- Joined
- Jun 15, 2016
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- 33
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I have a female foster, about 3 years old. She had stopped eating at the shelter and was looking "off." The first vet check showed increased liver enzymes, which have improved and are normal on the last recheck. It takes a lot of work still to get her to eat cat food, but this is getting better as more time goes on.
She doesn't much like other cats, but seemed at the shelter to simply ignore them. Not so here. I did the slow intros - they met under the door first with nothing but a little growing. Once she was cleared by the vet I did things like allowing them into one another's spaces etc.. Short visual contact through the doorway etc.. and finally allowed them into the house together for short (10-15 minutes at a time.) The entire process took about 3 weeks. It seemed to go well, at first. She doesn't like the kittens, but they learned quickly to leave her alone. The adults ignore her and for the most part she follows suit.
Today my male was at the top of the stairs, just grooming. She was at the foot of the stairs and suddenly darted up and attacked. This was not play. This was a fur flying, caterwauling assault. Oddly, Mr Submissive did NOT back down and the two cats rolled down the stairs together rolled into one ball. I managed to break them apart by throwing a pillow at them after removing my resident female who came to her buddy's defense. I had to get a quilt over her to calm her down as she wouldn't let me near her without attacking at that point. I removed her back into her space and when she calmed down I fed her (she eats well only if somebody is actually in the room right now) and spent some time with her (having already calmed down the resident cats.)
And so now we start over. She is shut in the bathroom in the upstairs suite (the other master is downstairs - the resident cats have not been evicted from my bedroom.) The door to the bedroom is shut, so there is no contact at this time.
At this point I don't know if it is worth trying to re-introduce. I hadn't planned on keeping her, but it was going so well at first that it had crossed my mind. If nothing else - I do need to know what to report back as information for prospective adopters on how she does with other pets. She seemed fairly happy in the suite before, so perhaps she just will stay there. She did want more attention or time with people, so I gave it a try. She will be in foster a while longer - at least a few more weeks. She needs to be eating normally.
So. Do I start over and take it even more slowly? Forget about the re-introductions and just advise that she should be an only cat? That's going to make it more difficult to find her a home, but then again - if it is this difficult to introduce her, not making that recommendation could end up in a failed placement. She is a real sweetheart when she is not a demon. Total lap cat. If the reason she had stopped eating was due to depression over having been surrendered, perhaps she's just needing more attention on her own away from other cats? I want what's best for her, but I need to be mindful of my own cats as well. They're pretty easy going and I've had fosters in with no (or minimal) issues. They're generally friendly and interested in other cats, but the ones who want to be left alone are just left alone.
She doesn't much like other cats, but seemed at the shelter to simply ignore them. Not so here. I did the slow intros - they met under the door first with nothing but a little growing. Once she was cleared by the vet I did things like allowing them into one another's spaces etc.. Short visual contact through the doorway etc.. and finally allowed them into the house together for short (10-15 minutes at a time.) The entire process took about 3 weeks. It seemed to go well, at first. She doesn't like the kittens, but they learned quickly to leave her alone. The adults ignore her and for the most part she follows suit.
Today my male was at the top of the stairs, just grooming. She was at the foot of the stairs and suddenly darted up and attacked. This was not play. This was a fur flying, caterwauling assault. Oddly, Mr Submissive did NOT back down and the two cats rolled down the stairs together rolled into one ball. I managed to break them apart by throwing a pillow at them after removing my resident female who came to her buddy's defense. I had to get a quilt over her to calm her down as she wouldn't let me near her without attacking at that point. I removed her back into her space and when she calmed down I fed her (she eats well only if somebody is actually in the room right now) and spent some time with her (having already calmed down the resident cats.)
And so now we start over. She is shut in the bathroom in the upstairs suite (the other master is downstairs - the resident cats have not been evicted from my bedroom.) The door to the bedroom is shut, so there is no contact at this time.
At this point I don't know if it is worth trying to re-introduce. I hadn't planned on keeping her, but it was going so well at first that it had crossed my mind. If nothing else - I do need to know what to report back as information for prospective adopters on how she does with other pets. She seemed fairly happy in the suite before, so perhaps she just will stay there. She did want more attention or time with people, so I gave it a try. She will be in foster a while longer - at least a few more weeks. She needs to be eating normally.
So. Do I start over and take it even more slowly? Forget about the re-introductions and just advise that she should be an only cat? That's going to make it more difficult to find her a home, but then again - if it is this difficult to introduce her, not making that recommendation could end up in a failed placement. She is a real sweetheart when she is not a demon. Total lap cat. If the reason she had stopped eating was due to depression over having been surrendered, perhaps she's just needing more attention on her own away from other cats? I want what's best for her, but I need to be mindful of my own cats as well. They're pretty easy going and I've had fosters in with no (or minimal) issues. They're generally friendly and interested in other cats, but the ones who want to be left alone are just left alone.