My 12-year-old neutered male buff cat had cancer and I had to put him to sleep in December. I had had him since he was a three week old kitten. I had introduced Willow, a young grey female, to him after his brother died about three years ago. She may be anywhere from four years old to six years old now. Whenever she sees a cat walking outside along the back fence from the screened lanai, she meows. She doesn’t appear to be territorial It’s almost like she’s talking to the other cat.
After thinking about it for a while, I adopted a two-year-old recently neutered (March 5) tabby male, Frankie, who is very friendly to me, and was at an adoption center, and seemed to get along with the other cats, according to all reports. Frankie is very nice congenial cat and had I known he was only recently neutered. I think I might’ve thought twice since I’ve caught him marking a couple of times when we’ve been exchanging rooms. He doesn’t seem to react whatsoever to the smells of Willow, and she does not seem to react to him in any negative way to his smells at all other than interested sniffing and then walking away. I haven’t met met face-to-face yet except briefly, through a door, cracker behind a gate, and accidentally mostly.
I’ve been doing the smell exchange with cloth and towels and when she’s upstairs in the master bedroom sleeping in the closet which she does routinely after breakfast every day. I’ll let him come downstairs and I close the door to the master bedroom. I have a townhouse with three bedrooms and 2 1/2 bath so it’s a big space And easy to separate them.
Frankie is presently being kept in the guest bedroom with the door closed. I bought some gates, but they don’t really fit very well. The first night I brought Frankie home I walked out of the room and Willow was outside the door and she was just curious. No hissing and no reaction at that point at all. I open the door a crack after I had closed it, and let them see each other, and neither one reacted. Later that evening she was rolling around in front of the door and headbutting the towel I had put under at the bottom of the door. She has hissed once or twice but it hasn escalated into anything more than a brief hiss at the door. I’ve heard Frankie hiss maybe once or twice on the other side but again no yowling and no apparent upset for either cat. They are both eating and behaving normally, and Willow seems to be following her usual routine.
I think I’m ready to let them look at each other through the gates but again they’re not very secure. I can try to secure them better this weekend when I’m off work.
Here’s the question —- if neither cat seems to be triggered or reacting in any negative way to the smells of the other cat is it possible that they are ready to be introduced? If so, what is the best way to proceed? When I introduced my previous cat Ziggy to Willow, I think it was five days after I had brought her home. there wasn’t any hissing or yowling or any behavior other than my older cat batting a little bit at her when she got up on the cat tree with him. She seemed entirely unconcerned.
I have cut up some 2’ x 4’ pieces of cardboard that I’ve strategically placed downstairs and upstairs in case there was an escape and a resulting fight. I’m very nervous about putting them together in the same room. I don’t want to startle Willow by having Frankie just show up all of a sudden in the same room that she’s in. She seems genuinely interested, but not overly so in the cat in the guestroom. This morning when I was feeding Frankie, I was standing at the door with the gate at the open door and she peaked in, but she couldn’t see his whole body just his tail. She just kind of sniffed a little bit and then turned around and ran down the stairs for her breakfast. For his part, he might’ve known she was there, but he just was chowing away.
Personality wise Willow is loving to me but distant. Most nights she slept with with my older male cat at the foot of the bed once they got to know each other. Actually, it didn’t take long. Her usual routine is to have breakfast in the morning downstairs and then a little outdoor time on the lanai before I leave for work, and then she goes upstairs and sleeps most of the day in the master bedroom closet. She only comes down around dinner time. Sometimes she hangs out with me on the living room floor, but she rarely ever gets up on the couch with me and she is certainly not a lap cat. She’s sweet and she lets me pet her, but I have to go to her she won’t come to me for petting. When I brought her home, she was very shy and stayed underneath the bed for quite a few days.
Frankie is also not a lap cat but he likes to lay close to me when I’m in the guest bedroom laying on the bed. I’ve been playing with him and trying to spend time with him. I feel bad though because I work 8 to 5 most days and this week will be spending a lot of time by himself in the guestroom.
So any advice on moving forward would be welcome. Thank you.
pictures, Frankie who has the white belly, Ziggy, my orange cat and Willow. They told me Willow was three years old but I’m kind of doubting that When I look back at the pictures
After thinking about it for a while, I adopted a two-year-old recently neutered (March 5) tabby male, Frankie, who is very friendly to me, and was at an adoption center, and seemed to get along with the other cats, according to all reports. Frankie is very nice congenial cat and had I known he was only recently neutered. I think I might’ve thought twice since I’ve caught him marking a couple of times when we’ve been exchanging rooms. He doesn’t seem to react whatsoever to the smells of Willow, and she does not seem to react to him in any negative way to his smells at all other than interested sniffing and then walking away. I haven’t met met face-to-face yet except briefly, through a door, cracker behind a gate, and accidentally mostly.
I’ve been doing the smell exchange with cloth and towels and when she’s upstairs in the master bedroom sleeping in the closet which she does routinely after breakfast every day. I’ll let him come downstairs and I close the door to the master bedroom. I have a townhouse with three bedrooms and 2 1/2 bath so it’s a big space And easy to separate them.
Frankie is presently being kept in the guest bedroom with the door closed. I bought some gates, but they don’t really fit very well. The first night I brought Frankie home I walked out of the room and Willow was outside the door and she was just curious. No hissing and no reaction at that point at all. I open the door a crack after I had closed it, and let them see each other, and neither one reacted. Later that evening she was rolling around in front of the door and headbutting the towel I had put under at the bottom of the door. She has hissed once or twice but it hasn escalated into anything more than a brief hiss at the door. I’ve heard Frankie hiss maybe once or twice on the other side but again no yowling and no apparent upset for either cat. They are both eating and behaving normally, and Willow seems to be following her usual routine.
I think I’m ready to let them look at each other through the gates but again they’re not very secure. I can try to secure them better this weekend when I’m off work.
Here’s the question —- if neither cat seems to be triggered or reacting in any negative way to the smells of the other cat is it possible that they are ready to be introduced? If so, what is the best way to proceed? When I introduced my previous cat Ziggy to Willow, I think it was five days after I had brought her home. there wasn’t any hissing or yowling or any behavior other than my older cat batting a little bit at her when she got up on the cat tree with him. She seemed entirely unconcerned.
I have cut up some 2’ x 4’ pieces of cardboard that I’ve strategically placed downstairs and upstairs in case there was an escape and a resulting fight. I’m very nervous about putting them together in the same room. I don’t want to startle Willow by having Frankie just show up all of a sudden in the same room that she’s in. She seems genuinely interested, but not overly so in the cat in the guestroom. This morning when I was feeding Frankie, I was standing at the door with the gate at the open door and she peaked in, but she couldn’t see his whole body just his tail. She just kind of sniffed a little bit and then turned around and ran down the stairs for her breakfast. For his part, he might’ve known she was there, but he just was chowing away.
Personality wise Willow is loving to me but distant. Most nights she slept with with my older male cat at the foot of the bed once they got to know each other. Actually, it didn’t take long. Her usual routine is to have breakfast in the morning downstairs and then a little outdoor time on the lanai before I leave for work, and then she goes upstairs and sleeps most of the day in the master bedroom closet. She only comes down around dinner time. Sometimes she hangs out with me on the living room floor, but she rarely ever gets up on the couch with me and she is certainly not a lap cat. She’s sweet and she lets me pet her, but I have to go to her she won’t come to me for petting. When I brought her home, she was very shy and stayed underneath the bed for quite a few days.
Frankie is also not a lap cat but he likes to lay close to me when I’m in the guest bedroom laying on the bed. I’ve been playing with him and trying to spend time with him. I feel bad though because I work 8 to 5 most days and this week will be spending a lot of time by himself in the guestroom.
So any advice on moving forward would be welcome. Thank you.
pictures, Frankie who has the white belly, Ziggy, my orange cat and Willow. They told me Willow was three years old but I’m kind of doubting that When I look back at the pictures
