Last November we adopted two 6 month old sibling Norwegian Forest cats from a shelter. They spent pretty much every minute together until, we think, one was stolen. He hasn't been seen for nearly four weeks now. Our remaining boy, now 14 months, became a bit lost for the first couple weeks, then seemed to settle and was *the* smoochiest, sookiest lap cat on the face of the planet, and purred almost constantly. Because he'd always had his brother with him, we thought he might be lonely and adopted a 5 month old male kitten as a companion for him. So far, big mistake.
We probably went about the meet and greet the wrong way by not doing it slowly; it was very much face to face immediately. There was no nastiness or anything unpleasant from either cat, and the last couple days there's been mutual sniffing, and sharing of food bowls, but the older one has barely spoken to us and just looks so miserable. He no longer purrs or sits or sleeps on us, although he does sleep on the bed. He'll tolerate cuddles up to a point, but he's really not happy. The only time he does purr when he's being snuggled is when he's outside, alone with us, or not within eyeline of the new kitten. It's only been a week, admittedly, but I'm wondering if our happy, snuggly, purry boy will return to normal.
We've been sweet talking him, and giving little extra treats, and generally doing anything we can think of to ensure he knows he's still very much loved. We've even rubbed his blanket all over the kitten in the hopes that his own smell might make the young 'un a little less threatening to his position at home.
Can anyone suggest anything else we can do to bring him around, or do we just wait it out and hope for the best?
We probably went about the meet and greet the wrong way by not doing it slowly; it was very much face to face immediately. There was no nastiness or anything unpleasant from either cat, and the last couple days there's been mutual sniffing, and sharing of food bowls, but the older one has barely spoken to us and just looks so miserable. He no longer purrs or sits or sleeps on us, although he does sleep on the bed. He'll tolerate cuddles up to a point, but he's really not happy. The only time he does purr when he's being snuggled is when he's outside, alone with us, or not within eyeline of the new kitten. It's only been a week, admittedly, but I'm wondering if our happy, snuggly, purry boy will return to normal.
We've been sweet talking him, and giving little extra treats, and generally doing anything we can think of to ensure he knows he's still very much loved. We've even rubbed his blanket all over the kitten in the hopes that his own smell might make the young 'un a little less threatening to his position at home.
Can anyone suggest anything else we can do to bring him around, or do we just wait it out and hope for the best?
