Boo the rescue cat is in week 7 of his recovery. He's been by himself in a downstairs room the whole time with a couple of trips up the stairs (at his own initiative). He's explored all of downstairs and a few of the resident cats have cautiously stood in the hall and looked at him. Boo pretty much ignores them.
When Boo tries to come up the stairs there are two girls that sit sentry at the top and hiss at him. There's a few growls but no other body language-ears, tail, standing up, etc. They sit tall or crouched and hiss softly at him. Whatever they are saying, its enough to send him quietly back down the stairs.
Tonight, the smell of chicken was too much and he came up stairs past the sentries who were elsewhere, and went into the bedroom. Jeffery was on the bed and hissed at him. That was the only way I knew he made it up the stairs. Alpha old cat, Estelle, couldn't have cared less.
Later, Scooter, a very gentle boy who I have never heard hiss went down to investigate and got a hiss from Boo, and so he came up stairs--I'm convinced with hurt feelings.
Anytime this happens I stand near just in case it gets exciting. I talk encouragingly to all parties and then engage the long-term resident cats in a good game of laser or some other game to re-focus on positive vibes. So far no yowling or claws. Frankly, I'm concerned someone will tackle Boo who is recovering from a broken pelvis, but I'm less worried about it since he is pretty well recovered. ( so amazing).
Anyway, we went from closed door isolation, to leaving his door slightly open to all the way open. He seems pretty happy down there and not exceptionally eager to mix it up yet. The others seem okay with that but less so when he makes his appearances. I don't want to interfere in whatever they need to work out, but I don't want the encounter to become so negative that it sets the tone for the ones involved. Anyway, to me it seems okay to let some of the hissing take place. I left him free to leave the room while we went to work today and it seemed all okay.
I've done the thing where I rub their cheeks, his cheeks and let them all smell the towel, or my hands--distract the feeling of being threatened with something positive like play or getting brushed. And try really hard to act like it will all work out just fine--not give any vibes that any of it makes me nervous. I have no idea if that matters to them.
I've seen some displaced aggression---which I do intervene on that because someone says something, the other responds and before you know it they aren't talking. LOL.
Hopefully this is okay. Feeding on opposite sides of the door isn't feasible. All the doors are bi-fold shutter type doors and the long term residents aren't going to see downstairs as an appropriate place for supper-time.
When Boo tries to come up the stairs there are two girls that sit sentry at the top and hiss at him. There's a few growls but no other body language-ears, tail, standing up, etc. They sit tall or crouched and hiss softly at him. Whatever they are saying, its enough to send him quietly back down the stairs.
Tonight, the smell of chicken was too much and he came up stairs past the sentries who were elsewhere, and went into the bedroom. Jeffery was on the bed and hissed at him. That was the only way I knew he made it up the stairs. Alpha old cat, Estelle, couldn't have cared less.
Later, Scooter, a very gentle boy who I have never heard hiss went down to investigate and got a hiss from Boo, and so he came up stairs--I'm convinced with hurt feelings.
Anytime this happens I stand near just in case it gets exciting. I talk encouragingly to all parties and then engage the long-term resident cats in a good game of laser or some other game to re-focus on positive vibes. So far no yowling or claws. Frankly, I'm concerned someone will tackle Boo who is recovering from a broken pelvis, but I'm less worried about it since he is pretty well recovered. ( so amazing).
Anyway, we went from closed door isolation, to leaving his door slightly open to all the way open. He seems pretty happy down there and not exceptionally eager to mix it up yet. The others seem okay with that but less so when he makes his appearances. I don't want to interfere in whatever they need to work out, but I don't want the encounter to become so negative that it sets the tone for the ones involved. Anyway, to me it seems okay to let some of the hissing take place. I left him free to leave the room while we went to work today and it seemed all okay.
I've done the thing where I rub their cheeks, his cheeks and let them all smell the towel, or my hands--distract the feeling of being threatened with something positive like play or getting brushed. And try really hard to act like it will all work out just fine--not give any vibes that any of it makes me nervous. I have no idea if that matters to them.
I've seen some displaced aggression---which I do intervene on that because someone says something, the other responds and before you know it they aren't talking. LOL.
Hopefully this is okay. Feeding on opposite sides of the door isn't feasible. All the doors are bi-fold shutter type doors and the long term residents aren't going to see downstairs as an appropriate place for supper-time.
