Hi Everyone,
I'm hoping someone here will be able to help me because I really don't know what to do anymore.
I had 2 cats, a female - Macayla 11 yrs, and a male - Leroy 7 yrs. A friend of mine was getting rid of his cat - Boogie 7 yrs (declawed) and I thought I could take her in. When she first came we let all the cats see each other and then brought the new one, Boogie, to our bedroom and made that her safe room. We kept her in there for awhile while the others got used to her scent, and slowly we began to introduce them. We must not have done this part correctly because she would mostly hide under our bed. If she came out to explore the other cats would hiss and attack her. Our place is a townhouse with 3 floors so there was a littler box on each floor for the cats. They also each had a floor to stay on if they like, except as soon as it was night time the cats would explore and Macayla/Leroy would attack Boogie. We thought eventually they would work it out but it went on and on until eventually we decided to try to re-introduce them. Now we have 2 rooms set aside as cat rooms and each cat stays in a different room, while one gets the run of the house and then we rotate. We are trying this so they get used to each others scents again.
We have tried many different things to get these cats to at least tolerate each other. While locked in their rooms we have let them out to eat together, hoping that if they could do this they would slowly be able to spend more time together. At first it was working (we gave them tuna cat food as a treat so they would associate this new delicious food with each other) but now it seems to be getting worse again. Macayla and Leroy don't seem to care that she is there eating with them but Boogie growls and hisses until she runs away.
I'm mostly worried about this new cat Boogie because she is declawed and can't properly defend herself from the other two. Also that she is constantly afraid, and I don't think that's fair to her. If we can't figure this out soon we will have to find a new home for her and I really don't want to do that! But if it's best for her I will.
One other note is we recently went away to our cottage and took all 3 cats. Macayla and Leroy have been there before and are much more relaxed up there. When we brought Boogie into the mix, she still hid but she came around more and the cats were able to be in the same room lying on separate couches for a short period of time as long as we were in the room. It was great, and I think the new neutral setting really helped! However, I don't know how we can apply this to our home situation, as we can't move away!
So, after 8 months of trying these things, is there anything else I can do? Or is it possible that these cats just will never be okay with each other? I have not read the pdf people are referring to, because I couldn't find it but ANY help at all would be sooooo appreciated.
Thank you so much!
megan
I'm hoping someone here will be able to help me because I really don't know what to do anymore.
I had 2 cats, a female - Macayla 11 yrs, and a male - Leroy 7 yrs. A friend of mine was getting rid of his cat - Boogie 7 yrs (declawed) and I thought I could take her in. When she first came we let all the cats see each other and then brought the new one, Boogie, to our bedroom and made that her safe room. We kept her in there for awhile while the others got used to her scent, and slowly we began to introduce them. We must not have done this part correctly because she would mostly hide under our bed. If she came out to explore the other cats would hiss and attack her. Our place is a townhouse with 3 floors so there was a littler box on each floor for the cats. They also each had a floor to stay on if they like, except as soon as it was night time the cats would explore and Macayla/Leroy would attack Boogie. We thought eventually they would work it out but it went on and on until eventually we decided to try to re-introduce them. Now we have 2 rooms set aside as cat rooms and each cat stays in a different room, while one gets the run of the house and then we rotate. We are trying this so they get used to each others scents again.
We have tried many different things to get these cats to at least tolerate each other. While locked in their rooms we have let them out to eat together, hoping that if they could do this they would slowly be able to spend more time together. At first it was working (we gave them tuna cat food as a treat so they would associate this new delicious food with each other) but now it seems to be getting worse again. Macayla and Leroy don't seem to care that she is there eating with them but Boogie growls and hisses until she runs away.
I'm mostly worried about this new cat Boogie because she is declawed and can't properly defend herself from the other two. Also that she is constantly afraid, and I don't think that's fair to her. If we can't figure this out soon we will have to find a new home for her and I really don't want to do that! But if it's best for her I will.
One other note is we recently went away to our cottage and took all 3 cats. Macayla and Leroy have been there before and are much more relaxed up there. When we brought Boogie into the mix, she still hid but she came around more and the cats were able to be in the same room lying on separate couches for a short period of time as long as we were in the room. It was great, and I think the new neutral setting really helped! However, I don't know how we can apply this to our home situation, as we can't move away!
So, after 8 months of trying these things, is there anything else I can do? Or is it possible that these cats just will never be okay with each other? I have not read the pdf people are referring to, because I couldn't find it but ANY help at all would be sooooo appreciated.
Thank you so much!
megan
