Introducing a temporary cat

[realisticphish]

I have a 3-4yo male DSH (he was a stray when I got him ~1yo). My sister has a 2yo female DSH that I have been roped into keeping for a few months until she finds an apartment where she will be attending grad school.

I have lived at my current apartment for over a year, and I was very worried about territorial issues; my cat had never been around other cats at all, though he had lived, if not happily, at least civilly with a dog. In fact, he has not shown a single hostile sign to my sister's cat. No growls or hisses, ears are at normal tilt, the only time he did anything but sit quietly and watch her was when stalking her, then pouncing about a foot away from her, the same as he did to the husky he used to live with when he wanted to play. I suppose this makes sense; he's a big older male, in his own territory; a small female isn't a big threat to him.

The problem is her. She growls and hisses whenever she sees him; always defensive, never showing signs of attack, but still hostile. Obviously she is very traumatized by all the moves; she has remained in an unused bedroom for most of the time she has been here, and I've set up her own litter box and food/water station in there. She's even ok with the door open, but if my cat comes within eyesight, she retreats to a sleeping bag she likes to curl up under. She's affectionate (sort of) and I try to spend at least a half hour a day just petting her and playing with her, and she has warmed up to me.

My question is whether I should even bother trying to get them to socialize. It may be that she will learn to tolerate him; it's only been about a week. But if she doesn't improve on her own, is it even worth worrying about? No one's getting hurt, and she seems happy enough as long as she can't see my cat. For his part, he leaves her pretty much alone, only venturing into her room occasionally to play with a toy, or just to prowl. And he retreats fairly quickly if she hisses.

Just wondering if anyone had some opinions on this

[ceile]

1. They're fine.

She'll come around in time- like you said it's only been a week. As long as there's no serious fighting everything should work itself out in another week or so. Sounds like your male is super mellow and adapts to change easily.

[spooky3]

2. I think you're doing everything right. Let her decide when she wants to venture out.

He's a good boy to back off when she warns him she's feeling threatened. I think she's going to do better over time. Remember that not only is she having to adapt to a new home, and a new cat, she may be "thinking" that she has lost your sister.

I have had fosters that make themselves right at home immediately, often when escaping a cage, neglect, etc. But others take much longer to adapt, even in a few cases where the situation they were coming from was much less loving than the situation your sister had provided to her cat. Hang in there!

[badgerpup]

3. This phrase struck me...

...she may be "thinking" that she has lost your sister.

Does your sister have a piece of clothing she can spare?
Something she'd be willing to sleep in, sweat in, wear until it's REALLY funky...and then give it to her kitty for reassurance so she knows she's NOT 'abandoned'?

We did this with my ex-sig other's cats when he had to spend weeks and weeks in hospital. He preferred to wear tank tops instead of hospital gowns...and I'd take the dirty shirts home for the kitties to cuddle in before washing so they knew their 'Daddy' was OK and they hadn't been deserted.

I'd call his hospital room and put him on the speaker phone too...tell him 'just talk to them, tell them about your day, what you had for lunch...anything so they can hear your voice."
They'd jump up by the speakers and rub against them while he was talking.

[realisticphish]

4. she has several blankets

that smell (i assume) like my sister, her roommate, and her roommate's cat.

as an aside, she ventured downstairs on her own today. only for about 10 minutes, but still, she was out and about. She still hates Iago, though. I'm not sure she'll ever warm up to him, but I'm glad to see her moving around

[Warpy]

5. I assembled a broom, a blanket and a pitcher of water

when I finally introduced two cats to each other instead of leaving one protected by a carrier.

I used all three.

What you're seeing is absolutely nothing. You've got a freaked out kitty who has lost her home turf. Cats are much more attached to their territory than they are to the humans they share it with, although they do recognize their special humans and prefer them.

Leave those two alone. She's not doing anything but posturing to defend what little the poor thing has left. You can't pet her enough at this stage, although you can't ignore your main buddy, either.

They might sort things out to a point of mutual toleration, they might not. Friendship between two adult cats often takes years. It did for mine, although tolerance was established within a couple of weeks after that first introduction. They'd still take half hearted swipes at each other from time to time, never connecting.

After all, if they get attached, it's going to mean another loss for your sister's poor little kitty. Tolerance is the best you should hope for at this point. If all you get is hissing and posturing, that's actually a good thing, too.

[Hawkowl]

6. Have you tried pheromones?

Whenever I'm introducing cats to a new home or new cats I use a pheromone diffuser that you plug into the wall. It's kind of like an air freshener except it's putting out facial feline pheromones. It seems to work really well at reducing stress behaviors of the cats.