'old' cat fearful of new cat - advice please!

louisdog

Omigod she's so cuuute! She looks all innocent too, I just can't believe she would even dream of running and barking at a cat

When ours were little my two Birman kittens used to hang off my poor Cavalier King Charles ears! The game would begin when the puppy chased the kittens and wrestled them to the ground though so it did serve him right! They used to curl up and sleep together when they had tired themselves out.

At least your puppy won't need to worry about that as her ears aren't long enough to be hung onto (hopefully!)

mariauk

It will probably be the other way round. My other 2 cats (a few years back now) taught my then new puppies how to behave. They would never bark at anyone, only swipe at their ankles and try and jump on their laps (these were German Shepherd crosses) I`m sure they really convinced themselves they were feline :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Apologies to the OP for taking over your thread , I`m sure your new addition will be fine and your "old" cat will gain the confidence to show him who is boss ( You know it`s always the woman that wear the trousers really )

HelzBelz

Hi joggyb

How are they getting along? has WW3 broken out yet?

joggyb

Hi Helzbelz (and anybody else who might be interested!)

Thanks for asking...

I'm happy to report that things have been going pretty well - touch wood - since my last post. I'm not sure that the cats will ever be best buddies, but they seem perfectly able to tolerate each other, and apart from the occasional spat or flurry of furry limbs, there's little sign of hostility.

Norman is still the instigator of 'trouble', such as it is, but our older cat seems to put up with it quite well, and is certainly no longer scared of him. She tends to stay out of his way for the most part, but isn't unduly bothered when he's around - even when he sniffs her bottom (something she hated to start with, but seems to have got used to now)! They eat together in the kitchen (and have done for the past couple of weeks), and both their litter trays are in the kitchen, too. Makes our lives a whole lot easier! :j

Things we learnt along the way (in case they might be of use to anyone thinking of getting another cat):

- rubbing Norman's scent around the house (using cotton gloves you can buy from Boots) really seemed to help in the days when he was still in the kitchen. It allowed our other cat the chance to get used to his smell without having the threat of him around

- keeping them apart for the first few days definitely helped. By the time they got to meet each other properly, they were ready for it and familiar with each other's smells. Practically speaking, it's a bit more work for a short while, but we thought the end result was worth it

- we placed our older cat's food bowl nearer and nearer the kitchen as the days went past (her stuff was put in the living room when Norman arrived). She grew more and more confident as time went by, and again, by the time they met, was pretty much ready to have her bowl and litter tray put back in the kitchen

- getting them to accept treats at the same time from a very short distance apart seemed to help break down any lingering wariness

- plenty of toys each and roughly equal amounts of attention was good for everyone! By the same token, Norman did start getting a little possessive of us at one stage, so we were advised to be a little distant from him + not to be so involved with him when he did this. Again, it seemed to work and calm him down. He's a very demonstrative, appealing, and attention-seeking cat, so it's not easy, but it's only fair on both of them

-we were also told not to intervene in any spats, but to let them work things out for themselves. Having said that, we were also advised to have a pillow or cushion to hand to place between them if things got vicious. :eek: Again, touch wood, we've not needed to do this yet!

I'm sure there's more things we picked up, too - but I hope this helps someone in the meantime.

On a final note - we're really pleased we stuck with it. We now have 2 great cats whose characters complement each other really well, and we love them both to bits! :j :j :j