What I've noticed thus far

So I’ve recently introduced two cats together. Upon doing this I was flooded by tons of advice from everyone from my friends, to my vet, to here at TCS. While I was doing all of this I revisited a work that has been a big part of my life Elizabeth Kubler Ross’s On Death and Dying. I realized that my Alpha kitty 8-Bit was going through these stages.

Denial: When the cat’s first met Bit virtually ignored Scratch. He would sniff and walk away. There was very little interaction between the two.

Anger: Welllll I think we all know what kitty anger looks like. Thank God my Bit decided to still use his litter box. He was beating up Scratch, and I had a point where I thought that I may have to take Scratch back to the rescue organization. I didn’t tell anyone about this of course, because I wanted the two to get along.

Bargaining: This is where Bit was pleading for my attention. Every time I would do something to Scratch, Bit would immediately run up to me afterwards for some attention. It was like he was saying “Mommy, you can’t give him attention with out giving me some!” If I didn’t do this he would go meow somewhere.

Depression: I believe that I am in the middle of this stage right now. Bit is now curled up under our couch looking sad. He’s been a little moopy for the last few days. Every time he looks at Scratch he sighs (we all know what the kitty sigh looks like). He’ll play, but it’s not with his usual enthusiasm. He is still eating, drinking, and using his box. So I’m not too terribly worried about him yet.

Acceptance: The stage that I have been waiting for, for the last few months. I can not wait for my boys to get along. Now, I am seeing the two of them accepting each other more and more. They are mirroring each other’s body language, and sleeping near each other.

I just thought that I’d share some of my insight into cat behavior with all of you. I hope you like it.

I'm curious if this varies based on the gender of the Kitty? We also just recently introduced a new cat into our home and it went so well I'm just shocked!

The first day, Bubbles (female) was very interested and followed Leela (female Kitten) around. Of course if Leela got close or showed any interest in Bubbles she would hiss and run away. I can't tell you how many times Leela chased Bubbles around the living room that first day. Still Bubbles kept coming back for more.

The second day was much the same except that they actually got close enough to sniff briefly before Bubbles would hiss and run off.

But the third day .. the third day they becan to play!

By the fourth day the play would lead to some cuddling and licking .. it was just amazing!

Bubbles is a 4 yo female. Leela is a 3mo female. So I don't know if it's the gender thing or the age thing. I was advised that it would be easier to add a female kitten to our family, and that advise seems to have payed off.

Here's our latest picture of the pair. http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i7...r/_mg_0359.jpg

This is very interesting...I'm so glad you posted this! I introduced two kitties in March....Bunnie, my little female I had first. I had her for two months before I adopted Charley. Charley seems like a very skittish cat, very nervous. He was under the bed for the first three days. I did the slow introduction, using a baby gate. Once they were allowed access to each other they did the "stare down" thing a lot, sparred with each other a lot. Then they went through a period where all seemd great! That lasted two months. Now Charley is back to acting very frightened and seems depressed and won't come downstairs. He stays upstairs and I even had to move his food up there! Bunnie keeps going up trying to play with him, but he just won't play along. I'm so confused about him! I would love to see the "acceptance" thing once again! Anyone have any thoughts as to what could be wrong with him? I've had him checked out at the vets and the only thing wrong with him is urine crystals - no infection just the crystals. He's on special food that that too...

Karen

Originally Posted by Aubidar

I'm curious if this varies based on the gender of the Kitty? We also just recently introduced a new cat into our home and it went so well I'm just shocked!

The first day, Bubbles (female) was very interested and followed Leela (female Kitten) around. Of course if Leela got close or showed any interest in Bubbles she would hiss and run away. I can't tell you how many times Leela chased Bubbles around the living room that first day. Still Bubbles kept coming back for more.

The second day was much the same except that they actually got close enough to sniff briefly before Bubbles would hiss and run off.

But the third day .. the third day they becan to play!

By the fourth day the play would lead to some cuddling and licking .. it was just amazing!

Bubbles is a 4 yo female. Leela is a 3mo female. So I don't know if it's the gender thing or the age thing. I was advised that it would be easier to add a female kitten to our family, and that advise seems to have payed off.

Here's our latest picture of the pair. http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i7...r/_mg_0359.jpg

Click to expand...

Awww, they are so cute together!!

Karen

They are male kitties. I don't know if that makes a difference in the introductions.

I believe that we may have hit acceptance today. Bit has started to become himself again. He is now supervising my cooking, jumping onto our shelving units, and "helping" me make the bed. We will see how the rest of this goes.