Hi. I have been away from this list for awhile, but I could use some advice from the experts again. Here is my situation: After the death of my beloved Hershey, I could not bear the loneliness and the heartache. I called several breeders, the Humane Society, the ASPCA, and tons of shelters trying to find a sable green-eyed Burmese to ease my pain. If I couldn't have Hershey back, I thought getting a cat that looked like her would help. But no one had one, not even the breeders. Two months later, I adopted a not-quite 3 year old Torie, DSH. We liked each other from the start, and had just gotten to the stage where my bed became hers when I got THE EMAIL THAT CHANGED MY LIFE. The Humane Society, bless them, had kept my name in their data base. They found a sable brown Burmese that had just been trapped in the wild and was being fostered in Denver. Her mommy and a bunch of other breeders had escaped from a breeding house and had her in the wild. She spent 10 months in the wilds of Denver before being trapped with a bunch of her fellow ex-prisoners. They asked if I still wanted a Burmese and I jumped at the chance. So off to Denver I flew, her foster mom met me at the airport, I signed the papers, got back on the next flight out and brought her home to San Diego. I had already set up a separate room for her, and took her into it as soon as I walked in the door. My intent was to keep her there (with cat tree, toys, big litter box, all the luxuries) until I could hopefully domesticate her. Minja would sit outside the door, and then put her long legs under the door, extending them into the room, so the newbie was aware there was another cat in the area. She never tried to hurt Minja's legs, but sniffed them every so often. Three months, 6 trips to the ER, and lots of love later, a loving, friendly kitty emerged from the snarling, vicious creature I brought home. She arrived Sept 15th, she made her debut into the rest of the house Christmas morning. Since both cats had been sniffing each other under the door for 3 months I did not think there would be a problem introducing them. Wrong! Things have calmed down now, but they are not where I'd like them to be. I have managed to get them to eat in the same room, just a few feet apart. Minja has sniffed Hershey Rose's butt several times and she has made no aggressive moves against her. I have seen them rub each others noses. They sleep within a foot of each other. Yet if Minja is on the couch or cat tree, Hershey Rose won't go near it. Minja chases her all over the house, and I have seen Hershey Rose put her ears back and growl, never a good sign, when Minja gets too close. The have now been together for two weeks shy of a year and still don't get along. My thinking on this is that Minja, who is a sweet cat and generally non-agressive is trying to get Hershey Rose to cat-play with her. Hershey Rose, on the other hand, being completely feral, does not understand cat-play, and sees Minja as a potential enemy. Here's the thing: I can get them to sit beside me, one on each side, and they are fine. I can interactive play with them together, although Hershey Rose will walk away after a few minutes as if surrendering the toy to Minja. So I tried one toy in each hand, one for each cat separately but playing at the same time, with the same result. I am totally confused. Sometimes they get along fine, although there is never any physical contact between them, and sometimes they act like they want to kill one another, but again, no physical contact. I would love to see them lie down together, groom each other, and be friends. It breaks my heart to see them chase each other or get in a hissing fight, as I adopted them to give them a loving home, not to put them through stress. I love both of them dearly and do not want to re-home either one of them. Minja would eventually be put down (she had been adopted and returned several times before I took her home due to behavior problems with food), and Hershey Rose is afraid of any human but me, so chances are she would be put down also. Does anyone have any suggestions? I treat both equally, if I pet one, the other gets petted, they get fed at the same time, each gets played with at the same time and then separately. Hershey Rose wants to be near me constantly, and not matter how many times I am with her and call Minja over to join us, she just walks away. Minja sleeps with me, but Hershey Rose is afraid to get on the bed as Minja walks the perimeter of the bed when she is in the room, staking out "her" territory. How do I get these babies to be friends, or is this a lost cause?
Lei-Ann
Lei-Ann
