I have had my Devon Rex, Blu for 14 wonderful years. She was my childhood cat and has only ever been a single cat. Recently, I moved in with a coworker friend of mine and knew he had a very young and playful cat, Penny. I figured the integration would take awhile but would be fairly okay. Penny came from a household with another very young and playful cat that she got along with well. I should also mention that Blu is declawed, and had bad teeth as a young cat that were removed for health reasons. Blu weighs around 6 pounds, and Penny is about twice her size.
Since the move (a month and a half ago), things have gotten worse in terms of integration. At first, my cat would hiss upon seeing her from a distance and would generally avoid being anywhere near her (we kept them separated anyway). I expected hissing from Blu, since she has no social background and so was not terribly concerned. Then, a few weeks later we got a baby gate to install in the hallway so they could see each other but not touch each other. We fed them close to the gate so they would become accustomed. Again, my cat would hiss if she got too close but nothing too serious. When Penny figured out how to jump over the gate and/or squeeze herself through the side, we were forced to take it down and keep the cats in separate rooms.
Since this happened, the introductions have been unproductive to say the least. We open the doors to our bedrooms during small, supervised intervals of the day. Penny, the younger cat, is so excited and playful that Blu's hissing does not seem to matter and she will willingly pounce on top of Blu, swat at her face, and run at her full-speed if she sees her leave my bedroom. Several times, Blu has gotten up to wander around and Penny has chased her down the hallway and cornered her to swat at her. She has not drawn blood, and they don't seem to be full-on fights but it's causing Blu to be extreeWe tried the water spray bottle method with Penny to get her to not be so aggressively playful. This seems to work in the moment but she returns 10-15 mins later to do the same thing. We tried positive reinforcement with treats which doesn't seem to change anything either. Blu has no intention of being playful or friendly with Penny, and is just in self-defense mode at this point. Penny seems to have very bad playing manners and won't back off of her when she needs to.
Any advice on this situation would be extremely helpful! If they would just coexist and be able to ignore each other, I would be overjoyed so long as they don't fight or terrorize each other.
Thank you so much for any suggestions.
Since the move (a month and a half ago), things have gotten worse in terms of integration. At first, my cat would hiss upon seeing her from a distance and would generally avoid being anywhere near her (we kept them separated anyway). I expected hissing from Blu, since she has no social background and so was not terribly concerned. Then, a few weeks later we got a baby gate to install in the hallway so they could see each other but not touch each other. We fed them close to the gate so they would become accustomed. Again, my cat would hiss if she got too close but nothing too serious. When Penny figured out how to jump over the gate and/or squeeze herself through the side, we were forced to take it down and keep the cats in separate rooms.
Since this happened, the introductions have been unproductive to say the least. We open the doors to our bedrooms during small, supervised intervals of the day. Penny, the younger cat, is so excited and playful that Blu's hissing does not seem to matter and she will willingly pounce on top of Blu, swat at her face, and run at her full-speed if she sees her leave my bedroom. Several times, Blu has gotten up to wander around and Penny has chased her down the hallway and cornered her to swat at her. She has not drawn blood, and they don't seem to be full-on fights but it's causing Blu to be extreeWe tried the water spray bottle method with Penny to get her to not be so aggressively playful. This seems to work in the moment but she returns 10-15 mins later to do the same thing. We tried positive reinforcement with treats which doesn't seem to change anything either. Blu has no intention of being playful or friendly with Penny, and is just in self-defense mode at this point. Penny seems to have very bad playing manners and won't back off of her when she needs to.
Any advice on this situation would be extremely helpful! If they would just coexist and be able to ignore each other, I would be overjoyed so long as they don't fight or terrorize each other.
Thank you so much for any suggestions.