Isolating Buster

On 2007-06-18 01:23:06 -0500, Takayuki said:

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.

And remember, they really do sleep a good bit of the day anyway! I

"Takayuki" wrote in message
...
"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.


I definitely know that feeling from Duffy, but it was well worth it. I had
Duffy in a separate bedroom (the guest bedroom), and I would alternate
sleeping in my own bedroom with Holly and the guest bedroom with Duffy. I
don't know if you could fix up anything like that as a temporary measure,
but it would be worth considering. I also was careful to praise *each* cat
*extravagently* when I entered or left the room because I did not want
either to feel neglected. Also, turn a radio on in Buster's room when you
are not there to give him the feeling of some companionship.

MaryL

On Jun 18, 1:14?am, Takayuki wrote:
"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.



This sounds like a sensible plan. Hang in there. Call me if you need
to talk.

Suz&Spicey

"Takayuki" wrote in message
...
"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.

Just remember that cats spend 18 - 20 out of every 24 hours sleeping, so
he's probably not missing you *quite* as much as you imagine! ;

Hugs,

CatNipped

Takayuki wrote:
"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote:
Good luck with all this, but please try not to lost patience - either with
yourself or with the situation - after such a brief period of time. Give it
some time, lavish attention on both of them, and it *will* work out. Believe
me, I have had experience both with the consequences of trying to move too
quickly and with the wonderful results of a "take your time" approach.

MaryL

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.

I know that the majority opinion here has been to just give them free
run of the house and let them work it out themselves, and I'm sure
that in many cases, it works - many happy kitty families here attest
to that. But because of Dot and Buster's personality clash, there is
the danger that Dot will become a perpetually hidey-cat, and she's the
much less settled of the two.

So what I'm going to have to do is to give Dot free run of the current
main living areas - kitchen, living room, and den. Buster will be
confined to a room that currently has miscellaneous junk and exercise
equipment in it - I'll clean it up and make it livable for him. He
may have to be there for weeks, certainly at least several days.
Because of the way the closet there is installed, I think I can set up
a little glass vestibule there to thwart escape attempts, too.

One of my concerns about that room is that when it's closed off, it
can get very hot, because it's part of a single floor extension (as is
the den). The room that really maintains its temperature well is the
living room, because it's sandwiched below the second floors. Rooms
isolated from that room heat up quickly.

So I've turned on outdoor air circulation in that room, and installed
a USB thermometer to send temperature updates from the room to my
computer. It's still a bit stuffy in there right now - 76.2 F / 24.6
C. Maybe that's just me - I hate temperatures above 70 F but I
know that kitties like it a bit warmer than Takayuki of the North.

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.

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

I know that this plan is different from what many of you recommended,
but I *do* certainly appreciate everyone's advice very much - I did
read and listen, and I did consider all the arguments as carefully as
I could. I know it might not turn out to be the right decision - this
is the first time I've introduced two cats, so it's all still new to
me.

Hang in there, Tak. I've been there, in both situations (toss 'em in
and let 'em figure it out, and separate them in an isolated room). It's
been mixed results, but both approaches have sometimes worked out really
well.

Can Dot and Buster put their paws underneath the door of the extra room?
Several of my kitties who have been isolated for a time have found
that paws stuck under the door are very much fun to play with (I call it
playing "pawsies").

Make sure you give Buster a nice amount of time together with you to
reassure him that he is loved. Cats tend to be pretty resilient, and I
don't think he will hold it against you. Cats forget a lot, too, so
heck, he probably won't even rememeber ;-)

Best of luck to you.

Ginger-lyn

Suz wrote:
This sounds like a sensible plan. Hang in there. Call me if you need
to talk.

Suz&Spicey

Thank you Suz, I may do just that. Maybe you can talk some sense into
them.

Ginger-lyn wrote:
Hang in there, Tak. I've been there, in both situations (toss 'em in
and let 'em figure it out, and separate them in an isolated room). It's
been mixed results, but both approaches have sometimes worked out really
well.

Can Dot and Buster put their paws underneath the door of the extra room?
Several of my kitties who have been isolated for a time have found
that paws stuck under the door are very much fun to play with (I call it
playing "pawsies").

Make sure you give Buster a nice amount of time together with you to
reassure him that he is loved. Cats tend to be pretty resilient, and I
don't think he will hold it against you. Cats forget a lot, too, so
heck, he probably won't even rememeber ;-)

Right now, they never see each other at all, and can't play pattycake
with each other. I'll try to set up something like that maybe around
the weekend, depending on how things go. Buster does get out to get
his laptime and playtime. I find myself thinking about him a lot,
wondering if he's lonely.

On Tue, 19 Jun 2007 02:35:21 -0400, Takayuki
wrote:

Ginger-lyn wrote:
Hang in there, Tak. I've been there, in both situations (toss 'em in
and let 'em figure it out, and separate them in an isolated room). It's
been mixed results, but both approaches have sometimes worked out really
well.

Can Dot and Buster put their paws underneath the door of the extra room?
Several of my kitties who have been isolated for a time have found
that paws stuck under the door are very much fun to play with (I call it
playing "pawsies").

Make sure you give Buster a nice amount of time together with you to
reassure him that he is loved. Cats tend to be pretty resilient, and I
don't think he will hold it against you. Cats forget a lot, too, so
heck, he probably won't even rememeber ;-)

Right now, they never see each other at all, and can't play pattycake
with each other. I'll try to set up something like that maybe around
the weekend, depending on how things go. Buster does get out to get
his laptime and playtime. I find myself thinking about him a lot,
wondering if he's lonely.

Hi Tak,

I saw an "instant screen door" at our local pharmacy, and thought it
might work for you. Here is a link to a site that has it for sale:
http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages...reen_door.html

Good luck with the integration!
Patti
PS: I have always done the "Hi, he's here, there you go!" type of
integration - they usually sort it out in a few days.

On Jun 19, 1:30?am, Takayuki wrote:
Suz wrote:
This sounds like a sensible plan. Hang in there. Call me if you need
to talk.

Suz&Spicey

Thank you Suz, I may do just that. Maybe you can talk some sense into
them.

LOL, cats, sense? I'm not a miracle worker

Suz&Spicey