Hi there fellow cat lovers!
I need some assistance. Almost 2 weeks ago I adopted a new kitten (Noel) who is 12 weeks old. My resident cat, Penelope, came from a shelter with multiple cats freely roaming and she is a little over 2 years old. I have had her for about a year now. She is super sweet, just a really great and well behaved cat.
I brought Noel home and worked on introducing them. Introduction phases seemed to have gone well, so I decided to let them meet. There is nothing too crazy going on, only I seem to notice that Penelope tends to chase Noel and swat her a bit, Noel appears to get scared and hiss at her. This happens almost every time Noel is not around me. It seems as if Penelope feels like she has free reign to chase her. This is almost every time they run into each other. When I am there, Penelope seems interested in her and comes close to sniff her, but Noel gets scared and will run off to hide or stay by me since Penelope will not do anything when I am close by.
I understand that Penelope may be doing this to claim her territory, and there is nothing dangerous going on now but I just have not seen any progress outside of this. They almost kind of just do their own thing and that is the only contact they're really having as of lately. I have been so stressed about this! I want them to get along and I want to make sure I am taking the right steps to ensure that they do. Is there anything else I can do at this point? I try to play with them together, feed them together, etc in order to ensure they are having positive associations with each other but they don't seem to be making progress.
Are these normal and good signs that with more time a relationship will form? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! This is my first time attempting to bond 2 cats and I want to do it right.
Thanks!
Gina
I need some assistance. Almost 2 weeks ago I adopted a new kitten (Noel) who is 12 weeks old. My resident cat, Penelope, came from a shelter with multiple cats freely roaming and she is a little over 2 years old. I have had her for about a year now. She is super sweet, just a really great and well behaved cat.
I brought Noel home and worked on introducing them. Introduction phases seemed to have gone well, so I decided to let them meet. There is nothing too crazy going on, only I seem to notice that Penelope tends to chase Noel and swat her a bit, Noel appears to get scared and hiss at her. This happens almost every time Noel is not around me. It seems as if Penelope feels like she has free reign to chase her. This is almost every time they run into each other. When I am there, Penelope seems interested in her and comes close to sniff her, but Noel gets scared and will run off to hide or stay by me since Penelope will not do anything when I am close by.
I understand that Penelope may be doing this to claim her territory, and there is nothing dangerous going on now but I just have not seen any progress outside of this. They almost kind of just do their own thing and that is the only contact they're really having as of lately. I have been so stressed about this! I want them to get along and I want to make sure I am taking the right steps to ensure that they do. Is there anything else I can do at this point? I try to play with them together, feed them together, etc in order to ensure they are having positive associations with each other but they don't seem to be making progress.
Are these normal and good signs that with more time a relationship will form? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! This is my first time attempting to bond 2 cats and I want to do it right.
Thanks!
Gina