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- Jul 29, 2013
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I'm new to this forum. I've had cats my whole life but we are struggling right now and I'm hoping for some advice and help.
We have a 4 year old diluted tortie Annie Pickles who has been the only cat in our house her whole life. She has more of a dog like personality where she has to be where we are at all times, she greets us at the door, she talks to us, walks on a leash, chases balls (but does not fetch),grooms us like litter mates, is active, climbs up our bookcases from her cat tree and goes everywhere in the house.
Three weeks ago we had a 1 yr old stray male appeared in our driveway, underweight and starving. We decided to keep him. His name is Buckley Poe and he’s a gray tabby, sweet and cuddly and basically a total charmer. He figured out pretty quickly who he had to win over. We set him up in my husband's office as his basecamp to keep the 2 separated. My husband has been spending the majority of the time with him socializing him and I visit. We tried feeding them together on opposite sides of the door. We’ve done scent swapping with towels, toys and beds. Buckley has no problem as he is extremely food driven given his previous circumstances. Annie is apprehensive and refuses to eat if we take her food to the hallway upstairs outside the office. I know it’s a routine change and that is stressful for her. But I think we rushed it a bit.
By week 2 we started using the Spirit Essence Peacemaker from Jackson Galaxy’s website and feliway and we started getting them together through a baby gate and feeding them cheese for snacks. That seemed to be going better than through the door. Buckley would eat and ignore Annie if food was present. If it wasn’t present he would give her the stare down. My assumption is this was an act of obtaining alpha cat status. Annie was tense and apprehensive and going through expected hissing and growling. She would only eat 2-3 pieces of cheese (if any at all) before retreating to a safer distance where she could still see him. After the 3rd time she still refused treats but seemed to relax more and would do a little head tilt that seemed more playful and relaxed, possibly even submissive.
Then we get to this past weekend. We let Buckley have some freedom in the house and as long as Annie was in her cat tree she would just watch him. He tried a couple times to climb up in her tree but we discouraged it. As soon as she got to floor level Buckley stalked and tormented her. She barely ate Friday, didn’t eat or go to the bathroom Saturday, Sunday or Monday and she walked around the house with her head down and her tail dragging on the floor spending most of Sunday under our bed. I think we made a mistake. I took both cats to the vet yesterday. Buckley was neutered and declawed and is staying at the vet’s office for 2 nights.
Declawing – I agree it is a horrible process. I do not like it. It makes me ill. Annie is the first and only cat we had ever declawed. We did not know then. We swore she would be the last as we had intended on being a one cat only household for the next 15-20 years and never fathomed we would be once again be a multi-cat house. (Before Annie we had 2 cats for 18 years). But now deciding Buckley’s fate was very difficult for us. He could keep his claws and go to the shelter, be an outside kitty and get eaten by the coyotes or lose his claws and assimilate into our household. We chose the latter knowing that his fate otherwise meant imminent death and suffering.
Annie was X-rayed and examined to eliminate any medical reason for her lack of eating or going to the bathroom and nothing was found. So last night we showered her with attention and love. This morning she had pooped (no pee) and had eaten some of her dry food but still refused canned food. Her tail and head were up so she seemed to be doing a little better. I am self-diagnosing it as depression.
Buckley will be at the vet’s for one more night and then he will be confined for the next week to his room where he can heal. My plan is to take this time to reestablish Annie’s confidence as well as move her away from free feeding to a more meal feeding routine.
I’m just not sure how or when I should restart the introduction process. We need a do over. Does anyone have any suggestions on what has worked for them? Annie does not like any cat treats. Cheese has worked but minimal at best. Any other suggestions? I feel like this is more difficult than it needs to be and I’m making every mistake possible.
We have a 4 year old diluted tortie Annie Pickles who has been the only cat in our house her whole life. She has more of a dog like personality where she has to be where we are at all times, she greets us at the door, she talks to us, walks on a leash, chases balls (but does not fetch),grooms us like litter mates, is active, climbs up our bookcases from her cat tree and goes everywhere in the house.
Three weeks ago we had a 1 yr old stray male appeared in our driveway, underweight and starving. We decided to keep him. His name is Buckley Poe and he’s a gray tabby, sweet and cuddly and basically a total charmer. He figured out pretty quickly who he had to win over. We set him up in my husband's office as his basecamp to keep the 2 separated. My husband has been spending the majority of the time with him socializing him and I visit. We tried feeding them together on opposite sides of the door. We’ve done scent swapping with towels, toys and beds. Buckley has no problem as he is extremely food driven given his previous circumstances. Annie is apprehensive and refuses to eat if we take her food to the hallway upstairs outside the office. I know it’s a routine change and that is stressful for her. But I think we rushed it a bit.
By week 2 we started using the Spirit Essence Peacemaker from Jackson Galaxy’s website and feliway and we started getting them together through a baby gate and feeding them cheese for snacks. That seemed to be going better than through the door. Buckley would eat and ignore Annie if food was present. If it wasn’t present he would give her the stare down. My assumption is this was an act of obtaining alpha cat status. Annie was tense and apprehensive and going through expected hissing and growling. She would only eat 2-3 pieces of cheese (if any at all) before retreating to a safer distance where she could still see him. After the 3rd time she still refused treats but seemed to relax more and would do a little head tilt that seemed more playful and relaxed, possibly even submissive.
Then we get to this past weekend. We let Buckley have some freedom in the house and as long as Annie was in her cat tree she would just watch him. He tried a couple times to climb up in her tree but we discouraged it. As soon as she got to floor level Buckley stalked and tormented her. She barely ate Friday, didn’t eat or go to the bathroom Saturday, Sunday or Monday and she walked around the house with her head down and her tail dragging on the floor spending most of Sunday under our bed. I think we made a mistake. I took both cats to the vet yesterday. Buckley was neutered and declawed and is staying at the vet’s office for 2 nights.
Declawing – I agree it is a horrible process. I do not like it. It makes me ill. Annie is the first and only cat we had ever declawed. We did not know then. We swore she would be the last as we had intended on being a one cat only household for the next 15-20 years and never fathomed we would be once again be a multi-cat house. (Before Annie we had 2 cats for 18 years). But now deciding Buckley’s fate was very difficult for us. He could keep his claws and go to the shelter, be an outside kitty and get eaten by the coyotes or lose his claws and assimilate into our household. We chose the latter knowing that his fate otherwise meant imminent death and suffering.
Annie was X-rayed and examined to eliminate any medical reason for her lack of eating or going to the bathroom and nothing was found. So last night we showered her with attention and love. This morning she had pooped (no pee) and had eaten some of her dry food but still refused canned food. Her tail and head were up so she seemed to be doing a little better. I am self-diagnosing it as depression.
Buckley will be at the vet’s for one more night and then he will be confined for the next week to his room where he can heal. My plan is to take this time to reestablish Annie’s confidence as well as move her away from free feeding to a more meal feeding routine.
I’m just not sure how or when I should restart the introduction process. We need a do over. Does anyone have any suggestions on what has worked for them? Annie does not like any cat treats. Cheese has worked but minimal at best. Any other suggestions? I feel like this is more difficult than it needs to be and I’m making every mistake possible.
