Help Needed with new Kitten
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| Tue, 05-31-2005 - 6:56am |
Hi,
Just wondering if anyone can help me with my problem!
(Oh I used to post on Think like a Cat until it shut down!!)
We currently have a 7 month old British Blue female who is an indoor cat and has lived with us for about 3 months. She started off very skittish and scared but has gradually got a bit friendlier and fussier.
Thinking that she was probably lonely all day on her own we got another kitten on Thursday to keep her company. He is a lovely grey bundle of fun, he's very cheeky and has settled into the house straight away.
Trouble is Fenella just isnt taking to him at all, I didnt expect her to be friends with him automatically but after 5 days now things arent getting any better, in fact they are getting worse as Hugo seems to be bullying her a bit.
He wont give her a minutes piece and jumps and chases her from room to room. She occassionally attacks him but nine times out of ten he wins and conquers either her comfy seating area or her climbing tree.
I feel really sorry for her as she just looks fed up constantly.
We are putting Hugo to bed around 10pm now in his own room just to give her some peace and quiet but I then feel sorry for Hugo being on his own.
Its very difficult and I know think that Fenella was probably perfectly happy on her own.
Do you think I should carry on with the situation or try and find Hugo a home where he would be the centre of attention.
It really is upsetting me as I dont want either to be sad.
Any opinions would be greatly received.
Regards,
Jo.

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I was worried about Bailey giving something to Tasha too - especially since he was a stray - so the isolation period was both for the benefit of a gradual intoduction, and a waiting period until I got him to the vet. There was no way Tasha was going to see him before he got to the vet!
But keeping them seperate for a few days I think will definitely help. They'll all get a chance to smell each other and get accustomed to "something" before they all actually see each other. "Seeing" is not as much of a shock if they've "smelled" first. :)
Just remember that no mattr how bad things may look in the beginning, most cats learn to get along. VERY rarely, some cats will hate each other forever. But this is very rare - something like 1% of cases I think. But whether it takes minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months, chances are it'll happen! Just have patience. LOL.
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Hi Jo,
Well since I used to be a TLAC board member I'm going to jump in here with some of Pam's advice. First off, here's a link to some brief introduction info that still remains on ivillage from Pam:
http://home.ivillage.com/pets/cats/0,,2kfg,00.html
I introduced a kitten Zachary to Gabriel(about a year old and I'd had him 5 mos at the time) using Pam's method and it worked like a charm. Zachary stayed in his sanctuary room all the time when I wasn't home(all day) and while sleeping for a good 3 weeks or so until they were acting like best friends and I knew they could be trusted alone. I would initially go into to visit Zachary and play with him, feed him and love him when Gabe was asleep or eating so he(the resident cat at the time) didn't feel like I was picking the new cat over him and get upset. For the first several days they didn't even see each other. During this time I also made sure to conduct two 15 minute interactive play sessions with Gabriel(resident cat) every day to ease any tension and give him some stress release. I used a fishing pole toy called Da Bird which they both love. My boys are best buds now and eat together, play together, sleep together. They really get along unbelievably well and I have Pam's technique for the introduction to thank for that!
Introductions are critical in how the cats will get along in the future. To quote Pam from her book Think Like a Cat, "How well you handle this introduction can make or break the relationship the two cats have." The bottom line it take it slow and don't rush them. How fast you move should all be dictated by how accepting your resident cat it. You don't want her feeling displaced in this process.
I really recommend you either buy or go to the library and check out Pam's book. She is the feline behavior expert and frankly I haven't found a one of her tips that hasn't worked yet. Her other book for multicat households Cat vs Cat is great too.
Good luck, Lynn
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