Ping: Takayuki (update requested)

Please give us a status report on Dot and Buster. I hope everything is
going well for the three of you.

MaryL

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote:
Please give us a status report on Dot and Buster. I hope everything is
going well for the three of you.

I posted a little yesterday in the "Inverted Dot" thread about Dot and
Buster. Basically, Buster is becoming very restless in his room, and
Dot is becoming more and more wary of Buster.

When they first met, Dot would hiss at Buster, but would also sniff
him a little. After a while, she would try going near if a treat was
placed nearby, although she would still growl while eating. Now, she
refuses to go near the screen for any reason if Buster is visible, and
will growl and even hide if she just hears him. Although I might be
reading a bit into the latter behavior, as she seems to naturally like
cozy hidey-holes. I sometimes call her by the nickname Heidi
("hidey").

I thought maybe a bit more visual separation is in order for the time
being, and tried draping a blanket over the lower part of the screen,
but that made Buster go nuts, as he's used to being able to see out of
his room now. I spend more time with him lately, so I think that
makes him dislike his confinement more than when what he knew was a
shelter cage and a closed room. He knows that he has a hoomin,
forever home, cat charmers, and a potential playmate kitty outside his
room.

"Takayuki" wrote in message
...
"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote:
Please give us a status report on Dot and Buster. I hope everything is
going well for the three of you.

I posted a little yesterday in the "Inverted Dot" thread about Dot and
Buster. Basically, Buster is becoming very restless in his room, and
Dot is becoming more and more wary of Buster.

When they first met, Dot would hiss at Buster, but would also sniff
him a little. After a while, she would try going near if a treat was
placed nearby, although she would still growl while eating. Now, she
refuses to go near the screen for any reason if Buster is visible, and
will growl and even hide if she just hears him. Although I might be
reading a bit into the latter behavior, as she seems to naturally like
cozy hidey-holes. I sometimes call her by the nickname Heidi
("hidey").

I thought maybe a bit more visual separation is in order for the time
being, and tried draping a blanket over the lower part of the screen,
but that made Buster go nuts, as he's used to being able to see out of
his room now. I spend more time with him lately, so I think that
makes him dislike his confinement more than when what he knew was a
shelter cage and a closed room. He knows that he has a hoomin,
forever home, cat charmers, and a potential playmate kitty outside his
room.


After this much time, and with things certainly not improving, I'd be sorely
tempted to let Buster out of his jail and just let them work it out. It may
be that Dot is just always going to be a timid hidey kitty. She probably
always has been.

But if things aren't getting better its time to do something different.
Particularly if Buster isn't attacking or injuring her.

Jo

On Jul 1, 12:25 pm, Takayuki wrote:
"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote:
Please give us a status report on Dot and Buster. I hope everything is
going well for the three of you.

I posted a little yesterday in the "Inverted Dot" thread about Dot and
Buster. Basically, Buster is becoming very restless in his room, and
Dot is becoming more and more wary of Buster.

When they first met, Dot would hiss at Buster, but would also sniff
him a little. After a while, she would try going near if a treat was
placed nearby, although she would still growl while eating. Now, she
refuses to go near the screen for any reason if Buster is visible, and
will growl and even hide if she just hears him. Although I might be
reading a bit into the latter behavior, as she seems to naturally like
cozy hidey-holes. I sometimes call her by the nickname Heidi
("hidey").

I thought maybe a bit more visual separation is in order for the time
being, and tried draping a blanket over the lower part of the screen,
but that made Buster go nuts, as he's used to being able to see out of
his room now. I spend more time with him lately, so I think that
makes him dislike his confinement more than when what he knew was a
shelter cage and a closed room. He knows that he has a hoomin,
forever home, cat charmers, and a potential playmate kitty outside his
room.

Goodness, it sounds like she's regressing instead of becoming more
used to him. But it hasn't even
been three weeks yet, has it? Sometimes a proper introduction takes a
couple of months, I hear.
Don't feel bad. Our introduction isn't going too hot either. The
kittens scream to get out of their
cage, and the rest of the crew still hates their guts as bad as they
did on Day 1. Now I"ve had
to separate the kitten. One is a is a genital-sucking maniac and I
can't get her to stop. The nipples
fell off their surrogate mother, and for some reason, after I fixed
it, they won't have anything to do with it
anymore. I'm running out of rooms to isolate cats.
Sorry for the me me me rant. Back to Buster & Dot....best of luck,
Tak. It will all work out.

Sherry

"Sherry" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Jul 1, 12:25 pm, Takayuki wrote:
"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote:
Please give us a status report on Dot and Buster. I hope everything is
going well for the three of you.

I posted a little yesterday in the "Inverted Dot" thread about Dot and
Buster. Basically, Buster is becoming very restless in his room, and
Dot is becoming more and more wary of Buster.

When they first met, Dot would hiss at Buster, but would also sniff
him a little. After a while, she would try going near if a treat was
placed nearby, although she would still growl while eating. Now, she
refuses to go near the screen for any reason if Buster is visible, and
will growl and even hide if she just hears him. Although I might be
reading a bit into the latter behavior, as she seems to naturally like
cozy hidey-holes. I sometimes call her by the nickname Heidi
("hidey").

I thought maybe a bit more visual separation is in order for the time
being, and tried draping a blanket over the lower part of the screen,
but that made Buster go nuts, as he's used to being able to see out of
his room now. I spend more time with him lately, so I think that
makes him dislike his confinement more than when what he knew was a
shelter cage and a closed room. He knows that he has a hoomin,
forever home, cat charmers, and a potential playmate kitty outside his
room.

Goodness, it sounds like she's regressing instead of becoming more
used to him. But it hasn't even
been three weeks yet, has it? Sometimes a proper introduction takes a
couple of months, I hear.
Don't feel bad. Our introduction isn't going too hot either. The
kittens scream to get out of their
cage, and the rest of the crew still hates their guts as bad as they
did on Day 1. Now I"ve had
to separate the kitten. One is a is a genital-sucking maniac and I
can't get her to stop. The nipples
fell off their surrogate mother, and for some reason, after I fixed
it, they won't have anything to do with it
anymore. I'm running out of rooms to isolate cats.
Sorry for the me me me rant. Back to Buster & Dot....best of luck,
Tak. It will all work out.

Sherry


LOL! I missed the "surrogate" part, and thought the nipples fell off the
mother. Horrors!! Then I realized it was what I thought of as the "kitty
pacifier" (and the real mother, of course, is not even part of your
household). (ô¿ô)

MaryL

"jofirey" wrote

| After this much time, and with things certainly not improving, I'd be
sorely
| tempted to let Buster out of his jail and just let them work it out. It
may
| be that Dot is just always going to be a timid hidey kitty. She probably
| always has been.
|
| But if things aren't getting better its time to do something different.
| Particularly if Buster isn't attacking or injuring her.

If they had been left to work it out in the first place, they'd probably be
friends by now.

"Takayuki" wrote in message
...
"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote:
Please give us a status report on Dot and Buster. I hope everything is
going well for the three of you.

I posted a little yesterday in the "Inverted Dot" thread about Dot and
Buster. Basically, Buster is becoming very restless in his room, and
Dot is becoming more and more wary of Buster.

When they first met, Dot would hiss at Buster, but would also sniff
him a little. After a while, she would try going near if a treat was
placed nearby, although she would still growl while eating. Now, she
refuses to go near the screen for any reason if Buster is visible, and
will growl and even hide if she just hears him. Although I might be
reading a bit into the latter behavior, as she seems to naturally like
cozy hidey-holes. I sometimes call her by the nickname Heidi
("hidey").

I thought maybe a bit more visual separation is in order for the time
being, and tried draping a blanket over the lower part of the screen,
but that made Buster go nuts, as he's used to being able to see out of
his room now. I spend more time with him lately, so I think that
makes him dislike his confinement more than when what he knew was a
shelter cage and a closed room. He knows that he has a hoomin,
forever home, cat charmers, and a potential playmate kitty outside his
room.


Thanks for the update. Try not to be discouraged. Remember, both Dot and
Buster came from a shelter into a completely new environment, and they were
not companions at the shelter. So, everything is a big adjustment. Take it
easy, try not to push things, and it will work out.

I took several of pictures of Holly and Duffy yesterday, and what a change
that is from when I adopted Duffy and went through the same process. Holly
would attack any other cat in our presence, and it was definitely an
aggressive, violent type of attack -- clearly not "playing." The two now
live very happily together. There was an incident a couple of weeks ago
when I stepped on poor Duffy's toes. He screamed, of course, and I felt
*terrible.* He ran into the other room, and I went after him to console
him. Luckily, he is very forgiving and waited for me. But Holly went
running up to him and *very gently* touched her nose to his nose. That was
such a loving gesture and something that never would happened in earlier
days.

You can see two of yesterday's photos he
http://tinyurl.com/25ywao
http://tinyurl.com/27ykqz

MaryL

On Jul 1, 2:40 pm, "Pat" wrote:
"jofirey" wrote

| After this much time, and with things certainly not improving, I'd be
sorely
| tempted to let Buster out of his jail and just let them work it out. It
may
| be that Dot is just always going to be a timid hidey kitty. She probably
| always has been.
|
| But if things aren't getting better its time to do something different.
| Particularly if Buster isn't attacking or injuring her.

If they had been left to work it out in the first place, they'd probably be
friends by now.

I think Tak's doing fine. I think what he's trying to avoid is, once
he *does*
let them together, Buster won't chase Dot, like Eli chases Lily. This
actually might work, I am *very* interested in the outcome. After all,
think
about it this way -- Dot & Buster may have a 15-20 year lifespan.
What's a
couple of months in relation to that?
I think it's harder on Tak than either one of the cats!

Sherry

"Takayuki" wrote in message
...
"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote:
Please give us a status report on Dot and Buster. I hope everything is
going well for the three of you.

I posted a little yesterday in the "Inverted Dot" thread about Dot and
Buster. Basically, Buster is becoming very restless in his room, and
Dot is becoming more and more wary of Buster.



One suggestion: "Rotate" the cats occasionally. That is, bring Buster out
and put Dot *in Buster's room* (but don't let them come into contact yet).
That way, they will become more familiar with each other's scents.

MaryL

"jofirey" wrote:
After this much time, and with things certainly not improving, I'd be sorely
tempted to let Buster out of his jail and just let them work it out. It may
be that Dot is just always going to be a timid hidey kitty. She probably
always has been.

But if things aren't getting better its time to do something different.
Particularly if Buster isn't attacking or injuring her.

Dot does sometimes hide because it's fun scouting and napping, and
she'll sometimes hide because she's afraid. I don't want to see much
of the latter type of hiding.

Even if she hasn't gotten familiar with Buster yet, she is familiar
with her home now, so that's some progress at least. I think that
since they never physically meet, Dot feels now that it's her
territory that's Buster is on, and that makes her a bit more agitated
than before. I'm just going to continue to observe for now before
making any changes to their routines.