This past Sunday I decided to increase my family. I responded to a craigslist add for a 2 year old female red tabby named Taffy. They owners couldn't keep her anymore because of allergies and they said if they couldn't find her a home they were going to put her down. My b/f and I went and met her that evening. She is 20lbs of absolute sweetness and loves to have her tummy rubbed. Unfortunately, when we brought her home we noticed she had fleas.... so she was immediately placed in the bathroom to try and minimize flea transfer and she and my other cat, Tofu, were treated for fleas. It was at this point I discovered this lovely forum and learned over the counter flea medication is a bad idea! Unfortunately, I didn't know that before I treated Georgie but her treatment seemed to work and she has shown no ill side effects. Tofu has been treated with Frontline. She went to the vet on Tuesday and got a clean bill of health meaning we could keep her. Since the name Taffy just wasn't jiving with me I re-named her Georgie. Wednesday she went to the groomer to clean her up and get rid of all the flea dirt. It was also partially mental on my part because I hate bugs and even though all the fleas were dead, I didn't want to pick her up! But, now that she's clean she gets lots of love!
Even though Georgie has been with us since Sunday, She and Tofu finally met last night and I have to say, it went much better then I was expecting. At first I introduced their scents to each other with socks and they were both rather indifferent and showed no signs of aggression towards the scent. So, I put up a baby gate between them and fed them on either side of the gate. They both ate and then layed down and just kinda watched each other with mild interest. They both had relaxed body language with ears upright and purrs when I pet them. They would also engage in playing with toys while in the presence of the other cat as well as grooming. I wasn't intending to have them both have full access to each other last night but when I let Georgie explore the apartment, Tofu, much to my surpise, squeezed through the gate and joined us. They spent much of the evening lounging, in different parts of the apartment but almost always in sight of each other, while I was watching TV and on my computer. There were a couple hisses (almost all from Tofu) when they got too close but for the most part they respected each other's space. These resulted from Tofu approaching Georgie and Georgie turning to look at her with mild interest. Tofu would then back up slowly and then go on with her business. The was absolutely no chasing on either end. I think Tofu's hisses are because she is unsure of Georgie and whether she will be chased or not. The last interaction Tofu had with other animals was with a grumpy cat that didn't like her at all and 2 energetic dogs who would chase her. So I can totally understand her apprehension with this new cat. To be honest, I think Georgie could care less, she's pretty lazy, hence the 20lbs! Tofu will back up and Georgie will just sit there and shortly afterwords roll over or lounge. For most of the evening both were relaxed enough to lounge belly up!
I had them out again this morning and Georgie was just lounging.
Kinda a long post but I'm just so excited that this might work out between the 2 cats! I was envisioning tufts of hair flying and hissing angry cats!
I will continue to post here as their relationship progresses!
Here are some pictures:
Right after her flea treatment...none to happy!
After the groomer...looking spiffy!!!
Here is Tofu, being the little fluff ball she is:
Even though Georgie has been with us since Sunday, She and Tofu finally met last night and I have to say, it went much better then I was expecting. At first I introduced their scents to each other with socks and they were both rather indifferent and showed no signs of aggression towards the scent. So, I put up a baby gate between them and fed them on either side of the gate. They both ate and then layed down and just kinda watched each other with mild interest. They both had relaxed body language with ears upright and purrs when I pet them. They would also engage in playing with toys while in the presence of the other cat as well as grooming. I wasn't intending to have them both have full access to each other last night but when I let Georgie explore the apartment, Tofu, much to my surpise, squeezed through the gate and joined us. They spent much of the evening lounging, in different parts of the apartment but almost always in sight of each other, while I was watching TV and on my computer. There were a couple hisses (almost all from Tofu) when they got too close but for the most part they respected each other's space. These resulted from Tofu approaching Georgie and Georgie turning to look at her with mild interest. Tofu would then back up slowly and then go on with her business. The was absolutely no chasing on either end. I think Tofu's hisses are because she is unsure of Georgie and whether she will be chased or not. The last interaction Tofu had with other animals was with a grumpy cat that didn't like her at all and 2 energetic dogs who would chase her. So I can totally understand her apprehension with this new cat. To be honest, I think Georgie could care less, she's pretty lazy, hence the 20lbs! Tofu will back up and Georgie will just sit there and shortly afterwords roll over or lounge. For most of the evening both were relaxed enough to lounge belly up!
I had them out again this morning and Georgie was just lounging.
Kinda a long post but I'm just so excited that this might work out between the 2 cats! I was envisioning tufts of hair flying and hissing angry cats!
I will continue to post here as their relationship progresses!
Here are some pictures:
Right after her flea treatment...none to happy!
After the groomer...looking spiffy!!!
Here is Tofu, being the little fluff ball she is:
