Introducing cats, keeping them interested.

[tpapictures]

We have this feeling that the new cat we adopted last week who is in his safe sanctuary room would love to be exploring the rest of our home and might be getting bored in his room, which we know has the possibility of provoking all manner of behavioural issues. He's had two outings in the last week to our other bedroom, the first an hour, the second only about 20 minutes before he became thoroughly more interested in what else there was to see.

He's doing well, so far so good, but I won't lie that as we go about our day, we cant stop feeling that he's bored to bits despite the fact that we feed him several times a day and we like spending time with him as often as we can. We just feel guilty because in the shelter we adopted him from he had been in a tiny room by himself for almost 2 months. And now here he is again in another room, albeit this time with a window and a couch and good food and a clean litter. Just want to know if this sounds ridiculous or if he could totally be doing the feline version of being in a waiting room forever.

(As far as moving forward to alleviate boredom, we can't go from this to eating by the door together because our resident cat isn't the greatest eater and doesn't love treats. The new one doesn't really either. So nothing can entice either of them really to be persuaded to hang out by the door. They just don't care enough about the door area to maintain their interest.)

Thanks for any thoughts on the new guy and his potential boredom. Maybe some of you have had a similar experience?

 

[FeebysOwner]

A week is nothing, and in that short time I doubt you are doing anything harmful to the new cat by keeping him in a safe room. You might try some site swapping - resident cat goes into a specific room while you let the newcomer explore. You can help this along by spending time with the resident cat when s/he is in the single room, as long as there is a second person to keep tabs on the new guy. Placing resident cat in the new cat's safe room is another thing consider as well.

I'd still try the door barrier. Even if they don't want to hang out by it for treats, it still gives each of them the chance to take peeks/looks at the other. You can also consider getting your new cat some interactive toys for his safe room.

Have you checked out these TCS articles for some additional ideas?
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide - TheCatSite
How To Introduce A Kitten To An Older Cat [A Guide] - TheCatSite
8 Superb Automated Cat Toys That You're Going To Love! - TheCatSite

 

[rubysmama]

Just seeing this now. I think it could still be beneficial to do the door introductions thing, otherwise I'm not sure how both cats can get used to each other's presence. There's couple pics in the How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide - TheCatSite article with examples of how to set this up.

I also think, if possible, you should put your resident cat in another room with the door closed, and let the new cat wander throughout the home, to help alleviate his boredom, but also to get his scent throughout the rest of the home.

As for boredom, I guess if the new cat was in a small room by himself for 2 months, being in a bedroom at your home isn't much different.

How old are both cats, btw?

 

[tpapictures]

A week is nothing, and in that short time I doubt you are doing anything harmful to the new cat by keeping him in a safe room.

Just seeing this now. I think it could still be beneficial to do the door introductions thing, otherwise I'm not sure how both cats can get used to each other's presence.

Thank you both for your input. Helps my wife and I to check in with other opinions.
Anyway... an update since I posted this that includes a lot of what you were mentioning... oh and both boys are 11.

We have been scent and site swapping since the first days. Since our resident wasn't so interested in going in the new one's room, we didn't push it. But he was very curious about that part of the hall where the door is in a good energy way. So, yesterday we left our resident cat in our bedroom to let the new one out into our living room/dining room/kitchen areas which are sort of open to each other without doors. That's a lot to take in in one day. Then he went back to his room and we let our resident cat out. He was tentative but eventually in about 10 minutes he was fine. In the evening though, we tried something new. Getting to the Jackson Galaxy introduction next step of having them eat on opposite sides of the closed door isn't something that's gonna work. Neither cat loves food. Neither loves treats. So combining direct scent of each other with a "good and pleasant" experience isn't gonna help because food just isn't that to either of them. But the new cat feels to us like he's getting sick of his room. So if we couldn't bring them together at the door, we decided we'd sort of put "the door" in a more useful place conducive to blending their scents more. So we made a gate from PVC mesh fencing and wood in the hall. Easy to open for us but not for them. Then we drape a curtain over it. (We've done this the last 3 times with our cats). We need to help the new boy not feel so trapped behind a closed door because we can tell how much he wants our company. But we also need to let the resident take the next step of exploring the new one's scent more directly. So the gate in the hall lets us leave his door open safely. So he can hear us, smell us, his and our other cat's scents get blended more. And most importantly he never gets shut away in a quiet room anymore. Our hope is that we progress from this to good interactive food or play at the fence.

Last night our resident explored the gate several times. Very light hisses. Like, almost a whisper and definitely not the kind of hissing he's capable of when he's really angry. And then he went ahead and lifted the curtain which, of course, hadn't occurred to us that he might do. New cat, completely calm, still, relaxed face. Resident just looking and that's when we jumped in with a Creay tube (the only treat he'll eat but it can give him an upset stomach which we counter with different products which is why we don't like them but in a case like this it's vital). We did this 2 or 3 times, only stopping the session when a good look was followed by a good few licks of the treat and then a disengage of their look at each other. We will continue today. We'll also let the new guy out again to stretch his legs when our resident goes to sleep in our bedroom again. Looking good so far. Thanks for your input!

 

[rubysmama]

Oh, that was a really good update. Light hissing good. Enjoying treats good. And the hall "door" gives both cats more space of their own. At age 11, introductions can go more slowly, but so far, sounds pretty positive.

 

[tpapictures]

Oh, that was a really good update. Light hissing good. Enjoying treats good. And the hall "door" gives both cats more space of their own. At age 11, introductions can go more slowly, but so far, sounds pretty positive.

This is really hard to do with neither of them loving food. They eat because there are foods they tolerate and that when served to them they eat. But you can't put food down on opposite sides of a door or our gate and make them eat there. Neither does. They need to eat where they want to eat. You can't place their plates just anywhere to coax them to eat near each other's scent. Neither will do it. Any clues for where to go next in the process if the experiment of feeding near each other is futile?

 

[rubysmama]

It is difficult to do the yummy food thing, if neither are food motivated. Maybe fun toys?

 

[Alldara]

This is really hard to do with neither of them loving food. They eat because there are foods they tolerate and that when served to them they eat. But you can't put food down on opposite sides of a door or our gate and make them eat there. Neither does. They need to eat where they want to eat. You can't place their plates just anywhere to coax them to eat near each other's scent. Neither will do it. Any clues for where to go next in the process if the experiment of feeding near each other is futile?

Something like light playing or or just something to watch together would be great.

If you have a small rug or a small thick blanket for each cat and just wiggle the wand side of a toy underneath, usually a senior will still lay down and pat at the rug.

Or you could provide some catnip.

Or just chill out there with a human on either side and offer pets for checking one another out.

Lots of praise and "good boys". If they hiss and walk away that's still good because that's listening to communication.

 

[Alldara]

 

[tpapictures]

It is difficult to do the yummy food thing, if neither are food motivated. Maybe fun toys?

Interested for a while, but ultimately loses interest. They're 11, getting even 5 minutes from them is asking a lot.

 

[tpapictures]

Something like light playing or or just something to watch together would be great.

If you have a small rug or a small thick blanket for each cat and just wiggle the wand side of a toy underneath, usually a senior will still lay down and pat at the rug.

Or you could provide some catnip.

Or just chill out there with a human on either side and offer pets for checking one another out.

Lots of praise and "good boys". If they hiss and walk away that's still good because that's listening to communication.

Light playing is something that's tough to get them to do, but we'll try.
Catnip is a possibility.
Hanging out with each at the same time is essentially what we're doing now so we'll continue that.

Another concern or complication is that the new cat is basically going one wet food after another that he isn't into. He'll eat dry and has shown interest in wet, but got bored of the one the vet recommended to get him eating (when he arrived there was stress-induced lack of appetite) That food isn't awful but we're trying to get him on something else more nutritionally beneficial.It's been about 5 days of trying out a spoon of a different food each day to gauge interest alongside the one from the vet. No successes yet. Literally won't eat them. We feel any stress from introductions could potentially make appetite issues worse, but we also see impact on him of living in a closed room disconnected without his daily explorations to the rest of the apartment. We feel going backwards to a closed room again would really set him back. We're quite confused at this point but trying to stay positive.

 

[rubysmama]

Interested for a while, but ultimately loses interest. They're 11, getting even 5 minutes from them is asking a lot.

It's probably going to take longer than some introductions, just due to the ages of both cats. I can't remember, how do they react when they see each other?

 

[Alldara]

Light playing is something that's tough to get them to do, but we'll try.
Catnip is a possibility.
Hanging out with each at the same time is essentially what we're doing now so we'll continue that.

Another concern or complication is that the new cat is basically going one wet food after another that he isn't into. He'll eat dry and has shown interest in wet, but got bored of the one the vet recommended to get him eating (when he arrived there was stress-induced lack of appetite) That food isn't awful but we're trying to get him on something else more nutritionally beneficial.It's been about 5 days of trying out a spoon of a different food each day to gauge interest alongside the one from the vet. No successes yet. Literally won't eat them. We feel any stress from introductions could potentially make appetite issues worse, but we also see impact on him of living in a closed room disconnected without his daily explorations to the rest of the apartment. We feel going backwards to a closed room again would really set him back. We're quite confused at this point but trying to stay positive.

I wouldn't try to change food now at all. One thing at a time. Finish intros first and seeing the other cat eat it might encourage him.

Honestly, I tried a lot of the boutique foods before and it was just a headache and stress for me and the cats. I don't fuss over it so much anymore. The cats eat what they like until the vet says otherwise. What's in My Cat's Food?: Designer Diets, Grain Free Diets | VCA | VCA Canada Animal Hospitals