Cat Introduction Woes

[cat nap]

 
@cat nap   Yeah, it's pretty clear that she's willing to play with him through the gate now. 

 We also know that she can come and go freely, we've seen her on the shelf and she's 'retrieved' items left on the little table outside her room. She's actually managed to drag a wand toy over the gates on more than one occasion. 

I think I would die laughing if she ever took a guerrilla raid on his tail. It's funny enough watching her do it through the gate!  

 

I don't know @Losna and @MServant  

You know it's going to happen pretty soon.  It's like you said before, Losna, on other threads...it'll happen according to the cat 'timetable'...and not the humans.

I'm with you, I would be dying of laughter, too, if a "guerilla raid on Sinbad's tail" took place.  I'm just not so sure if Sinbad would appreciate us laughing, though.

  Hopefully, Sinbad does not mind, and will be totally in awe.

How could Tempest have managed to 'drag' wand toys over the gate?  She has some pretty good 'cat retriever' skills.   (I hope that Sinbad has some cat skills as equally impressive.)

 

 

[losna]

@cat nap   I have no idea how she does it! She always does it when no one is around. We used to keep the wand toys in a jug. We'd wake up in the morning and discover one of them in her room. Originally we thought she was pulling them through the holes in the gate, because we've found things halfway through the holes on the floor...

But then we got a big rat toy and tied it to a sisal cord which we then tied to a dowel rod... The rat was way too big to fit through the holes. But we found it in her room one morning. Even more astonishing, it was not only in her room, but she'd somehow managed to tie it around 2 legs of the chair in a pretty tough to undo knot! My hubby had to lift up the chair and slide the cord off, and completely untie the rat to get that knot out. After that we started keeping the wands in a closet.

So now she just steals laundry and anything left on the table outside her room. My hubby gives her his dirty shirt every night before bed, but she always has several items of clothing in her bed that she's 'liberated' on her own as well. 

 

 

[cat nap]

Originally Posted by Losna  

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..... but she'd somehow managed to tie it around 2 legs of the chair in a pretty tough to undo knot! My hubby had to lift up the chair and slide the cord off, and completely untie the rat to get that knot out. After that we started keeping the wands in a closet.

So now she just steals laundry and anything left on the table outside her room. My hubby gives her his dirty shirt every night before bed, but she always has several items of clothing in her bed that she's 'liberated' on her own as well. 

 

  Tempest is studying to be your very own 'cat burglar'...

 

  or else perhaps she figures she needs the items, to be kept away from Sinbad.  She sounds creative, adorable, and very smart. 

  

 

Items..."she's 'liberated' on her own"....sounds very sweet and funny. 

 

 

[losna]

 
  Tempest is studying to be your very own 'cat burglar'...

 

  or else perhaps she figures she needs the items, to be kept away from Sinbad.  She sounds creative, adorable, and very smart. 

  

 

Oh she is very definitely in training to be a cat burglar. She pickpockets from us every time we go in there. Anything in pockets is fair game although she has a particular fondness for cough drops. She also goes after my glasses (when I am wearing them!!), bookmarks, pens, pencils, anything she can get her paws or teeth on.

 

[cat nap]

Tempest the Cat Burglar and Pickpocket, too.  Oh, boy, you're going to have your hands full...and I don't mean...with just 'stuff'.  

(The only thing that Spotty likes is hair elastics...so I have to make sure I don't drop them.  He does not actually eat them...but likes to carry them around.)

I wonder if she likes the smell of cough drops, then.  That is interesting. 

 

 

[losna]

She likes the crinkle sound the wrappers make. So does Sinbad, although he doesn't try to steal them out of pockets. 

We can distract either of them from anything  simply by unwrapping a cough drop and squishing up the wrapper. Hmm.. as I say that I am now wondering if that'd work even when they are chasing/fighting each other.

 

[cat nap]

 
She likes the crinkle sound the wrappers make. So does Sinbad, although he doesn't try to steal them out of pockets. 

We can distract either of them from anything  simply by unwrapping a cough drop and squishing up the wrapper. Hmm.. as I say that I am now wondering if that'd work even when they are chasing/fighting each other.

(Mine also liked crinkled up paper...like batting it around like a soccer ball, and then carrying it away.  (Though, Spotty began suddenly chewing the paper, and now I have to watch him better.))

Totally, good point of trying to use a "distraction" method to get them to pay attention to something else, if they become too involved in play fighting.  I wonder if it would draw their attention away. 

 

[stewball]

Tempest the Cat Burglar and Pickpocket, too.  Oh, boy, you're going to have your hands full...and I don't mean...with just 'stuff'.  :lol3:

(The only thing that Spotty likes is hair elastics...so I have to make sure I don't drop them.  He does not actually eat them...but likes to carry them around.) hno:
I wonder if she likes the smell of cough drops, then.  That is interesting.   

My blighty used to love my hair elastics. I had to keep buying more. He'd even find them when I'd hidden them and would pinch them under my nose. He's grown out of them now.

 

[mservant]

@Losna  , I'm sure there's a threda somewhere about cat-burglers steeling stuff out of pockets and hiding things in their beds... must try and find it.  Tempest is quite a character.  LoL

If she does it anything like Mouse does with his wand toys he gets the feather or toy bits and drags the wand along behind him.  He holds it in his mouth and so when he jumps up or down the wand follows where ever he goes - like up onto my bed to wake me up so I will play (not).  If it's heavier (like my furry covered hot water bottle) he uses his whole body weight to pull and heave the object along, using his teeth again to hold what ever it is he wants to shift.  It's amazing what he can pull when he's determined something isn't where he wants it. 

I'm lucky that Mouse has never been in to elastic hair bands or similar but he has been known to pull a £5 note out of a friend's purse / handbag once, and then raced down the hallway with said note clutched in his jaws!  

 

 

[losna]

An interesting new development - 

They've started talking to each other now. Sinbad does what I often refer to Sinbabbling - a long stream of syllables that really sounds like a person talking in a foreign language rather than a cat! He will sit outside her gate and just talk at her. Eventually he starts 'singing' what sounds like mournful 'why won't you play with me' type of cries as she doesn't respond.

But last night .. Tempest started answering him! He sat outside her gate and did his babbling ... and she did a few little mews in response. Joyous, he babbled at her again, and again she replied!! She just did it this morning again, they had a little 'conversation' while I made breakfast. Sinbad is now zooming ecstatically around the house, and I am crossing my fingers hoping that soon she will really come out!!! 

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
An interesting new development - 

They've started talking to each other now. Sinbad does what I often refer to Sinbabbling - a long stream of syllables that really sounds like a person talking in a foreign language rather than a cat! He will sit outside her gate and just talk at her. Eventually he starts 'singing' what sounds like mournful 'why won't you play with me' type of cries as she doesn't respond.

But last night .. Tempest started answering him! He sat outside her gate and did his babbling ... and she did a few little mews in response. Joyous, he babbled at her again, and again she replied!! She just did it this morning again, they had a little 'conversation' while I made breakfast. Sinbad is now zooming ecstatically around the house, and I am crossing my fingers hoping that soon she will really come out!!! 

fantastic news!

 

[losna]

Baby steps, moving forward - 

Tempest now actively looks for Sinbad every time I go up to her room. In fact, she has started calling for me, then once I arrive she completely ignores me in favor of Sinbad. She has figured out that interacting with Sinbad gets her treats, so now she wants to interact with him a lot! And since Sinbad has made it plain to her that I'm his, getting me up there is the fastest way to get him up there.  That, and she only gets treats if someone sees her interacting with him. 

In light of this, we are pondering giving another face to face a try this weekend with bribes of treats. But we haven't decided yet, as at this point we are going very very carefully because we don't want another backslide. 

 

[mservant]

Your cats sound too intelligent by half!  I'd worry if I were you, your home may not be yours for much longer... once this pair start to work in tandem they are going to be scheming endlessly. 

 

   Then again, maybe they already are and figure this is the best way to string out the treat-fest.  Is Tempest motivated by anything other than food treats as it might be worth swapping around what the reward is so she doesn't develop the same shape of belly that Mouse has (Lets just say it is a little more rounded that the vet and I would like).   

For more face to face encounters I think you are wise to be cautious and wait until things have settled down again (from your other thread about Sinbad's recent mishap) as if either of them is more anxious than normal, for what ever reason, it could indeed set you back.  I still think this all sounds like you are making good progress now. 

 

[losna]

They are handfuls, it's true.  Most of our friends who have come over have commented that Sinbad is frighteningly intelligent. His one weak spot seems to be Tempest, he's like the village idiot when it comes to interacting with her. He still charges when she doesn't want attention, and runs away when she does.

 Tempest seems more cunning than intelligent, although that's in comparison to Sinbad, she is pretty amazing too. But yes, we have already acknowledged to each other that once they start getting along, it's going to be terrifying. I suspect between the two of them, they'll be able to get into and open anything.

That's a good point about nervousness, I hadn't considered the impact the one event might have on another. We'll wait another week then and re-evaluate.

 

[losna]

We just had some GREAT progress! It's been a while, since anything has changed over much, but now I am very happy!!

My husband took Tempest out of her room for her daily time with him in the house. Sinbad was lazing around in his 'cat cave' made of sheets and pillows, so we didn't shut him out the way we normally would. It turns out to have been a good thing!!

My husband was sitting in a chair with Tempest on his lap when Sinbad came wandering in. He realized pretty quickly that Tempest was out, and of course immediately headed her way. But Tempest didn't react! She just watched him approach. So we held our breaths and waited. Sinbad walked right up to my hubby, climbed up to his knees, and stood there looking at Tempest. Tempest, just a few inches away from him at this point, in my hubby's arms, just looked back at him.

For about 5 minutes they stayed like this, just looking at each other, with no discomfort on either side. Tempest needed a break after that, so hubby brought her back up to her room. But it was great!! Even 5 minutes is amazing progress!! We gave them both treats and praises. What a great birthday present that was.

 

[mservant]

    What a great update.  Very happy for you, and even more so as you say it was a birthday present. 

 

[cat nap]

I agree...what a great gift to get for a birthday!  

 

    And a Happy Update. 

@Losna    Does Tempest do the 'low growling' at all when Sinbad is around ? Kind of like a closed mouth 'rumbling sound'.    Because that would be normal vocalization, too, and she may, or may not do it...as a warning to Sinbad...if he gets too close.

 

[losna]

@cat nap I don't think I've ever heard her growl in the time we've had her. She occasionally hisses at him through the gate, but that has decreased over time, and I actually can't recall the last time she hissed at him. Now when he gets too close through the gate she just swats at him, or simply stares until he backs away, but even that has been decreasing in frequency lately. Her usual interaction with him now is to stare at him with her head tilted sideways - which is her thinking head position - or she ignores him and grooms herself. (It's very funny looking, you can see it in my post here, if you're curious what it looks like http://www.thecatsite.com/t/283930/cat-introduction-woes/150#post_3712106 )

She has definitely figured out that interacting with him gets her treats, and oh boy is she greedy for her treats. I've had to raise the bar for the level of interaction that earns a reward, because she started calling for him whenever my husband or I were in view so she could give him a quickie nose greeting to get a treat. Which is a very good thing - but she was doing it so often and so cleverly alternating between the two of us that we went through an entire bag of treats in a couple of days last week without quite realizing it.

I think she'll be ready to try coming out again very soon.

 

[losna]

Tempest came out of her room all on her own, and she spent the morning out on the landing!! Here she is looking super happy and playing with my hubby.

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• losna
• Apr 24, 2015

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• losna
• Apr 24, 2015

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• losna
• Apr 24, 2015

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• losna
• Apr 24, 2015

 

[cat nap]

 
@cat nap I don't think I've ever heard her growl in the time we've had her. She occasionally hisses at him through the gate, but that has decreased over time, and I actually can't recall the last time she hissed at him. Now when he gets too close through the gate she just swats at him, or simply stares until he backs away, but even that has been decreasing in frequency lately. Her usual interaction with him now is to stare at him with her head tilted sideways - which is her thinking head position - or she ignores him and grooms herself. (It's very funny looking, you can see it in my post here, if you're curious what it looks like http://www.thecatsite.com/t/283930/cat-introduction-woes/150#post_3712106 )

She has definitely figured out that interacting with him gets her treats, and oh boy is she greedy for her treats. I've had to raise the bar for the level of interaction that earns a reward, because she started calling for him whenever my husband or I were in view so she could give him a quickie nose greeting to get a treat. Which is a very good thing - but she was doing it so often and so cleverly alternating between the two of us that we went through an entire bag of treats in a couple of days last week without quite realizing it.

I think she'll be ready to try coming out again very soon.

I'm glad that you pointed out the way Tempest does the 'head-tilted-sideways look'.  I really didn't notice the 'head tilt' in the photos, before, and only thought that Tempest was laying on her side.  I think it was that I was more into the 'paw through the gate' movements.  It reminds me how some dogs tilt their heads when they are trying to figure out some strange sound.  Adorable. 

So Tempest has figured out how to get her humans to give extra treats...'without having the humans notice the bag emptying quickly'.

  I'd be careful now, because Tempest might just find a way to get her humans to believe that poor Sinbad was the one who ate the treats...probably nonchalantly leaving the empty bag near Sinbad's location. 

 

The reason I had asked if Tempest had done the low growling, was because I had wondered if she gave Sinbad any indication that she was annoyed...since my cat Spotty did this a lot when he wanted another cat to leave him alone.  Spotty would growl, rumbling...and if the other cat did not back off, then a 'shadow-boxing paw-swatting' situation would happen next.  Usually the other cat would hear the growling, and back off, but if not, then the cat would get swatted.

Every cat is different, though, and so I just wondered how Tempest showed her annoyance.  The ignoring Sinbad and self-grooming sounds great, and the head tilt is Tempest actually studying Sinbad. 

It sounds like everything is settling down and the cats are becoming more casual.