Hello!
I am a pround new cat momma of two feral kittens I rescued. Toki, a 7 month male lived with us for a month until we decided to get him a playmate, Inky the female 3 month baby. Toki had been fostered by a household with 3 other cats and two dogs before he came with us. And Inky has been with us for two weeks now! Both are very similar in personality type, energetic and playful but with bouts of the sweetest cuddling. They're also both GREAT with humans, they walk right up to anyone! But socializing with each other is another story...
We kept Inky in the bedroom for a week while swapping linens and bedding to get her smell around the apartment. Toki never hissed or puffed up, just as curious as could be. We cracked the door during mealtimes and let them bat paws through the crack and still no hissing or anything malicious!
On the first controlled meet, we let Toki in the bedroom with kitten in the carrier. Still, no hissing or puffing, just sniffing and huge dilated pupils. As soon as we let Inky out of the carrier, he charges right at her! They sniff for a little bit and THEN the hissing started and we broke it up, fearing for Inky since she's about 1/3 of Toki's size. After doling out some treats, we ended the session pretty soon and decided to wait a few days before the next meeting... Toki did stop eating for about two days, but I installed a Feliway diffuser and gave them Composure in their food, and now he's back to his wanting-food-24/7 self.
We tried again a couple days later and the tables had turned; kitten charged at Toki, seemingly wanting to play, but Toki got defensive! Same drill, the session ended pretty quickly.
And NOW it's reversed yet another time... Toki is charging at her like crazy and just wants to stand on top of her, but she gets defensive and hisses. I don't blame her, his size could easily pin her down! They can tolerate each other while playing, but they still stare each other down and then Toki decides to charge... then a "fight" breaks out and we make loud noises to distract them. But I can't tell if Toki is "play fighting" and the kitten is just terrified in her response... Any thoughts?
Still, there's never been any puffing, only some hissing when they get close and rare spitting. And with each session, they get a little better each time. Of course, if the situation doesn't clear up in a month or so, we may have to part with Inky just so both kitties can have a happy life Any tips would be really appreciated!
Toki being a toilet kitty He's a big boy!
Baby Inky!
I am a pround new cat momma of two feral kittens I rescued. Toki, a 7 month male lived with us for a month until we decided to get him a playmate, Inky the female 3 month baby. Toki had been fostered by a household with 3 other cats and two dogs before he came with us. And Inky has been with us for two weeks now! Both are very similar in personality type, energetic and playful but with bouts of the sweetest cuddling. They're also both GREAT with humans, they walk right up to anyone! But socializing with each other is another story...
We kept Inky in the bedroom for a week while swapping linens and bedding to get her smell around the apartment. Toki never hissed or puffed up, just as curious as could be. We cracked the door during mealtimes and let them bat paws through the crack and still no hissing or anything malicious!
On the first controlled meet, we let Toki in the bedroom with kitten in the carrier. Still, no hissing or puffing, just sniffing and huge dilated pupils. As soon as we let Inky out of the carrier, he charges right at her! They sniff for a little bit and THEN the hissing started and we broke it up, fearing for Inky since she's about 1/3 of Toki's size. After doling out some treats, we ended the session pretty soon and decided to wait a few days before the next meeting... Toki did stop eating for about two days, but I installed a Feliway diffuser and gave them Composure in their food, and now he's back to his wanting-food-24/7 self.
We tried again a couple days later and the tables had turned; kitten charged at Toki, seemingly wanting to play, but Toki got defensive! Same drill, the session ended pretty quickly.
And NOW it's reversed yet another time... Toki is charging at her like crazy and just wants to stand on top of her, but she gets defensive and hisses. I don't blame her, his size could easily pin her down! They can tolerate each other while playing, but they still stare each other down and then Toki decides to charge... then a "fight" breaks out and we make loud noises to distract them. But I can't tell if Toki is "play fighting" and the kitten is just terrified in her response... Any thoughts?
Still, there's never been any puffing, only some hissing when they get close and rare spitting. And with each session, they get a little better each time. Of course, if the situation doesn't clear up in a month or so, we may have to part with Inky just so both kitties can have a happy life Any tips would be really appreciated!
Toki being a toilet kitty He's a big boy!
Baby Inky!