My husband and I brought home a sweet new kitty, Luna, who is 10 months old on Sunday. We have another cat, Salem, a 3 year old male who has been our #1 since last November. While he's very loving to us, we knew he was very territorial, but wanted to take a chance and adopt a friend for him.
I did a lot of research prior to adopting, but it's not going as expected. I put Luna in our sun room, which has windows (with screens) and a glass door separating the rest of the home. We figured this was perfect because we could first keep the blinds down and have them smell, then put up the blinds, then open the window a crack, and so on until we felt it was right to let her out (we planned on switching them eventually). The only problem is that there's no space under the door for them to touch.
My husband rushed the process and ended up opening the window almost immediately (just slightly). The new cat has absolutely no problem with Salem and is really timid (she's terrified of him now) - it is clear that Salem will be alpha, but even so, he freaked out. Lunged at the screen and howled like I had never heard before (mind you, he also NEVER makes a sound otherwise). So, we immediately shut the blinds and have been trying to take it slow ever since. The past 2 days we have had them smell eachothers scents through the window..and on occasion, with my husband holding the new cat in the sunroom, we have opened the window for Salem to see the cat. The window is only open when we're around. He initially cried a little, but nothing aggressive.. but not sure if it was because he saw my husband holding the cat and didn't feel as threatened. Last nite was a diff story. For some reason, the door (which is glass.. no screen) is driving Salem nuts. He saw her on the other side and flipped. Was extremely aggressive and made the same howls as the first night. Seems like no progress has been made. This morning we tried the window again, and it was worse than before. Do you think this is happening because they saw each other too soon and did not get used to the scent?
It's making me upset because while I knew that it would be tough, I didn't think Salem would be this aggressive. Hissing/cries I can handle, but it's like he became possessed. Makes me think we'll never be able to let them into the same room. Am I not being patient enough?. It has only been 3 days. Are we doing it correctly, given that theres no space between the door for them to play? Should we not be in the room w/ the new cat when Salem sees her? Any guidance would be appreciated. I'm not giving her up, so this has to work.
THANKS!
I did a lot of research prior to adopting, but it's not going as expected. I put Luna in our sun room, which has windows (with screens) and a glass door separating the rest of the home. We figured this was perfect because we could first keep the blinds down and have them smell, then put up the blinds, then open the window a crack, and so on until we felt it was right to let her out (we planned on switching them eventually). The only problem is that there's no space under the door for them to touch.
My husband rushed the process and ended up opening the window almost immediately (just slightly). The new cat has absolutely no problem with Salem and is really timid (she's terrified of him now) - it is clear that Salem will be alpha, but even so, he freaked out. Lunged at the screen and howled like I had never heard before (mind you, he also NEVER makes a sound otherwise). So, we immediately shut the blinds and have been trying to take it slow ever since. The past 2 days we have had them smell eachothers scents through the window..and on occasion, with my husband holding the new cat in the sunroom, we have opened the window for Salem to see the cat. The window is only open when we're around. He initially cried a little, but nothing aggressive.. but not sure if it was because he saw my husband holding the cat and didn't feel as threatened. Last nite was a diff story. For some reason, the door (which is glass.. no screen) is driving Salem nuts. He saw her on the other side and flipped. Was extremely aggressive and made the same howls as the first night. Seems like no progress has been made. This morning we tried the window again, and it was worse than before. Do you think this is happening because they saw each other too soon and did not get used to the scent?
It's making me upset because while I knew that it would be tough, I didn't think Salem would be this aggressive. Hissing/cries I can handle, but it's like he became possessed. Makes me think we'll never be able to let them into the same room. Am I not being patient enough?. It has only been 3 days. Are we doing it correctly, given that theres no space between the door for them to play? Should we not be in the room w/ the new cat when Salem sees her? Any guidance would be appreciated. I'm not giving her up, so this has to work.
THANKS!
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