What Can I Do To Help This Cat?

Cheryl,



No one is disputing Megan's' knowledge of cats. It's the way in which she
disrespectfully disagrees with others opinions. There are ways that one can
respectfully disagree, and offer advice on the topic.

Cheryl,



No one is disputing Megan's' knowledge of cats. It's the way in which she
disrespectfully disagrees with others opinions. There are ways that one can
respectfully disagree, and offer advice on the topic.

Iso wrote:

Yea, Megan is back!

Um...I never left.

Everyone lets gather
around in a circle so Megan can tell us
about feline anatomy, physiology, and
psychology. Megan thanks for responding
to my post. I admit, I am not a vet, nor
am I an animal psychologist. I'm not at
Veterinary Tech, nor do I run a shelter.
My post comes from my experiences that I
have dealt with regarding feline
troubles.

But what you fail to do is take into account the experiences and
personalities of the cats involved. That can completely change the
outcome of a situation and can make things worse, not better, if not
taken into consideration when devising a plan. There are also general
principles that apply when dealing with behavior issues and one of the
first rules is to *always* proceed in a way that inflicts the *least*
amount of stress on the cats involved. You seem to regularly ignore the
above, which is why I have a problem with the "advice" you dispense.

Since you are undoubtedly
double my age, and have owned and or
fostered more cats than I have ever had,

Age has nothing to do with it and experience is far more important. I've
posted before about that and don't feel a need to revisit it here.

your ultimate wisdom is always welcome.

But are you capable of learning from it and applying it in a way that
will benefit cats?

I don't know why you dissected my
previous post.

I made it very clear why I did so.

How do you think these
animals would deal with the situation if
they were outdoors, by themselves?

Since that scenario has absolutely nothing to do with the current
situation it has no bearing.

Do
you actually think that the new cat
would tolerate being jumped on, and
abused? I beg to differ.

Differ from what? I have never said the new cat would or should tolerate
being jumped on and am totally against that being allowed to happen.
IMO, the OP made a very poor choice in adopting this cat and failed to
take into account her current cat's personality and habits, which are
definitely NOT compatible with the much smaller size, personality and
previous experience of the new cat. A better match would have been a
mellow male a bit larger than her current cat that had experience living
in a multi cat household.

Yeah, I may
have been a bit dramatic when I said,
"let them go at it;" but eventually it
will happen.

Yes, but you were not clear about that and that was a mistake. Also,
issues between the cats can be minimized if one is careful and takes
time to slowly introduce, then integrate the cats. Allowing the cats to
just "go at it" does nothing to positively promote a good relationship
between cats being introduced to one another, and often will ruin any
chance of a good outcome.

You of all people have to
agree that you cannot force cats to like
each other, especially in this
situation, with a resident alpha male.
Some will live with a newcomer easily,
others will never relate, or they may
just manage to live alongside each other
in an uneasy truce - you can only try.

Yes, but that also means taking time and great care to minimize any
stress and forsee problems and address them before chaos ensues.

However, if there is no competition for
food or safe sleeping places (as in most
good homes, like yours) then cats will
accept each other eventually and some
will even seem to form close bonds with
one another.

That is the goal.

I know that you are really
touchy regarding cats, and there isn't
anything wrong with that.

I get touchy when people post bad advice that creates unnecessary stress
and trauma for cats.

You are truly
a piece of work. The only point that I
am gesturing, is that the sooner you
treat the situation as though they are
little animals instead of little humans,
the better off everyone will be.

Not by allowing the cats to "go at it."

But,
anyway Megan, thanks for the reply. I
have missed you and your Edmund Burke
and W.H. Murray quotes.

You're welcome. :-)

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

Iso wrote:

Yea, Megan is back!

Um...I never left.

Everyone lets gather
around in a circle so Megan can tell us
about feline anatomy, physiology, and
psychology. Megan thanks for responding
to my post. I admit, I am not a vet, nor
am I an animal psychologist. I'm not at
Veterinary Tech, nor do I run a shelter.
My post comes from my experiences that I
have dealt with regarding feline
troubles.

But what you fail to do is take into account the experiences and
personalities of the cats involved. That can completely change the
outcome of a situation and can make things worse, not better, if not
taken into consideration when devising a plan. There are also general
principles that apply when dealing with behavior issues and one of the
first rules is to *always* proceed in a way that inflicts the *least*
amount of stress on the cats involved. You seem to regularly ignore the
above, which is why I have a problem with the "advice" you dispense.

Since you are undoubtedly
double my age, and have owned and or
fostered more cats than I have ever had,

Age has nothing to do with it and experience is far more important. I've
posted before about that and don't feel a need to revisit it here.

your ultimate wisdom is always welcome.

But are you capable of learning from it and applying it in a way that
will benefit cats?

I don't know why you dissected my
previous post.

I made it very clear why I did so.

How do you think these
animals would deal with the situation if
they were outdoors, by themselves?

Since that scenario has absolutely nothing to do with the current
situation it has no bearing.

Do
you actually think that the new cat
would tolerate being jumped on, and
abused? I beg to differ.

Differ from what? I have never said the new cat would or should tolerate
being jumped on and am totally against that being allowed to happen.
IMO, the OP made a very poor choice in adopting this cat and failed to
take into account her current cat's personality and habits, which are
definitely NOT compatible with the much smaller size, personality and
previous experience of the new cat. A better match would have been a
mellow male a bit larger than her current cat that had experience living
in a multi cat household.

Yeah, I may
have been a bit dramatic when I said,
"let them go at it;" but eventually it
will happen.

Yes, but you were not clear about that and that was a mistake. Also,
issues between the cats can be minimized if one is careful and takes
time to slowly introduce, then integrate the cats. Allowing the cats to
just "go at it" does nothing to positively promote a good relationship
between cats being introduced to one another, and often will ruin any
chance of a good outcome.

You of all people have to
agree that you cannot force cats to like
each other, especially in this
situation, with a resident alpha male.
Some will live with a newcomer easily,
others will never relate, or they may
just manage to live alongside each other
in an uneasy truce - you can only try.

Yes, but that also means taking time and great care to minimize any
stress and forsee problems and address them before chaos ensues.

However, if there is no competition for
food or safe sleeping places (as in most
good homes, like yours) then cats will
accept each other eventually and some
will even seem to form close bonds with
one another.

That is the goal.

I know that you are really
touchy regarding cats, and there isn't
anything wrong with that.

I get touchy when people post bad advice that creates unnecessary stress
and trauma for cats.

You are truly
a piece of work. The only point that I
am gesturing, is that the sooner you
treat the situation as though they are
little animals instead of little humans,
the better off everyone will be.

Not by allowing the cats to "go at it."

But,
anyway Megan, thanks for the reply. I
have missed you and your Edmund Burke
and W.H. Murray quotes.

You're welcome. :-)

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

Iso wrote:

Yea, Megan is back!

Um...I never left.

Everyone lets gather
around in a circle so Megan can tell us
about feline anatomy, physiology, and
psychology. Megan thanks for responding
to my post. I admit, I am not a vet, nor
am I an animal psychologist. I'm not at
Veterinary Tech, nor do I run a shelter.
My post comes from my experiences that I
have dealt with regarding feline
troubles.

But what you fail to do is take into account the experiences and
personalities of the cats involved. That can completely change the
outcome of a situation and can make things worse, not better, if not
taken into consideration when devising a plan. There are also general
principles that apply when dealing with behavior issues and one of the
first rules is to *always* proceed in a way that inflicts the *least*
amount of stress on the cats involved. You seem to regularly ignore the
above, which is why I have a problem with the "advice" you dispense.

Since you are undoubtedly
double my age, and have owned and or
fostered more cats than I have ever had,

Age has nothing to do with it and experience is far more important. I've
posted before about that and don't feel a need to revisit it here.

your ultimate wisdom is always welcome.

But are you capable of learning from it and applying it in a way that
will benefit cats?

I don't know why you dissected my
previous post.

I made it very clear why I did so.

How do you think these
animals would deal with the situation if
they were outdoors, by themselves?

Since that scenario has absolutely nothing to do with the current
situation it has no bearing.

Do
you actually think that the new cat
would tolerate being jumped on, and
abused? I beg to differ.

Differ from what? I have never said the new cat would or should tolerate
being jumped on and am totally against that being allowed to happen.
IMO, the OP made a very poor choice in adopting this cat and failed to
take into account her current cat's personality and habits, which are
definitely NOT compatible with the much smaller size, personality and
previous experience of the new cat. A better match would have been a
mellow male a bit larger than her current cat that had experience living
in a multi cat household.

Yeah, I may
have been a bit dramatic when I said,
"let them go at it;" but eventually it
will happen.

Yes, but you were not clear about that and that was a mistake. Also,
issues between the cats can be minimized if one is careful and takes
time to slowly introduce, then integrate the cats. Allowing the cats to
just "go at it" does nothing to positively promote a good relationship
between cats being introduced to one another, and often will ruin any
chance of a good outcome.

You of all people have to
agree that you cannot force cats to like
each other, especially in this
situation, with a resident alpha male.
Some will live with a newcomer easily,
others will never relate, or they may
just manage to live alongside each other
in an uneasy truce - you can only try.

Yes, but that also means taking time and great care to minimize any
stress and forsee problems and address them before chaos ensues.

However, if there is no competition for
food or safe sleeping places (as in most
good homes, like yours) then cats will
accept each other eventually and some
will even seem to form close bonds with
one another.

That is the goal.

I know that you are really
touchy regarding cats, and there isn't
anything wrong with that.

I get touchy when people post bad advice that creates unnecessary stress
and trauma for cats.

You are truly
a piece of work. The only point that I
am gesturing, is that the sooner you
treat the situation as though they are
little animals instead of little humans,
the better off everyone will be.

Not by allowing the cats to "go at it."

But,
anyway Megan, thanks for the reply. I
have missed you and your Edmund Burke
and W.H. Murray quotes.

You're welcome. :-)

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

Alison,

I agree with you to an extent. As I have already said, you cannot force cats
to like each other, especially in this situation, with a 10 year old
resident alpha male.

Again, the cat is *not* ten years old. It is four. The other cat is five. You
keep offering advice and referring to them as elderly or middle-aged cats, and
they aren't. But the point I wanted to make is, I think you are very wrong
about such an abrupt introduction. Being treated for an abscess (which *is* a
possibility) isn't the biggest problem. It's the stress you're putting on both
cats.

Sherry

Alison,

I agree with you to an extent. As I have already said, you cannot force cats
to like each other, especially in this situation, with a 10 year old
resident alpha male.

Again, the cat is *not* ten years old. It is four. The other cat is five. You
keep offering advice and referring to them as elderly or middle-aged cats, and
they aren't. But the point I wanted to make is, I think you are very wrong
about such an abrupt introduction. Being treated for an abscess (which *is* a
possibility) isn't the biggest problem. It's the stress you're putting on both
cats.

Sherry

Alison,

I agree with you to an extent. As I have already said, you cannot force cats
to like each other, especially in this situation, with a 10 year old
resident alpha male.

Again, the cat is *not* ten years old. It is four. The other cat is five. You
keep offering advice and referring to them as elderly or middle-aged cats, and
they aren't. But the point I wanted to make is, I think you are very wrong
about such an abrupt introduction. Being treated for an abscess (which *is* a
possibility) isn't the biggest problem. It's the stress you're putting on both
cats.

Sherry

Sherry,



The point I am stressing is that I believe this is a wrong move on the
posters behalf. If she had more living space, this territory problem may
rarely occur. Needless to say, the fighting will be inevitable. My opinion,
it was a bad move on the originals posters part for trying to force another
relationship. What I post as advice is my personal experience with cats; it'
s not for everyone. I have always introduced a new cat bluntly, without any
problems. Yeah, there have been fights, but the majority of the time the
cats end up staring each other down and hissing, once they know there isn't
anywhere to retreat. The slow introduction doesn't always work out the way
it should.

Sherry,



The point I am stressing is that I believe this is a wrong move on the
posters behalf. If she had more living space, this territory problem may
rarely occur. Needless to say, the fighting will be inevitable. My opinion,
it was a bad move on the originals posters part for trying to force another
relationship. What I post as advice is my personal experience with cats; it'
s not for everyone. I have always introduced a new cat bluntly, without any
problems. Yeah, there have been fights, but the majority of the time the
cats end up staring each other down and hissing, once they know there isn't
anywhere to retreat. The slow introduction doesn't always work out the way
it should.