Here's the backstory. I was living in a house with my fiancé, but broke it off and moved in with my parents back in March. I had two cats at the time, Buddy and Mila who moved with me, but my parents also have a cat named Charley. Charley tolerates us humans in the home and has a special loving non-biting bond with my Dad, but anyone else it's bite city. He doesn't seriously bite, no breaking skin or anything. I've been working with him a lot to get used to me. Now he lets me pick him up and has even slept on my stomach. To reduce stress we've kept them separated by keeping the door to the stairway closed.
So Mila and Buddy have had full reign of the 2nd floor and Charley has the rest of the house and it's been fine....until Buddy passed away just over two weeks ago. It's been hard. Really, really hard. I won't get into the details, but I did make a post about him in the Rainbow Bridge forum. Mila seemed okay for a few days, but after about a week she started walking around meowing. She's never done that before. She walks into the hallway, meows, waits, then walks into the other bedroom, meows, waits. There's no doubt in my mind she's calling out for her brother. It kills me. She wasn't eating much, she was sleeping in strange places. She misses him a lot. The last few days she's been pretty clingy too. I don't mind that, but it's a change in her behavior.
I feel so bad that she's up here by herself. She's alone during the day when I'm working, but even when I get home I'm not always up here because the kitchen, washer/dryer, etc are downstairs, I may go out to dinner or out for the evening, etc. I try to spend as much time up here as I can, but I don't think it's enough. My dad will check up on her during the day.
So what I'm thinking about is possibly introducing Mila to Charley? There was a time when I wasn't living here but I'd come visit and Charley would sniff my hand then bite it or hiss at me. I obviously smelled like other cats. Now it doesn't even phase him, he has no interest. Buddy used to sit near the bottom of the door and meow and Charley would hear it, but he didn't care. Mila must smell him on me and she doesn't show any indication that she cares either. So they know each others "scent," but have not met.
If Mila had access to the first floor she'd be able to perch on our windows which have a close view of the bird bath, she loves birds. I made perches upstairs and she will sleep on them, but she can't really see much. She'd have more to do and more people to constantly be around.
I know you're supposed to introduce cats slowly, but Im worried about this totally backfiring. Mila is 8 years old and got along with Buddy (after a few days). We're not sure exactly how old Charley is, but we think maybe around 12 or 13 years. He's been living here for around 8 years and he got along with the family dog (after a few months), but has never been around other cats as far as we know. Our dog passed about 2 years ago so it's just been Charley since then.
Does anyone have any advice on what I should do or techniques I could try? Or any horror stories regarding what NOT to do?
So Mila and Buddy have had full reign of the 2nd floor and Charley has the rest of the house and it's been fine....until Buddy passed away just over two weeks ago. It's been hard. Really, really hard. I won't get into the details, but I did make a post about him in the Rainbow Bridge forum. Mila seemed okay for a few days, but after about a week she started walking around meowing. She's never done that before. She walks into the hallway, meows, waits, then walks into the other bedroom, meows, waits. There's no doubt in my mind she's calling out for her brother. It kills me. She wasn't eating much, she was sleeping in strange places. She misses him a lot. The last few days she's been pretty clingy too. I don't mind that, but it's a change in her behavior.
I feel so bad that she's up here by herself. She's alone during the day when I'm working, but even when I get home I'm not always up here because the kitchen, washer/dryer, etc are downstairs, I may go out to dinner or out for the evening, etc. I try to spend as much time up here as I can, but I don't think it's enough. My dad will check up on her during the day.
So what I'm thinking about is possibly introducing Mila to Charley? There was a time when I wasn't living here but I'd come visit and Charley would sniff my hand then bite it or hiss at me. I obviously smelled like other cats. Now it doesn't even phase him, he has no interest. Buddy used to sit near the bottom of the door and meow and Charley would hear it, but he didn't care. Mila must smell him on me and she doesn't show any indication that she cares either. So they know each others "scent," but have not met.
If Mila had access to the first floor she'd be able to perch on our windows which have a close view of the bird bath, she loves birds. I made perches upstairs and she will sleep on them, but she can't really see much. She'd have more to do and more people to constantly be around.
I know you're supposed to introduce cats slowly, but Im worried about this totally backfiring. Mila is 8 years old and got along with Buddy (after a few days). We're not sure exactly how old Charley is, but we think maybe around 12 or 13 years. He's been living here for around 8 years and he got along with the family dog (after a few months), but has never been around other cats as far as we know. Our dog passed about 2 years ago so it's just been Charley since then.
Does anyone have any advice on what I should do or techniques I could try? Or any horror stories regarding what NOT to do?
Last edited:
