Integrating the new kitties

"Marina" wrote in message
...
MaryL wrote:

Not at all -- at least, not that I could ever tell. I'm not sure that
any of us can actually "read" a cat's mind, but there is a *great deal*
of literature that supports the view that cats should be separated when a
new cat is brought into the hom and then gradually introduced. I also
have my own personal experience (where my Holly previously was "the black
tornado" when confronted with another cat but gradually grew to accept
Duffy), and I have relied on the advice of experts in animal behavior
(who also advocated gradual introduction).

As you say, we can't know what goes on in cats' heads. I didn't introduce
Miranda slowly, but just let her lose. Nikki had built up a reputation of
hating all other cats, and she did hiss at Mir at first, but eventually
she was the first to start playing with Mir. Frank kept his distance until
after Nikki died. I firmly believe in the 'let them work it out' method.
Nikki never hurt Mir, though she sounded scary, and Mir was afraid of her
at first.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.

This often works, and I wouldn't argue otherwise. The problem is, if it
doesn't work -- and that is frequent -- then the process has been set back
*significantly,* and sometimes it will be impossible to achieve a smooth
transition. By contrast, a separation (often just a brief separation is all
that is needed) is an extra level of caution and will not adversely affect
the relationship.

MaryL

"Takayuki" wrote in message
...
mlbriggs wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 12:57:30 -0400, Takayuki wrote:

Buster kept up a murping, trilling commentary as he reacquainted himself
with the room. He came to me nudging my hand for pets, and finally
climbed on top of my chest and lay down. Later he moved down to my left
side and curled up in the crook of my arm, and then eventually moved
down
to the cat bed.

Day (night) No. 2 sounds like a success. Remember, it took 7 (?) days to
create the earth (according to scriptures). Just be patient and give it
time. New mothers of bare children are told to nap when they nap. God
luck. MLB

Actually, that was night #1 - today is night #2. After doing some
housekeeping in the living room, I reclined in the couch, and called
Buster over. He trilled and jumped up. After getting on my lap and
fidgeting for a while, he fell asleep, stretched out. I never had a
tabby before, and from my angle, he looked like a comatose badger.
After about a half hour with him on my lap, I decided I should go to
bed, and woke him up. I tried to relocate him to the side, on the
couch, but the cheeky little guy just kept trying to climb back on to
my lap.

I said to him, "I'm sorry, but I have to go to bed now with Dot." And
now I hear him crying in the other room. I want to be there for them
both when they need me, not just for one or the other - and I want so
much for them to get along, so that that can happen.


Jake and Molly are not bestest buddies. And our bed is Jake's territory.
This usually isn't a problem as Molly likes the grandsons better and will
sleep with one of them if she can.

Also except for the boys, Molly doesn't display any affection with me and
seldom with Charlie. She will only play with me when their food bowl is
empty or there is something else she wants.

But if the boys are gone, she will wait till we all seem to be asleep and
sneek onto our bed for the night. She's even been known to fall asleep and
start to cuddle. We all try very hard to pretend not to know she is there.
Even Jake. Not always easy as she sleeps on my legs.

Jo

Sherry wrote:
On Jun 15, 11:56 pm, "jmcquown" wrote:
Sherry wrote:
On Jun 15, 11:38 pm, "jmcquown" wrote:
Takayuki wrote:
I also notice that these two are much cheekier than Betty was.
They both want to be on my desk when I'm on the computer, and on
the counter when I'm in the kitchen. I hope that's just a phase.


A spray bottle will work wonders for the kitchen counter thing.
Obviously wherever they lived before they were allowed to do that
(or they could just be testing you!).

Jill

Jill, I seriously wouldn't spray them. That seems so mean,
considering they are in
a brand-new environment.

Sherry

Perhaps, but if the behavior isn't curbed I seriously doubt it will
just go away in time. Then again, Persia has never shown the
slightest interest in jumping up on kitchen counters, desktops,
tabletops. The only counter she ever jumped up on was in the
bathroom and that's because the running water attracted her. I
guess I was just lucky that way. So what would you suggest?

Jill- Hide quoted text -

It's really not a big deal around here. They jump on the counter
*very* infrequently, I just scold them
and set them down. I was just thinking that kitties who are in a
brand-new environment, with a brand new hoomin
are already afraid and leery. Better to wash the counter a little more
often & a little more thoroughly than to scare them.
(I think I'm pretty sure Tak doesn't have it in him to use a spray
bottle anyway, LOL)

Sherry

I agree, I wasn't really thinking about them being brand new to the
environment which was silly of me.

I only had to use the spray bottle to scare Persia away from my (then)
parakeets when she first acquired me. She had to get used to the idea they
weren't food and that she couldn't knock the cage over and get at them.
Took a little while to get her to stop standing on her hind legs poking at
the cage but after a short time just reaching for the bottle made her halt
in her tracks! After they died and I decided to get Peaches she didn't even
blink at this strange bright new bird

Jill

Takayuki wrote:
mlbriggs wrote:


On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 12:57:30 -0400, Takayuki wrote:


Buster kept up a murping, trilling commentary as he reacquainted himself
with the room. He came to me nudging my hand for pets, and finally
climbed on top of my chest and lay down. Later he moved down to my left
side and curled up in the crook of my arm, and then eventually moved down
to the cat bed.

Day (night) No. 2 sounds like a success. Remember, it took 7 (?) days to
create the earth (according to scriptures). Just be patient and give it
time. New mothers of bare children are told to nap when they nap. God
luck. MLB


Actually, that was night #1 - today is night #2. After doing some
housekeeping in the living room, I reclined in the couch, and called
Buster over. He trilled and jumped up. After getting on my lap and
fidgeting for a while, he fell asleep, stretched out. I never had a
tabby before, and from my angle, he looked like a comatose badger.
After about a half hour with him on my lap, I decided I should go to
bed, and woke him up. I tried to relocate him to the side, on the
couch, but the cheeky little guy just kept trying to climb back on to
my lap.

I said to him, "I'm sorry, but I have to go to bed now with Dot." And
now I hear him crying in the other room. I want to be there for them
both when they need me, not just for one or the other - and I want so
much for them to get along, so that that can happen.

Tak, with your situation -- bringing 2 kitties home to neutral
territory, I would not separate them. If you see signs of overt
hostility, and I mean more than an occasional hiss, maybe they do need
separation -- but I think you are in the perfect situation to get them
to be buddies.

Cats need some time to work things out, but you don't have a resident
cat who feels this is his or her territory.

Rhonda

Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:
There are *very good* reasons for keeping the cats apart during
the introduction period.


We tried the keeping-them-apart thing when we introduced Muriel
to the household. The result was that it took years for her and
Ishmael to get along. Every other time, we've just let them get
on with it, letting them have the run of the whole house with no
attempt whatever at keeping the new arrival apart, and they've
settled down in a week or two.

I don't think humans can ever know enough about cat psychology
to try manipulative stuff with any hope of it succeeding. Let
them be themselves. They've evolved to be social animals.

I agree!

Rhonda

Pat wrote:
"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote

| I have relied on advice of experts in animal behavior (who advocated
| gradual introduction).

But Tak has a different situation altogether. He has not brought a new cat
into a home where an existing cat already lives.

Yes, I think that is the BIG difference here.

They may even quickly learn to rely on each other for comfort in a brand
new situation like this.

Rhonda

On 17 Jun, 16:37, "Nanny" wrote:
That's what I mean, Marina, I want to let them work it out together, be it
cat or ferret. I must say I had more problems with ferrets that I had to
separate, to the point that they had separate cages, than with cats.

Nanny/////

When I introduced Barney the Ferret to Gertie Ferret, I put them into
a neutral crate and plastered the pair of them with Ferretone. They
were so busy licking the ferretone off themselves and each other, that
they totally forgot that they had never met before and were pretty
much inseperable straight away. The only problem is that Barney
forgets he's twice the size of Gertie, and is prone to jumping on her
to make her play.

Helen M

"Takayuki" wrote in message
...
And at that moment I realized that I had been thinking of him all this
time as an adult - a young adult, but an adult. But he just seemed
like such an adult because he is such a well mannered cat. And I
thought about his neutering, the cages, his stoicism in the ride home,
his encounter with a new hoomin and a new kitty... I thought... he's
been through so much today, and he's really only a baby. I have to
protect him, and take care of him.

That needed a TW Tak - as my 6 yo would say, I have water leaking from my
eyes.


Right now though, I think it's Dot who needs more of my attention to
build up her confidence.

What a good cat dad you are :-)

Susan M
Otis and Chester

On 2007-06-17 11:34:05 -0500, "jofirey" said:


"Takayuki" wrote in message
...
mlbriggs wrote:

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 12:57:30 -0400, Takayuki wrote:

Buster kept up a murping, trilling commentary as he reacquainted himself
with the room. He came to me nudging my hand for pets, and finally
climbed on top of my chest and lay down. Later he moved down to my left
side and curled up in the crook of my arm, and then eventually moved down
to the cat bed.

Day (night) No. 2 sounds like a success. Remember, it took 7 (?) days to
create the earth (according to scriptures). Just be patient and give it
time. New mothers of bare children are told to nap when they nap. God
luck. MLB

Actually, that was night #1 - today is night #2. After doing some
housekeeping in the living room, I reclined in the couch, and called
Buster over. He trilled and jumped up. After getting on my lap and
fidgeting for a while, he fell asleep, stretched out. I never had a
tabby before, and from my angle, he looked like a comatose badger.
After about a half hour with him on my lap, I decided I should go to
bed, and woke him up. I tried to relocate him to the side, on the
couch, but the cheeky little guy just kept trying to climb back on to
my lap.

I said to him, "I'm sorry, but I have to go to bed now with Dot." And
now I hear him crying in the other room. I want to be there for them
both when they need me, not just for one or the other - and I want so
much for them to get along, so that that can happen.


Jake and Molly are not bestest buddies. And our bed is Jake's
territory. This usually isn't a problem as Molly likes the grandsons
better and will sleep with one of them if she can.

Also except for the boys, Molly doesn't display any affection with me
and seldom with Charlie. She will only play with me when their food
bowl is empty or there is something else she wants.

But if the boys are gone, she will wait till we all seem to be asleep
and sneek onto our bed for the night. She's even been known to fall
asleep and start to cuddle. We all try very hard to pretend not to
know she is there. Even Jake. Not always easy as she sleeps on my legs.

Jo

It's funny. The bed was the FIRST place that Grant, Sugar and Pearl
worked out on their own. They each had their own spot and that was
that. Sleeping at night was almost never a problem. I wonder why they
sorted taht out nearly immediately?

"Takayuki" wrote in message
...
(JB) wrote:
That sounds a bit like our situation. Buster does like to chase and
play, and Dot likes to hide. In fact, she often hides even when she
and Buster are separated, but she comes out when I find her and call
out to her. She stays out in the open as long as I'm in sight.

Sounds like she's an expert trainer too - stay with me, be with me, I am
helpless without you

Susan M
Otis and Chester