Cat Introduction

[Datpips]

So I just wanted to post an update since it's been so long. We've come a long way and a lot has happened so I'll try to keep it semi short and I apologize if it's all over the place. They're still separated except for during meal time.
Things have been going well. I've noticed improvement in them both, even if it's small. We've managed to move from just feeding them together to kind of playing with them together after they eat in the same room. They're finally distracted by the toy enough to not focus so much on each other. Today specifically during supper was fantastic. They both really started played more than they normally would in each others presence. We felt really good about it. Then, just a bit ago for their before bed meal was a bit... finicky. Pips finished first and walked over to Moose while he was still eating, normally when she does this I can just call her name or wave a toy and she'll come to me. Not so much this time. She swiped Moose while he was eating. I saw swipe.. but it was more of a bonk on the head. Nothing serious, no hissing or any aggressive body language and Moose continued to eat. Afterwards I couldn't get Pips distracted and she kind of went for him. Unfortunately I don't remember exactly what happened but no crazy fights or chases broke out, so that's a bonus. This is the first time in a while anything has really happened between them. I understand there could have been multiple factors that contributed to this and I think the main reason was play. We've been feeding them a fully raw diet as of a few days ago, before that it was every other meal for a slow transition. Their energy levels are through the roof, it's insane. I'm not sure if it's because we're still figuring out the new food.. as in portion sizes. Or if we just didn't tucker them out enough before feeding them. Either way I think they just had too much energy to be together, which resulted in a minor set back.
We play with them so much, it's getting more difficult to get them into a state of actually NOT wanting to play. I'm not really sure if there's an answer to this question that's not.."Play with them more." But.. How do we keep up with them? Haha. We play with them so much. Separately and together.. After a good long play session with Pips not even 20 minutes later she's running laps of the place and climbing the cat trees at the speed of light. She'll play with anything. Moose on the other hand get's bored reallyyy easily and it's a bit more difficult to get him spent. We try to rotate toys and buy new ones to keep Moose interested. As I said before after a while he wont even look at a toy if he's play with it more than a few times. What is your play routine with your cats? Do you have to constantly DIY or buy new interactive toys to keep it interesting? What do you feed your cats?
Let me know if there's anything missing that you'd like to know.

 

[rubysmama]

I didn't see your thread until today, but quickly read through the posts. It sounds like things are a little bit better, but still not perfect. I've never had more than one cat at a time, so don't have advice to offer, but will post a few TCS article links.

Have you considered doing a complete re-introduction?
How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

Here's a couple more TCS articles that might be helpful:
The Multi-cat Household
How To Safely Break Up A Cat Fight

 

[calicosrspecial]

Thanks for the update.

I think this is GREAT!!!

Being together with no incidents. Playing near each other. Able to be distracted. Fantastic.

So the incident with the food. We never know what could be the driver of something like that but it sounds innocent. It could have been "let me have that food". It could have been "let's play, tag you're it". AND her is the great part, Moose went back to eating!!! SO no hissing, no worry, just "hey, I know you, but I want to finish eating". GREAT!!! I would not call this a setback. In fact, I think it is validation. Of the progress. Moose isn't afraid. Pips not afraid. NO fight ensued. We always watch for how they react after an encounter. This is the reaction we dream about, no real reaction.

It is not uncommon for one cat to be less into play than the other. All you can do is what you are doing. Change toys. Makes sure the toy acts like prey (bird, mouse). And playing with one more than another is fine. As long as they are confident (remember confidence is built through Play, Food, Height and Love and I would add positive encounters with the other cats). So as long as Moose is confident and acting confident and Pips wants to play that is fine. Also, try to make sure you have cat trees and maybe cat shelving. Places for t. hem to look outside at the wildlife. Warm and comfy bedding.

Different cats have different energy levels. So just try to play with them consistently if possible. It sounds like you are doing a great job.

My routine. I love to play with the cats before meals. So morning and evening for us. Depending on their energy I may do a play session at other times and feed treats. As cats get older they do slow down a bit. But it is VERY positive that a cat wants to play. A great sign of being happy and confident. That doesn't mean that a cat that doesn't want to play or gets bored easily isn't happy and confident. We can tell by how they carry themselves etc. We can see that confidence with their body language, how they go around the house, where they hang out etc. I am constantly buying new toys. But I think the main thing is to try to make a toy act like prey. The same movements, hiding, around corners, peaking their interest. Some need more to get interested than others.

I feed my cats hard food, wet food and then treats when needed. I try to limit the treats and use wet food more as treats.

I think you are doing a GREAT job and are well on the way to success. Just keep expanding their time together as you feel appropriate and try to make sure every encounter between them is as positive as possible. But it sounds like they have built up a lot of trust.

Feel free to ask any questions about how to keep moving forward. Keep up the great work!!

 

[Datpips]

So we've been trying to 'introduce' our two cats for around a year now... ): It's been immensly stressful for us. And also for the kitties. We have made A LOT of progress since the beginning but as of late progress has plateaued.

Currently the cats rotate spending time in the cat room. We feed meals three times a day. In the morning before work they quickly get fed outside the cat room, no barriers or anything. But the minute they're done eating one cat goes into the room. Second and third feeding we let the cat out from the cat room letting kitty run down the stairs into the kitchen to the food dish. They both peaceful eat without really looking up from the dish. Once they're done eating we try our best to play or use treats to distract them. Moose (our 'new' cat) isn't really distracted by toys like Pips is, he's particular in the way he plays. Pips usually just ends up laying or crouching down in the same spot and not moving unless prompted by a toy or treat. Moose will either lay down or slowly walk around. Usually near pips and flop down near her. He likes to stare and be near her. No aggressive body language while he stares. Other then a slight tail twitch.. which he does all the time anyway even when Pips isn't in the same room.

My confusion is in their body language. Its hard to predict if another cat is going to attack or not. They show no signs of aggression. Other than the slight tail flicking. No hissing, ears are never down, no growling, no vocal communication at all. We try to prevent them from locking eyes. Once they do that the tension definitely rises. When pips does launch herself at Moose there isn't even any growing, hissing, or yowling. We usually can get them apart and they'll sit tensely and just watch each other. Moose ends up with a soggy neck (Pips has no teeth) and fur tuffs will be on the ground or in Pips' claws. I want to believe it's just play as no chasing, yowling, or injuries (as far as I can tell) happen. But given their not so nice past I feel like it's not play..

We wont always be around to distract them from each other their whole life.. I guess I'm just unsure how to progress or what we can do to have them tolerate each other without having a kitty locked in a room...): I dont know how much longer I want to keep locking a kitty in the spare room for. It's been a very long time. But I'm scared they'll just keep stalking/attacking each other if we dont keep them separated. Or closely supervised when they do spend 20 mins after eating together.

Do we take a step back? How do we react when there is a scrap? What could be triggering the stalking behaviour? How do we get them to recognize space when they dont communicate ?

I want to keep everything stress free.. as were also trying to figure out if Pips has asthma. She has started to wheeze slightly after we play with her. But the inhaler our vet prescribed hasn't changed much.

 

[rubysmama]

I'm so sorry you're still dealing with your cat introductions. A year is a really long time! For both the felines, and the humans.

I've never introduced cats, so I have no experience to share. My usual comments relate to the "normal" cat introduction process, which I think your cats have passed.

Hopefully some of our other members will read your thread and reply.

 

[calicosrspecial]

It sounds like you have made great progress. I know it is not perfect but they are getting along for the most part. Now, we need to just finish it off.

How much time do they spend a day with access together?

In the morning after eating together, you mention 1 cat goes back into the room. How often does each cat choose to go back into the room? Is it the cat that was in the room previously that typically goes back into the room?

After the second and third feeding you mention Pips lays or crouches down in the same spot. Is it a defensive crouch? Like she is being "on guard"? How is her demeanor and body language?

You then mention Moose lays down by her or walks slowly. How slowly does he walk? Really slow motion? Or just slowly. How does Pips react? When Moose does sit down by her how is their body language? Are they fine if staring doesn't occur? Anytime a cat looks away from a potential "threat" it is a positive. So if Pip is looking away from Moose when he is near it is a big positive.

Is it always Pips that lunges? How do they each react after this? I know they are tense but what do they do? Do they avoid areas? Or hide? Or walk low to the ground? Or have their tail low? Sometimes cats lunge and start something to say "don't think about it" or "stop it". How the react after an incident is the big "tell". If they rebound quickly then it is them working it out. One expressed displeasure and made it known.

A few times you mention "stressful" and I sense you worry when they are together. Cats really sense our emotions and if we are tense and worried they tend to be more on edge. It is easier said than done but trying to be as calm and confident around them as possible can be very helpful.

Also, we want to give them a lot of options to hangout in comfy places without getting into each others business. So cat trees, maybe cat shelving, window perches or places they can look out the window or lay in the sun, bedding, etc. Scratching posts they can own and get their scent on. Ownership is important for a cat and scent it a big part of it. These will help them "own" more territory and lead to being more confident.

No, we don't want them separated in a room or have to distract them. So we'll do things to help that. So far the eating together is GREAT. The fact they are focused on something good (food) and not each other tells me it will be fine. AND the fact they never really hurt each other tells me they will be fine. We just need to clean up some of the staring etc.

So we really want to continue to work on confidence. And we do that through Play, Food, Height and Love. So we want to continue to play with them in all areas of the house. Separately and if they want to play (hunt) together that is fine as well (as long as they focus on the toy and not the other cat). We always want to feed after play, not before play. Play then feed replicates the natural instinct of "Hunt, Capture, Kill, Eat". Then they groom and sleep. Satisfied they did their "job" to survive.

We also want to make sure they have the comfy places I mentioned previously (bedding, cat trees, shelving, etc) that they can "own" and they can give the other cat some space. Where they get comfy and rest and hang out. Height (cat trees) give a lot of confidence so having them be able to go high and hang out and look out of the window etc is a big part of building confidence.

And Love. So we want to keep having them associate each other with positive things. Food, treats. So we want to keep feeding them together, giving them treats. Talk softly and calmly and confidently to them. To let them know that everything is ok. If we can safely (without being at risk of being hurt or scratched) hang out with them (sitting next to a cat or having them on our lap etc) while the other cat is around.

Anytime they are together without an incident it will build trust between them and confidence. Even if it is for a short time, ending "together time" on a positive note it is a step toward building trust and confidence.

So to answer your questions.

I don't think we need to take a step back. I actually think we want to continue moving forward trying to make sure every encounter is a positive one. So if Moose sits down by Pips we want to try to get them to focus on you or anything but the other cat (and vice versa). We want to stay calm, feel like everything is fine. Talk softly to them, calmly, confidently. Get the cats to focus on you or something other than the other cat. Also, giving them a lot of places to hang out is helpful.

If there is a scrap try to stay calm. Let them calm down. Give them something positive. Talk softly and lovingly to them. Act like it was no big deal. And watch how they react after a scrap. Try to get them on a cat tree or looking out of the window. Anything they enjoy.

They are communicating, we may not hear it or pick it up but they are communicating. Looks, body language, senses. It is amazing how they communicate. And of course, when Pips lunges that is communication saying "don't mess with me" etc. The fact they are good together a lot of the time and eat together is a major positive. We just need to build on that.

If Pips is struggling with breathing we have to be a bit careful. So we don't want to push play too much. Play is just one part of building confidence and we can achieve confidence through the other three. And of course as Moose builds confidence that will help Pips as well. We'll try to make sure we have Moose give her some space too etc.

Don't worry, 1 year is more common that you think but I am highly confident your situation will be fine. I am glad to hear where we are and know we can improve the situation. We can get them to live peacefully, I am highly confident based on what I have read.

I will be here for you every step of the way so don't worry. Ask anything anytime. We will get there. I really am confident, you are very close to them being together. We will succeed.