How To Repair Poor Cat Introduction

[Khan111x]

Hello!

Seeking advice for cats that were poorly introduced.

My girlfriend is moving in which is very exciting however our cats aren’t sharing the enthusiasm.

I’ve had my cat (Chloe) since she was a kitten she has been here for three and a half years. My girlfriends cat (Mittens) is about a year younger.

My cat Chloe is timid and not used to guests, and her cat Mittens is very social. She lived at her moms with another cat and had visitors over frequently.

My girlfriend introduced them right away on the first day with mittens in her carrier. She has also given mittens priority over the house as she cries anytime she is not able to be with her.

My cat had been confined to my room and I’ve tried only letting them see each other through the door but mittens always finds a way in (my door is a barn door style that slides open). When I tried to lock mittens up Chloe seems too timid to explore the house. Mind you I haven’t kept mittens locked up for extended amounts of time as she can get quite needy for attention.

Tonight mittens snuck in my room and I had to scare them apart before they hurt each other.


Just wondering if anyone had any suggestions on what I can do to try and redeem this situation.

Side note, mittens often will ignore Chloe’s hostility in my bedroom and choose to sit near myself or my girlfriend meanwhile Chloe cannot stand mittens in the room. I’ve set food aside st the doorway for both cats.


Any help is appreciated!

Thank you,

Devin

 

[decaterac]

To me Devin, it sounds like there are two really key things. Getting your girlfriend to buy in to allowing her cat to be seperated from her at times, and managing the cats access to each other. I"m having similar struggles with controlling access. I would say put a latch on that door. jam something under the wheel. whatever needs to be done to keep the door closed reliably.

Oh golly, I'm so glad you're asking this question. I'm having a similar problem. i started keeping them seperated. The new kitty is a 1.5 year old tortie ragdoll, well loved, but i think shut away in a room at least part of the time in her last home (allergy issue). My resident kitty is a 2 year old maine coon/british short hair cross, very social. Looooves other cats.

I have heat problems and a small place. I started out really well, and then started rushing things, because the places I'm switching them between are my bedroom and the rest of the house. Unfortunately, summer has arrived. My air conditioner is a window unit in the kitchen, so closing my bedroom door also shuts out the cool air. I am working on some kind of way of keeping the cat's seperate while still allowing for some air flow. They just hop the pet gate.

New kitty is really sensitive and high-strung. I still haven't been able to get her to eat properly. She'll take a couple of bites and then try to cover it up. Neither cat seems to pay any attention or be troubled by the cat eating on the other side of the door. So tonight after a reasonably successful play session with both of them in the same room, which I ended when no one was hissing or staring; when i used a room divider and pet gate combo to seperate them, I didn't rush to put people away when New Kitty hopped the fence to rejoin me and Resident Kitty in the kitchen.

There was hissing and Resident Kitty took off running and cornered herself in the living room. New Kitty has decided this is a great game to play, standing over her and waiting for her to make her next move. I could definitely use advice on non-heatstroke-inducing methods for keeping them seperate for the intro process. And also, any encouragement, ideas, would be awesome

 

[rubysmama]

K Khan111x : welcome again.

And welcome to you too, D decaterac . You might want to start your own thread so that you can get replies specific to your situation.
How To Create A New Thread

K Khan111x : I think the best chance of having things settle down between Chloe and Mittens is separating them, and then slowly doing re-introductions. And keeping in mind that this is Chloe's home, and Mittens is (to her) the intruder.

Therefore, Chloe should have normal access to her home, and Mittens needs to be the one kept in a separate room with her own food, water, litter box, etc., and only let out when Chloe is in another room.

I've never, personally, introduced cats, but I've read so many threads here of cats not getting along with each other, that I know things can escalate quickly to fighting, litter box avoidance issues, not eating, etc.

Here's some TCS articles with more info. Good luck. Keep us posted.

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide | TheCatSite
Introducing Cats To Cats | TheCatSite
The Multi-cat Household | TheCatSite

Is Your Cat Stressed Out? | TheCatSite
You, Your Cat And Stress | TheCatSite
Potential Stressors In Cats - The Ultimate Checklist | TheCatSite
Six Surefire Strategies To Reduce Stress In Cats | TheCatSite

 

[Khan111x]

Thank you so much, I’m seeing a couple of ideas here that I can use.

Chloe tends to only stick to staying in her safe space in my closet and I will not let mittens anywhere near that. She doesn’t come out often other than at night when I come home from work.

I my house is not big and with mittens being so vocal and social I’m not sure how it would go with her locked in a room for so long. Any thoughts?

 

[decaterac]

Thank you Ruby, for the advice and 5h3vsuggestion to start a new thread!
That’s a tough one Devin, hopefully someone else will have other ideas.

Having some toys that interest her will help. Also some kind of entertainment which engages her. Whether that’s a window, a terrarium or small fish tank, or an actual screen with videos for cats playing. Making that room as enriching as possible is important.

I love Jackson Galaxy’s flower essences. He has them for many different situations and issues. Whatever the underlying issues, I’ve found Stress Stopper super helpful in calming kitties down. Vitamin Rx Nutricalm was recommended by my vet and has worked really well for one cat, but just seems to make the other paranoid. I’d ask your vet fo4 other options in helping to manage her stress.

Perhaps others have a way around the final, to me, crucial step. Letting her cry. And not giving in. I would not go in to her unless there’s been a good ten or fifteen seconds of silence from the other side of the door. If you let her cry for ten minutes and then give in, she’ll set that little timer in her head ‘okay ten minutes of crying is required for mommy to come for me’. If you let her cry three hours and ten minutes and then give in, the same thing will happen and she’ll reset that timer for three hours and ten minutes.

But maybe someone else has better information.

 

[rubysmama]

Hmmm... if Chloe is staying in her safe space in your closet, I suppose it isn't necessary to keep Mittens locked in a room. However, Chloe staying in her safe space is new, right? Just since Mittens arrived? I just worry that she's getting depressed. Is she eating ok? Using the litter box ok?

 

[Khan111x]

Chloe has made the closet her place a long time ago and I’ve made sure to keep it her own and respect it so I don’t bug her there.

I’ve been letting them out supervised and mittens has basically claimed the area outside of my room. Chloe is becoming adventurous and slowly getting out of my room until mittens chases her back into the closet with some hissing.

I have placed two blankets strategically where they sleep so that I can get their scent and then swap the blankets into each others rooms to hopefully get them more used to each others scents!

Chloe luckily doesn’t seem depressed, just intimidated by her younger slightly bigger and energetic house mate.

 

[rubysmama]

That's good that Chloe doesn't seem depressed. Just keep giving her lots of attention, and tell her she's not being replaced. Then try giving yummy foods/treats to both of them when they're together, so they associate each other with good things.

You could also look into calming products, like Feliway. Or calming treats/collars. Some members find they're helpful.

 

[Khan111x]

I’ll start doing that. I’ll see if I can district mittens with some toys, she loves to play more than anything so that may work as well.

Ive been looking into feliway, thank you

 

[rubysmama]

Good luck. Keep us updated on things.

 

[Khan111x]

I’ve had the Feliway up for a week and a half now and I think it’s made a big difference in Chloes stress. Slowly but surely I am sure they will tolerate each other! The girls still are not getting along but I’ve made progress, they are now getting in close proximity!

Mittens the social butterfly keeps getting too close to Chloe however and Chloe is getting defensive and hissing with her ears back. Had to stop them with water from getting into it.

 

[rubysmama]

Hissing isn't all that bad. It's how cat communicate. As long as it doesn't escalate to fur flying, blood, or one cat being scared/stressed, it's probably not all that bad. Here's another TCS article that might be helpful, as it explains body language to watch for, plus includes pictures and videos. Are My Cats Fighting Or Playing?