimidated/chased by another cat, so jasper is pretty shy and scared of other cats in general. for us, it'll be very important to move along very slowly and carefully, watching how both cats (and especially jasper) is doing. so the sentiment that the last steps are the ones people rush is something i'll keep at the front of my mind.

i'll be hoping your integration goes smoothly!

It's not our first.  With Swanie and Cindy we adopted at the same time, and they had an adjustment period, but it was a good combination older female / younger male and she eventually "adopted" him and they were the best of friends for 9 years until Cindy went to the bridge 3 weeks ago.  We wanted a new friend for Swanie, and all of the vets said get one soon before Swanie adjusted to being an only cat.  I think it was too soon and the wrong cat, but that's just me.  Throw into the mix DH who wants to rush things, and it's not really going well.  But we shall see.  I may start my own thread for some advice.  I really do hope that your Snick and Jasper become best friends!

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
It's not our first.  With Swanie and Cindy we adopted at the same time, and they had an adjustment period, but it was a good combination older female / younger male and she eventually "adopted" him and they were the best of friends for 9 years until Cindy went to the bridge 3 weeks ago.  We wanted a new friend for Swanie, and all of the vets said get one soon before Swanie adjusted to being an only cat.  I think it was too soon and the wrong cat, but that's just me.  Throw into the mix DH who wants to rush things, and it's not really going well.  But we shall see.  I may start my own thread for some advice.  I really do hope that your Snick and Jasper become best friends!

my snick has been with me for 14 years, since she was about a month old. our jasper is 2 years old, will be 3 in june of 2015 (i chose june for his birthday because that's the month he got his annual physical/shots last year and the vet put his age at two then -- but jasper needed a birthday). so i've got an older female and younger male combination. i'm so sorry for your loss of your cindy. snick's litter mate brother, mickey, crossed the bridge in april of 2013. so it's been a year and a half that it's been just the two of us, snick and me. when my snick lost her brother she had a horrible IBD flare-up, and i actually thought i was going to lose her too then. but with my vet's help we pulled snick through, and she and i have gone through our grieving together and have developed a strong bond to each other. for us, i wasn't considering adopting until after snick's time came to cross the bridge, partly because she has several medical issues which require my attention daily and partly because i didn't know how she'd react to another cat. things just kind of happened that pointed me firmly in the direction of fostering jasper, and i couldn't have picked a better match for my snick. in fact, snick seems to be anxiously awaiting her first supervised visit with jasper. jasper, on the other hand, is shy and scared of other cats (because another cat in his foster home attacked and chased him).

friday was the last day of jasper's total separation from my snick. yesterday i took the throws off of both cats favorite beds (they both love the same exact bed, and each one has their own) and placed them in each others areas. i put fresh throws on both their beds. jasper did smell the throw with snick's scent on it and didn't seem bothered (snick's scent is literally all over his safe room anyway). snick has smelled the throw with jasper's scent on it four times so far, and each time has immediately settled in and laid down on the throw and relaxed there for a while. i'm going to let them both get used to each others scents this way for at least a week, then see where we're at and possibly start some room swapping.

i tend to take things overly slowly or overly cautiously when it has to do with cats, to the point where i may even be holding them back for a bit. i know i do that when my snick is getting over an IBD flare-up, and she feels ready to eat more chunky foods while i'm still making her smooth/pureed food and gradually working her back up to chunky food.

i'll look for updates on your swanie and persephone's integration.

 

[maureen brad]

mickNsnicks2mom- I am glad things are going well with Snick.As far as my cats names, Desmond is the only cat I have named myself. Remy came to me after 3 years in a no kill shelter with the name so I kept it. I am not sure I will keep Milo's name as he is an Orange cat and that seems so , expected. I did change his name to Beau because he is such a sweetheart. I even got his tags but for some reason I keep calling him Milo anyway.

After 3 weeks and 2 days with us Milo met Desmond. It was an accident. Somehow my husband brought Milo into the part of my house Remy and Desmond usually occupy. I was in the bathroom and Desmond was in the outdoor enclosure. Des came marching back in because it started raining and there they were face to face. I decided to stand by and see what happened.Des feels threatened, that it obvious he hissed and swatted Milo in the face. Milo retreated . I picked up a wand toy and began to try to engage them.Des wanted to play and would chase the toy until Milo wanted to join in. I used treats to contain Des as I could see him go into a crouch and his eyes were locked unto Milo who was playing with the toy, after about 10 minutes Des hissed and growled once so I decided that was enough for the day. Milo was intimidated and I had a feeling Des was about to give chase.Later tonight I will spend a good long tim eplaying with Desmond and building him up. My husband says Desmond is a punk but I know Desmond feels threatened and he does like other cats so given more tim eit will be fine. I just do not want Milo to run and Desmond to chase because for months Remy ran and he became Desmonds prey for what seemed like an eternity.Keep us informed on your progress it sounds like things will be great with your kitty's.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
mickNsnicks2mom- I am glad things are going well with Snick.As far as my cats names, Desmond is the only cat I have named myself. Remy came to me after 3 years in a no kill shelter with the name so I kept it. I am not sure I will keep Milo's name as he is an Orange cat and that seems so , expected. I did change his name to Beau because he is such a sweetheart. I even got his tags but for some reason I keep calling him Milo anyway.

After 3 weeks and 2 days with us Milo met Desmond. It was an accident. Somehow my husband brought Milo into the part of my house Remy and Desmond usually occupy. I was in the bathroom and Desmond was in the outdoor enclosure. Des came marching back in because it started raining and there they were face to face. I decided to stand by and see what happened.Des feels threatened, that it obvious he hissed and swatted Milo in the face. Milo retreated . I picked up a wand toy and began to try to engage them.Des wanted to play and would chase the toy until Milo wanted to join in. I used treats to contain Des as I could see him go into a crouch and his eyes were locked unto Milo who was playing with the toy, after about 10 minutes Des hissed and growled once so I decided that was enough for the day. Milo was intimidated and I had a feeling Des was about to give chase.Later tonight I will spend a good long tim eplaying with Desmond and building him up. My husband says Desmond is a punk but I know Desmond feels threatened and he does like other cats so given more tim eit will be fine. I just do not want Milo to run and Desmond to chase because for months Remy ran and he became Desmonds prey for what seemed like an eternity.Keep us informed on your progress it sounds like things will be great with your kitty's.

hmmm...i guess sometimes the names given cats before we adopt them really fit the cats well...?

while not a planned meeting between milo and desmond, it sounds like it went relatively well.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

we haven't worked on moving forward in the integration since the scent swapping went very well. over the weekend snick has just been switched to hospice/at-home care by me supervised by my vet -- she no longer tolerates vet appointments at all. the vet and i have got the particulars all worked out for snick's care moving forward. and the roofers were here monday, tuesday, and today to do the last level of roof as well as several other things including constructing a screen door to help in snick and jasper's integration. so tomorrow will be our day of quiet and relaxation after the noise and "to do" going on for these last few days with the roofers.

i'm thinking that next tuesday, november 4th, we might start room swapping.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

thought i'd post an update. this past friday, november 7th, snick and jasper had their first room swapping. i was careful that neither cat saw each other while i was swapping their areas. jasper was very excited to be exploring downstairs (kitchen, living room, bathroom, first floor bedroom). he inspected and re-inspected each room, then settled down in the living room briefly. i was with jasper the whole time. about an hour and ten minutes into the room swap, jasper became overwhelmed and curled up in one of snick's litter boxes (not one she uses often, so it was very clean). so i carefully swapped both cats back to their usual areas. jasper settled in pretty quickly and was comfortable in the familiar surroundings of his safe room. snick settled in on one of her favorite spots in the living room to continue her mid-morning/early afternoon nap. i think the room swapping went very well. i'll be doing the second room swapping tomorrow.

starting three nights ago, i'm leaving the door to jasper's safe room open on the (every other) nights i sleep upstairs with him. this gives jasper his safe room, the (roomy) upstairs hallway, and the stairs to downstairs (there's a screen door at the bottom of the stairs, with curtains over the screen at the moment) to explore and enjoy all night. he likes looking out the hallway window, from which he sees the back yard, and he does go down the stairs to the screen door.

so i think things are going well with snick and jasper's integration. we're moving forward slowly.

 

[angels mommy]

 Awwww, poor Jasper, curling up in the litter box.  It's good that he is going outside of his room though to explore a little bit.  You are doing a great job at taking it slow for them!  

 

[rosethewerecat]

want to get Jasper and snake more close to each other I suggest this thing about them and pull them apart whenever they start this fighting and but not playing and lay down and cuddle with both of them at the same time that should work I have to do it with me and misfit they always were fightingbut I hope everything works out between them plus if jeff this okay to other cats then pretty much bring them on Stranger cats but nice ones nice and gentle ones probably the mothers of kittens. :-) ho

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 

 Awwww, poor Jasper, curling up in the litter box.  It's good that he is going outside of his room though to explore a little bit.  You are doing a great job at taking it slow for them!  

yeah, it was all just a bit much for jasper to take in the first time. today was snick and jasper's second room swapping. i think the room swapping is harder on snick, because she really prefers to stay on the first floor and near me. this second room swapping went so very well! jasper explored for a bit, settled in one spot for a while, then explored a little more, and ended up curled up on my computer chair watching me getting the bread machine started and make some bbq sauce. after about 1 3/4 hours i switched snick and jasper back to their usual areas. this time jasper didn't become overwhelmed. tonight is my night to be sleeping upstairs with jasper. it's very late here, i had an extremely busy day today so didn't sit down to relax and get online until just about 15 minutes ago or so.

thank you! i know that taking the integration very slowly and carefully is what jasper needs. i really want snick and jasper to (at the very least) peacefully coexist, but will be very happy if they get along well or become friends.