Isolating Buster

"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote:
Be sure to spend a lot of time with Buster so he won't feel isolated, and
turn a radio on when you are out of the room (classical or "easy listening"
music at moderate to low volume). Leave lots of toys with him plus a
scratching post. I know how hard this is, but I'm sure it will work out if
you are careful to give Buster lots of attention and not just leave him
alone -- and I'm sure you will do that.

Oh yes, I'm spending time with him, but it's definitely hard, you
know, having to live two separate lives. Buster is always on my
mind when he's shut in his room, and it feels perfunctory when I let
him out for a little while to play with him. I can take comfort in
that it's at least better than the cage at the shelter, but it's
probably also the case that his situation is not as good as if he had
multiple slaves and playmates his age. He's a real cuddler.

"Pat" wrote:
You might also want to consider the sources of the advice you've gotten,
with particular emphasis on how many times the advisor has been through a
cat-merging process (two dozen or so times in my own case). I am seriously
afraid that the way you've chosen to proceed is going to result in you
returning one or more kitties to the shelter from whence they came (

I wouldn't return either of them, particularly as it's kitten season!
Right now, Dot needs some space, and I'll be treating her as the
resident cat.

The next stage will be setting up a screen door or some other kind of
partition between them once Dot is in a state where she's confident
and not looking anxiously over her shoulder anymore.

"jofirey" wrote:
"Sherry" wrote in message
roups.com...
Pat, Megan is right. Minor swatting/hissing/tail puffing is one thing.
But when one cat is
timid, and the other is aggressive, isolation is the only way. If he
allows Buster to
terrorize Dot, she *will* turn into a chronic hidey-cat. And worse,
the timid cat can
become so afraid of being jumped by the aggressor, they'll start
peeing/pooping behind
the couch, under the table....all places where they feel "safe". Cats
feel very vulnerable
when they're in the litterbox.
Sherry

Only thing I wonder about. Dot is already seven years old. She may already
be all of the above.

I've managed to see her true personality when she's not around Buster.
She's a confident cat that will not take rebuffs, and will boldly
barge into a room that is being vacuumed. She likes sleeping in
chairs and on top of my desk, and likes to play with her cat dancer
and occasional toys. Even when frightened, she'll come out of hiding
when she's called, and she likes being held, and will purr her loud
purr. She a curious explorer that will sleep in a new room five
minutes after she's seen it for the first time. That's the Dot that I
want to continue to see when she and Buster are integrated.

Karen wrote:

On 2007-06-17 18:28:22 -0500, Takayuki said:

Another possibility is giving Buster the upstairs, but being upstairs
and closer to the roof, it heats up just as quickly as the downstairs
miscellaneous room but doesn't have an AC unit like the misc room
does, I won't be able to hear him well from downstairs, and giving
them separate floors is really, really isolating them, so there will
be no scent transfer.

Hmm. How are they supposed to get used to each other with no scent
transer at all?


Buster is such a sweet kitty, all curled up with me. I'm so sorry
little one!

I hope you will be dividing your time between them at least? This does
sound extraordinarily isolative! My goodness. I know Megan has a lot
of good results with her knowledge but I hope that you are not over
analyzing what is going on too.

That part was just a possibility that I rejected, so Buster is in an
adjacent room now. He does cry a bit sometimes after being put back
in, but he does get his play and cuddle time too. He's a very very
good boy.

"Susan M" wrote:
"Takayuki" wrote in message
.. .
We'll do our best. I spoke with Megan over the phone today, and
I'm a bit heartbroken, but it seems that best way to do this is to
isolate Buster completely in a seldom used room.

Good luck Tak. My boys are purring up a storm for you and your new kitties
to settle into a happy household. You're such a good cat dad to put so much
thought and effort into this. Just hang in there!

Actually, instead of putting my own thought into it, I just borrowed
the brain of someone more experienced. Maybe I should have done the
Chester test before choosing a pair of cats.

Sherry wrote:
Tak, I hope you did not misunderstand what I had initially posted. The
only
way I'd *ever* "just let them work it out"....is if there was just
some minor
swatting & occasional hissing going on. With Dot being chased, that's
an entirely
different matter. I think yo're doing exactly the right thing.
And I know how bad you feel. I had to isolate Bosley for a while when
he first came. Sometimes
I would shut the doors when the others were off in the bedrooms, and
let Bosley have
the run of the house for the evening. It was kind of like playing
"musical cats".
Good luck. Don't stress.
And "Happy Father's Day", new cat-daddy!
Sherry

Oh no, you made a lot of sense. I was actually thinking of Bosley and
whether his situation was similar.

"Joy" wrote:
Each cat is different, so each experience is different. You're obviously
doing the best you can, and it's all anybody can expect.

Thank you Joy, well, I'll just have to see if this works. I sort of
luv them, you know. They're both so cute when they're sleepy and
content. I want them to someday be like this with me every day,
together:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/Takayu...pykitties.html

On Jun 18, 1:27 am, Takayuki wrote:
Sherry wrote:
Tak, I hope you did not misunderstand what I had initially posted. The
only
way I'd *ever* "just let them work it out"....is if there was just
some minor
swatting & occasional hissing going on. With Dot being chased, that's
an entirely
different matter. I think yo're doing exactly the right thing.
And I know how bad you feel. I had to isolate Bosley for a while when
he first came. Sometimes
I would shut the doors when the others were off in the bedrooms, and
let Bosley have
the run of the house for the evening. It was kind of like playing
"musical cats".
Good luck. Don't stress.
And "Happy Father's Day", new cat-daddy!
Sherry

Oh no, you made a lot of sense. I was actually thinking of Bosley and
whether his situation was similar.- Hide quoted text -

Bosley was really extreme. He was aggressive, but I think it was fear-
aggression. He would get so
agitated sometimes he would attack *me*. IIRC it look less than 3
weeks separation before he calmed down.
He's a good boy now. Megan also helped me a lot with Bosley. I had
integrated a lot of cats, but never had
one so combative as he was. Never had one that took so long to
integrate. They're all different.
I want to make a prediction, if I may! I think Dot is going to be a
very polite kitty, like Betty & Biskit. I'm very curious
about her especially, because she reminds me of Biskit. I am looking
forward to hearing about how her true personality
comes out, once she's settled in.

Sherry

On Mon, 18 Jun 2007 02:40:52 -0400, Takayuki
yodeled:

"Joy" wrote:
Each cat is different, so each experience is different. You're obviously
doing the best you can, and it's all anybody can expect.

Thank you Joy, well, I'll just have to see if this works. I sort of
luv them, you know. They're both so cute when they're sleepy and
content. I want them to someday be like this with me every day,
together:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/Takayu...pykitties.html



Awwwwwwwww melt

I'd say if each of them can relax like that, you're in pretty good
shape.

Theresa
Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh

Make Levees, Not War

On 2007-06-18 01:20:12 -0500, Takayuki said:

"jofirey" wrote:
"Sherry" wrote in message
oups.com...
Pat, Megan is right. Minor swatting/hissing/tail puffing is one thing.
But when one cat is
timid, and the other is aggressive, isolation is the only way. If he
allows Buster to
terrorize Dot, she *will* turn into a chronic hidey-cat. And worse,
the timid cat can
become so afraid of being jumped by the aggressor, they'll start
peeing/pooping behind
the couch, under the table....all places where they feel "safe". Cats
feel very vulnerable
when they're in the litterbox.
Sherry

Only thing I wonder about. Dot is already seven years old. She may
already be all of the above.

I've managed to see her true personality when she's not around Buster.
She's a confident cat that will not take rebuffs, and will boldly
barge into a room that is being vacuumed. She likes sleeping in
chairs and on top of my desk, and likes to play with her cat dancer
and occasional toys. Even when frightened, she'll come out of hiding
when she's called, and she likes being held, and will purr her loud
purr. She a curious explorer that will sleep in a new room five
minutes after she's seen it for the first time. That's the Dot that I
want to continue to see when she and Buster are integrated.

You will! You will! I have confidence.