Due to unforeseen circumstances I now have taken in
the kitty my mom was supposed to adopt. She has been with me now since Sat. afternoon She is a very sweet 4 year old Somali girl. The problem is my 17 month old very jealous Bengal boy.
Right now I have her all set up with litterbox, food & water in my Den. My boy has the run of the house. At first everything seemed quite calm but then he must have realized that she would be here to stay. Ok, she is no angel either since where she came from has been known to bully other cats around. However, in the mornings when I let my little boy into the Den, under strict supervision of course, for a getting to know you session he starts out calm enough but within 10 min. he is so hyped up that he starts going after her with his claws out. She growl and hisses. When I am gone during the day he must sit out side the door of the Den and get himself so wound up because when I try the same again in the evening I have psycho kitty on my hands. Last night and this morning I removed him from the Den as soon as he went into psycho kitty mode and I got any more scratches trying to protect her.
When I am inside the den alone with her he is outside screaming his heart out to the point where I can't bear it anymore and of course I go outside to be with him, ok he accomplished is mission. But this is not enough, he still sits out side the door, sniffs and wants to get back in. I put up a netting on Sunday, in lieu of a screen door, attached to the door frame of den. Still not good enough, same scenario as with closed door and he actually managed to squeeze himself through a spot that seems just big enough for him to get in.
Now what - is tough love in order? Do I let them fight it out? She has trimmed claws and my boy has talons. If I would have know I would gotten them clipped ahead of time but can't get to his claws right now and bringing him to groomer would be a disaster since he would probably think I was trying to get rid of him. He is my baby I would never do that!
I want this to work sooooooooooooooooooooo badly. She already has my heart and I would be heart broken if I had to give her up. I hope I am not too selfish, I just want us all to be a "happy family."
What can I do? I have never been in this situation before. Please help.
Thanks so much!
Helen
the kitty my mom was supposed to adopt. She has been with me now since Sat. afternoon She is a very sweet 4 year old Somali girl. The problem is my 17 month old very jealous Bengal boy.
Right now I have her all set up with litterbox, food & water in my Den. My boy has the run of the house. At first everything seemed quite calm but then he must have realized that she would be here to stay. Ok, she is no angel either since where she came from has been known to bully other cats around. However, in the mornings when I let my little boy into the Den, under strict supervision of course, for a getting to know you session he starts out calm enough but within 10 min. he is so hyped up that he starts going after her with his claws out. She growl and hisses. When I am gone during the day he must sit out side the door of the Den and get himself so wound up because when I try the same again in the evening I have psycho kitty on my hands. Last night and this morning I removed him from the Den as soon as he went into psycho kitty mode and I got any more scratches trying to protect her.
When I am inside the den alone with her he is outside screaming his heart out to the point where I can't bear it anymore and of course I go outside to be with him, ok he accomplished is mission. But this is not enough, he still sits out side the door, sniffs and wants to get back in. I put up a netting on Sunday, in lieu of a screen door, attached to the door frame of den. Still not good enough, same scenario as with closed door and he actually managed to squeeze himself through a spot that seems just big enough for him to get in.
Now what - is tough love in order? Do I let them fight it out? She has trimmed claws and my boy has talons. If I would have know I would gotten them clipped ahead of time but can't get to his claws right now and bringing him to groomer would be a disaster since he would probably think I was trying to get rid of him. He is my baby I would never do that!
I want this to work sooooooooooooooooooooo badly. She already has my heart and I would be heart broken if I had to give her up. I hope I am not too selfish, I just want us all to be a "happy family."
What can I do? I have never been in this situation before. Please help.
Thanks so much!
Helen