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#1
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Late night update on my stupid situation (introducing new cats)
Cast of characters:
1. Tiger, Maine-Coonish mutt rescued from an Indiana farm, age 11, 9 lbs 2. Louis, 2-yr-old Bengal who Tiger adopted as a brother (8 lbs) 3. Henry, Maine-Coonish stray of unknown provenance, aged ~2 (18 lbs) All neutered, all up-to-date with vaccinations. I will NOT send Henry to a shelter. On his own, he's the ideal lap-cat.. affectionate, devoted and loving. God, I love Henry... My brother lost his wonderful boy-cat, aged 14, with multiple health issues, last week. The remaining cat in the household is a 12-yr old female with a painful hostility to strangers. I'd hoped he would want Henry, but it's still too painful a loss to discuss with him. With the expectation that Henry may not have a new home soon (and frankly hesitant to give him up.. there's nothing more wonderful than having a huge cat napping on your chest while you're typing), we've decided to give an introduction another try. Here's our daily regimen: Overnight, Henry's in the basement. During the day, Louis and Tiger are in the bedroom upstairs sleeping (they're there already when I wake up, I just close the door), and Henry has run of the house. In the early evening, Henry goes into the bedroom. We "stage" him in a separate room, remove Tiger and Louis from the bedroom and give them treats, then move Henry, giving him treats. At night, Henry goes back downstairs with a treat. The plus side is that before, during the early evening transfer, Louis would park himself outside threateningly, and has even charged Henry during his transit (though Henry outweighs Louis 2-to-1... Louis is a brave little kitty - god, Bengals are great cats) - but with the addition of treats the transfer goes smoothly. Henry no longer cowers in the bathroom, and Louis and Tiger seem to regard his egress with detachment. I'm now tipping toward wanting to spend a fair amount of time integrating Henry (out of necessity it seems, since I'm not going to dump him outside or drop him off at the Humane Society). He's a huge cat, with a "Nerml" face, who simply adores human companionship. Initially he seemed the aggressor, but now I see that it's Louis the Bengal's territoriality that is proving the problem. Complicating things, Louis has taken to marking our front door incessantly. Feliway and No-Mark notwithstanding. Gaah. This is more effort than I'm used to spending on a cat introduction. Though there have been scraps between our adoptees before (counting seven cats in the last 10 years) none have been this virulent. I might not be so worried if Henry were not a HUGE cat, quite strong, and Louis were not such an incredibly beautiful cat. The one fight I broke up recently (which graced me with an angry infection and sent me on a potent round of antibiotics) mauled me greaty, but the cats were unmarked. I'm not looking for advice here, I guess (though any would be welcome), but just spilling my story among sympathetic ears, and for folks who have followed my earlier posts. Each cat in the household is wonderful, I love them all deeply. Sometimes you wish you could just grab the cat and say "GET A GRIP!!!". Louis and Henry would make great playmates. bah. that's why forums like this exist, I guess. And yes, I'll be calling Meghan tomorrow. =/ BLink |
#2
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So the cats got into a big bad fight but they didn't hurt each other? Just
you? I don't know you and I don't know your cats but I have always done things differently than most of the posters here when it came to introducing a new cat. I just put them all out there together right away. In a couple days it all seems to work out. Only this last time I did get Felliway. During the adjustment period if no one is home the new one is separated. Best of luck, Barb Of course I don't look busy, I did it right the first time. |
#3
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On 2005-02-14, Barb penned:
So the cats got into a big bad fight but they didn't hurt each other? Just you? I don't know you and I don't know your cats but I have always done things differently than most of the posters here when it came to introducing a new cat. I just put them all out there together right away. In a couple days it all seems to work out. Only this last time I did get Felliway. During the adjustment period if no one is home the new one is separated. Yeah, I tried that with Oscar and Eros. Oscar retreated to the bedroom, where she lived under the bed and was so terrified of Eros that she peed and pooped in the bedroom rather than going to the litterbox. Eros, not understanding that Oscar needed space, was constantly stalking her. His intentions were friendly, but she wasn't about to believe it. They got into a few squabbles when Oscar got so frustrated that she charged, but while Eros was untouched, Oscar ended up with cuts in both ears that will never heal fully. I will never again just dump two cats into the house and imagine that they'll somehow magically integrate. With some cats, it's just not possible. I don't know what would have happened if I'd done the slow integration route, but it certainly couldn't be worse than what happened. -- monique, roommate of Oscar the (female) grouch ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eros was adopted! Eros has a home now! *cheer!* |
#4
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On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 10:33:11 -0600, "Barb"
wrote: So the cats got into a big bad fight but they didn't hurt each other? Just you? I don't know you and I don't know your cats but I have always done things differently than most of the posters here when it came to introducing a new cat. I just put them all out there together right away. In a couple days it all seems to work out. Only this last time I did get Felliway. During the adjustment period if no one is home the new one is separated. Best of luck, Barb Of course I don't look busy, I did it right the first time. Yeah, I've considered that. Somewhere else here I read that cats will spar and seem to be murdering each other, but in fact it's fairly carefully managed sparring, so as not to maim. It's all about who's stronger - the aim is not to kill the other cat, but to show it you're the toughest one in the house. Sorta like these deer fighting - a video I just came across today. They have sharp antlers and could easily gore each other, but instead they choose to box - a non lethal competition (though I'm sure there are a few hoof scars afterward). http://www.big-boys.com/articles/deerboxing.html On the other hand.. one fight had Louis squinting for a day. Tiger sustained a corneal scratch in his youth, and it was a frightening, painful thing. He recovered, and so did Louis, but ears and eyes are delicate. A feral cat may endure scars and disfigurement, not death, but these are our "companion animals", and I don't want to see beautiful (and expensive) Louis go through life blind in one eye, or with a withered ear because we let them just "sort it out". I really think Louis' wild ancestry has made him overly-zealous in asserting himself, despite his size disadvantage (though I do recall from my wilder days that even in humans, little guys are usually the most tenacious opponents.. don't ask..) There is another path, but it requires huge patience. As I may have shown in my overly-flowery other post about walking the cats in the snow, I do love my cats. And I'm willing to take on the harder task. BLink |
#5
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"There is another path, but it requires huge patience. As I may have
shown in my overly-flowery other post about walking the cats in the snow, I do love my cats. And I'm willing to take on the harder task." Yeah. I hear you. My heart bleeds when the assertive cat bullies the less assertive one - STILL - and it's been almost two years. I will caution you, however, that there is an element of this that simply has to be worked out between the cats and sometimes (and I'm not accusing you of this - I'm simply posting it for your consideration as you go through this process), too much human interference can really delay the necessary kerfuffles and hard feelings can develop because they aren't "settling things" between them. It should be supervised, so it doesn't tilt over the edge, but I'm not sure it's completely avoidable. Good luck! |
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#7
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"Brian Link" wrote : Sorta like these deer fighting - a video I just came across today. They have sharp antlers and could easily gore each other, but instead they choose to box - a non lethal competition (though I'm sure there are a few hoof scars afterward). http://www.big-boys.com/articles/deerboxing.html They are not boxing, they are slapping ... "you little BITCH! Stay away from Buck, he's mine!" |
#8
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#9
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"Brian Link" wrote in message ... Cast of characters: bah. that's why forums like this exist, I guess. And yes, I'll be calling Meghan tomorrow. =/ BLink Yes, please call Megan. She is very knowledgeable about introducing cats -- and can also help with the question you posted concerning the amount of food that should be fed to your cat. I know you made preliminary contact with Megan some time ago. I hope you will follow through this time and really take the steps she recommends. A lot of time has been wasted, and that only makes the adjustment more difficult. MaryL |
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