Topic: Adding a Third Cat ~ Progress seems to have come to a stand still (Read 16763 times)

HaneyHarperIndyMum (Val) · « **Reply #43 on:** September 06, 2008, 19:38:12 PM »

Gill I am so excited about Indy coming downstairs. I was doing a happy dance all over the place!

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #42 on:** September 06, 2008, 19:26:25 PM »

Thats great

HaneyHarperIndyMum (Val) · « **Reply #41 on:** September 06, 2008, 19:13:31 PM »

Look who got brave enough to venture downstairs! Indy just laid down at the foot of the stairway when she saw Hunter already laying in the hallway. They did not come any closer to each other but I thought that this was a big step for Indy. She only stayed there for about 8 minutes and then retreated back to her safe room upstairs.

Top Cat, intolerant Haney, was outside in the garden so Indy was safe from him attacking her. I sure will be glad when he accepts her.

Sorry the picture is a bit dark, but you can see Indy seems quite relaxed at the foot of the stairs. I was thrilled.

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #40 on:** September 05, 2008, 23:44:21 PM »

I think it is love from Frantas side cos he also will sit watching her for hours but from her side..........well its an intrusion of privacy

HaneyHarperIndyMum (Val) · « **Reply #39 on:** September 05, 2008, 23:41:32 PM »

Quote from: Gill (sneakiefeline) on September 05, 2008, 22:59:53 PM

he blooming sticks his face and paws in her tummy fur and thats that for weeks!

That almost sounds kind of like love! lol

How cute you describe it!

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #38 on:** September 05, 2008, 22:59:53 PM »

Oh yes it makes sense and I understand completely but ypou have to be patient

Franta and Sasa do not get on but tolerate each other if Franta would just behave but he really likes Sasa grrrrrrrrrr. Every thing is fine till she decides he is getting to much to cope with and then rolls on her back to show she will not fight and what does he do...............................he blooming sticks his face and paws in her tummy fur and thats that for weeks!

HaneyHarperIndyMum (Val) · « **Reply #37 on:** September 05, 2008, 22:47:01 PM »

Thank you Gill and caledonia. Gosh I sure hope it does not take two months. The hardest part for me now is just that I want Indy to be a happy cat and I know she is not happy being stuck in that bedroom. I really wish Top Cat Haney would be more cooperative. They don't even have to be friends, I really don't expect anything more, even if its just that Haney and Indy could learn to tolerate/avoid each other. I would be a happy woman just to get them to that point. Does that make sense?

caledonia · « **Reply #36 on:** September 05, 2008, 20:21:02 PM »

As everyone has said - 12 days is nothing. My fried just introduced a fourth Persian to her lot about two months ago. Like you - there was an incident where her 'top' cat attacked the newcomer to the point he wet himself with fright the poor babe. She continued to stalk him and they had to make sure they were in sperate rooms. Now Matilda still stalks him from time to time but he has hit it off with the other two brilliantly and they play together and she was just saying at work on Thursday she is glad she stuck with it as now there are no issses - that took two months - it can take longer.

All of them are gorgeous -

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #35 on:** September 05, 2008, 19:18:18 PM »

i love indy

yes its slow slow slowwwwwwwwwwwwwww and 12 days is nothing

i remember trying to get the birmans settled......well they settled straight away but not the resident two. franta birman used to dig the carpet up behind the door and both used to howl to be let out. they were only happy when shut in the bedroom.

HaneyHarperIndyMum (Val) · « **Reply #34 on:** September 05, 2008, 17:24:31 PM »

Thanks tiga & 925dancer.

Chilli sounds much like my first boy Hunter. He is such a passive sweet cat and I have never seen him be anything but nice to any of my other pets. I know that 12 days is only a short time but it feels like a month already. lol All the scent transferring and bed switching and keeping them separate is wearing me out.

I'm trying so hard to be patient and take baby steps. I really do need to hear from you guys that I need not worry and don't rush it. What is that saying...."That only FOOLS rush in"! I don't want to be fool!

Feline Costumier · « **Reply #33 on:** September 05, 2008, 17:07:21 PM »

Don't worry, 12 days is nothing! Sounds like it is going well in all other respects and only Haney is still being a bit tough. It just takes time and patience.

I'm about a month in with Dave and Chilli, Chilli being the resident, Dave the new kitten and today was the first day Chilli returned to our traditional morning smooch before I got up. It is only in the last week that they have started playing nicely together. That's with Chilli being a very laid back, friendly cat who does like other cats.

Indy is absolutely stunning.

tiga · « **Reply #32 on:** September 05, 2008, 16:00:58 PM »

Hopefully with Indy in the house, Haney will gradually see her as part of the family, especially as her scent gets spread around. She will seem less like an intruder now that she is in the house proper.

Indy looks lovely.

HaneyHarperIndyMum (Val) · « **Reply #31 on:** September 05, 2008, 15:43:44 PM »

Well, still no progress with the intros with resident cat Haney and new comer Indy. Haney still is quite upset that Indy is even here. If he could he would rip her to shreds, so Indy is having to stay in her safe room most of the day. Even when I put Haney behind closed doors and allow Indy to come out to explore the rest of the house, she would rather not. She really has taken to hiding underneath the bed for most of the day and I always feel quite lucky when I come into the room and find her on top of the bed. She is a timid nervous cat. I was hoping that Haney would have been more tolerate of her by now but still he is clearly not.

On the good news side, Indy is doing very well with my other cat, Hunter and my two Chihuahua's Ruby and Pearl. Indy does not mind at all if they are in the room with her and will even let Pearl lay down next to her without moving away.

I wonder why Haney is being so difficult? This is now day 12.

HaneyHarperIndyMum (Val) · « **Reply #30 on:** September 02, 2008, 19:52:37 PM »

Yes, I am really pleased. Haney is going to be much more difficult I'm afraid. I've already got my mind set on this taking weeks and weeks for him to tolerate Indy.

I let Indy out of her safe room just a bit ago and she was brave enough to come part way down the stairs....of course I coaxed her into it with ribbon play, but it worked!

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #29 on:** September 02, 2008, 17:38:30 PM »

going quite well then

HaneyHarperIndyMum (Val) · « **Reply #28 on:** September 02, 2008, 17:35:58 PM »

Indy has now been living here 10 days.

I decided to move Indy inside the house from the garage since she seems to be using her litter box just fine. So far no sign of her spraying like my daughter in-law said she would. I'm happy with Indy so far. I now have Indy in a spare bedroom and have set it up as her new "safe room". I have the door cracked open about 2 inches and have her feed dishes near the door. My passive resident cat Hunter, has been so good. He is now able to go into the safe room with me for short visits and there has been no fighting incidents except a little bit of hissing out of Indy. Hunter remains passive and polite. The two do not really interact with each other yet, just observe one another.

My other resident cat Haney, is a far cry from being passive toward Indy. I know it will be at least another week or two and maybe longer before Haney will be ready to accept her or at least be tolerant of her presence. I have no doubt that Haney would attack her with vengeance. So this will be a very slow process. At least now with having Indy inside the house, it makes it so much easier for me to switch rooms and place Haney in the safe room so they can get scent transfer and then let Indy out to explore the rest of the house.

Indy is getting along rather well with my two Chihuahua's too. In fact she and Pearl, my tiny girl of 6 pounds are almost buddies! lol

HaneyHarperIndyMum (Val) · « **Reply #27 on:** September 01, 2008, 15:46:07 PM »

Yes, it did go well but today when I let resident Hunter come into the same room with Indy, Hunter pee'd in Indy's litter box. Indy watch him do it and then she started hissing and growling at him! I think she was mad that he used her litter box? Do you think? Hunter hissed back at her but backed away and then sat far away from her. What was that all about?

Dawn F · « **Reply #26 on:** September 01, 2008, 09:48:31 AM »

sounds like its going well!

HaneyHarperIndyMum (Val) · « **Reply #25 on:** August 31, 2008, 16:16:16 PM »

Thanks everyone.

Good news! Late yesterday I decided to let my passive residential cat, Hunter meet Indy for the first time in the same room. It went really well. Hunter could care less that Indy was even there. Neither one of them made any attempt to get close but Indy did feel comfortable enough to eat some wet food with Hunter sitting just a few feet away from her. Hunter just watched her and was very polite. After Indy finished eating she walked away from the food dish and then Hunter came up to it so he could lick up her leftovers. At that point Indy came back up to the food dish and saw Hunter there so she hissed at him and he softly hissed back but stayed at the food dish, Indy turned her back and walked away.

I stayed with them in the room together for about 10 minutes but they had no further interaction. I then removed Indy back into the garage. Their meeting was very uneventful and each acted as if they could care less about the other. I am going to continue letting them in the same room for short periods over the next few days. Oh, and the day before I let Indy meet my two little Chihuahua's and that went even better. You would have thought Indy had been here the whole time.

My other residential top cat, Haney, is still showing to much aggression toward Indy. It will be quite a while before I allow Haney to be with Indy the same room. I have no doubt that he will attack her.

I keep telling my self....nice and slow with Haney.

Yvonne · « **Reply #24 on:** August 30, 2008, 23:51:28 PM »

Just wanted to wish you good luck and so far I think you are doing everything right.

Cannot really offer much advice on introductions because I have always been fairly lucky up to now, I just tend to let them meet each other straight off and apart from a bit of back arching by the kittens I have not had any problem. However, that will probably be quite different with an older cat.

I hope that your son and daughter in law can sort out their differences - wish them good luck as well.

Sam (Fussy_Furball) · « **Reply #23 on:** August 30, 2008, 23:16:14 PM »

Not sure how I missed this thread before now ... just wanted to say Indy is

. Can't really offer any more advice to that already given by the others.

Sending Indy lots of get well soon vibes and hope they all settle down soon.

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #22 on:** August 30, 2008, 23:06:41 PM »

Hope Indy will be Ok , I am sure she will be

I would think about what your vet said about feeding them together rather too soon I think, cos I have cats who still will not feed together after 3 years and they do not focus on the food only the other cats, I am afraid.

I think you need to watch the situation and adjust the timescale depending on how they all behave.

HaneyHarperIndyMum (Val) · « **Reply #21 on:** August 30, 2008, 16:47:29 PM »

Thank you Gill and Ruth.

Yesterday I had to take Indy to see my vet. A couple of days ago noticed her right eye was watery. Then by the next night her eye was completely swollen shut. My vet numbed her eye so he could get a good swabbing underneath her third eyelid. He found nothing foreign in her eye and flushed it really well. He also used florescent corneal stain drops in her eye and used a black light to check if her cornea was scratched. Again, found nothing. My vet thinks that she has the early stage of an eye infection so he gave her a antibiotic jab as well as an anti-inflammatory jab. I now have to put ointment in her eye for the next 7 days and also give her Clavamox antibiotic for 7 days. Her eye looks so much better today.

I decided to go ahead and have blood tests done on Indy just to make sure she is truly a healthy cat. I found out from my daughter in-law (who was Indy's care taker) that the only vaccines that Indy ever received were when she was a 7 week old kitten living in the cattery. Indy has never had any boosters nor rabies shot, which is mandatory for pets in the USA. This all worried me especially since Indy has been strictly an OUTDOOR cat for the last 3 years and could have been exposed to all sorts of nasty things. My vet will be calling me today with the blood test results. He said to bring Indy back in 7 days for a recheck and at that time he will give her vaccines. Poor Indy.

Also I spoke to my vet about how Haney, my resident top cat, is not accepting Indy's being here. I still have Indy in the garage with the cat flap/baby gate open so the cats can all sniff noses. I have been continuing on with all your advice Gill with scent transfer and let Indy come inside the house and explore with my other two resident cat secured behind my bedroom door. My vet said exactly what you said Gill...it just takes time, and that Haney thinks of Indy as an intruder. He recommended I use Feliway Diffuser as well, so I bought that too. My vet also recommend that in another week or so I could start feeding Haney and Indy in the same room but at opposite corners. He said then they will begin associate good food with each other and will focus on their food rather than each other. He said to limit these encounters to no more than 10 minutes at a time until I see no more aggressive behavior.

Wish me luck. I really think Haney will be a tough nut to crack. He is a rebel at heart.

Thanks again guys for all your help. I will keep you posted as to how this is going. I must admit though, I am afraid of a cat fight.

Kittybabe (Ruth) · « **Reply #20 on:** August 27, 2008, 20:43:42 PM »

I don't really have experience of this, apart from when I was a kid and we got a feral kitten (mother lived in a factory, kitten was rescued). She only responded to the tinkling of keys to let her know food was there.

It took her so long, but eventually she started to trust and the relationship with her and our very dominant resident cat became one of tolerance. They were never best friends but they lived well together and certainly ganged up on intruders together (I was astounded to see this). It was only when we had two male cats introduced later on that the males started spraying even after being neutered because the dynamics in the house were just too much for them.

Things settled once we changed their living situation by not making them all eat together in the same place, giving each one their own space in the house.

It worked but took loads of patience.

I can only say that the other advice you've been given is sound.

Indy is gorgeous

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #19 on:** August 27, 2008, 20:37:17 PM »

It will get better and Indy will learn to trust and not be scared and then she will get bolder

HaneyHarperIndyMum (Val) · « **Reply #18 on:** August 27, 2008, 20:28:35 PM »

Thank you Gill and Kris.

Will do! I have Hunter and Haney in my bedroom right now behind closed doors. I propped open the garage door so Indy can come inside the house for a bit. I am not pushing her but she did come in at her own free will but soon retreated back to the garage. I have left the door open and she is now lying out there in the garage just watching what is going on inside. I hope she decides to come back inside though, so I'm going to give her some more time before I let the the boys out and put her back into the garage.

I just keep telling myself to take baby steps and each day will be better than the day before. I hope! lol

kris · « **Reply #17 on:** August 27, 2008, 18:46:43 PM »

I don't have any other advice, but I just wanted to say don't beat yourself up about it, you were doing totally the right thing, you didn't intend the initial fisticuffs, it was an accident, slow and careful is the way to go and you sounds like you are doing all the right things with the best interests of all in mind!! Good luck!

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #16 on:** August 27, 2008, 18:28:00 PM »

My thought on Hunter is that he should also be kept out of the equation at present until Indy gets her paws under the table.

Then maybe a good idea will be to try Hunter and Indy together in a room before you try Haney. If that works then they can have the house together for a while before adding Haney to the gang.

I would also make it only Haney and Indy at that introduction unless Indy and Hunter have become very good pals.

There is no right or wrong I think, its just trial and error but slowly slowy works better with older cats (not kittens).

I do hope it works for you, just be patient

HaneyHarperIndyMum (Val) · « **Reply #15 on:** August 27, 2008, 18:07:30 PM »

Oh thank you so much Gill. I will do exactly what you say. I was thinking I was on the right track but since I have only been a cat owner less than a year I still do not understand cat behavior. I will continue to bring Indy inside the house, in fact I will increase her time slot too, giving her some time in the morning and then again in the evening. That way her scent will stay strong throughout the day. Also, I think I had high hopes of Indy fitting into the mix within a week, but I can see now that is just impossible with Haney's cattitude. He would definitely attack Indy with vengeance. He is not liking her here one bit.

Thank you again Gill for helping me sort this out. I need to be more patient and use good judgment here.

Oh one more question....Since I do feel that Hunter is doing so well, should I let Hunter and Indy meet first? I could just put Haney in my bedroom to keep him away. I'm thinking that maybe if Hunter gives his approval of Indy then maybe Haney will follow his lead, is that possible? Hunter has never been an aggressive cat whereas Haney had aggression issues when I first got him and now they seem to be resurfacing.

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #14 on:** August 27, 2008, 17:49:39 PM »

I am no behavourist but I think that Haney

, is treating Indy as a burglar on his patch. He knows while she is in the cage his territory is safe and if he watches her she isnt going anywhere. As soon as she is out of the cage, well she is the enemy and to be seen off.

I think keeping them seperate is a good idea for now but think you will need to be a bit more proactive in a week or so.

Haney knows who indy is and doesnt like the intruder much, but she needs to get her scent round the house too, so maybe while Haney is shut in another room you can get Indy to come into the house in safety and let her explore. While she is doing this her scent will get distributed round the house and then when she goes back to her garage and Haney comes out again , he will smell her around the house.

As long as this causes no probs with haney then you are on the right track.

I would do all of this very slowly over weeks rather than days and if both cats are acting normally around the house, although not meeting , the next step will be to let them meet in the same room but I would wait at least two weeks until you try this, longer if one or the other is causing probs in the house due to the new scent.

I have four cats, two pairs and the two pairs do not really get on, its a domination thing cos one from each pair wants to be the top cat and the second pair to arrive are brothers and always looked after each other. One of them really fancies the girl cat from the other pair but she is semi feral and hates him. If she runs, he will chase her and I have had to stop fisty cuffs beteewn the four at times. I banish the birmans to a place where they love if it gets too bad, the bedroom lol.

However they have all been here for nearly 4 years now,,,,,,,,,,,,gosh 4 years or is it 3 LOL, anyway they tolerate each other most of the time and that is probably what will happen we Indy and the other two. Just prepare to be patient.

HaneyHarperIndyMum (Val) · « **Reply #13 on:** August 27, 2008, 17:15:05 PM »

Please guys, I really need your advice.

OK guys, I'm a bit baffled by Haney's behavior toward Indy. At times I'm not sure if he is being good or bad? Last night when I brought Indy inside the house, safely inside her cage of course, Hunter approached her but just as soon as she hissed and growled at him he immediately backed off and stayed back about 5 feet from her cage. Hunter is very polite and gave Indy her space.

Haney on the other hand reacted quite the opposite. When Haney approached Indy's cage, and she hissed and growled at him, Haney lowered his body as if he were stalking prey and continued to walk toward her. He never made any sound no matter how much Indy protested his presence. Once he reached her cage he laid down and just stared at her.

Haney stayed like that for about two minutes and then jumped up on top of the cage, which I had covered 1/2 of with a towel. Haney laid down on top of that towel and just stared down into the cage. Indy was growling and hissing at him for about 5 minutes straight. She then settled down and laid directly underneath Haney. Haney made no attempt to stick his paw inside the cage.

They both lay there like that for about 30 minutes and then Haney seemed to loose interest slightly and jumped back down. He then took a new position about 3 feet back from Indy's cage and laid down. He stayed there for about 15 minutes just watching her, no sound. I was talking softly to both Indy and Haney the whole time and fed them both bits of canned tuna. Haney ate his, but Indy only licked it.

It was then time to take Indy back out to the garage. I propped open the garage door so I could carry the cage through and Haney followed me. I did not open the cage since I needed to put Haney back into the house first. When I tried to pick Haney up, he growled at ME! He ran over to the cage where Indy was still safe inside and she began growling and hissing at him.

Haney became very vocal at that point and was growling a low growl back at her. I had to come inside and get a blanket to toss over the cage so Haney could not see Indy just to get him inside. He was acting very vicious and I had to use a stick to scoot him back into the house. There was no way I could have picked him up because he would have tore me to shreds! Seriously!

Then this morning all Haney wants to do is lay right there by the door leading to the garage hoping to get a glimpse of Indy.

What am I doing right or wrong? Should I continue the way I am going? Is this behavior normal? Hunter is so polite and has shown not one bit of aggression. Haney is scary when he gets so mean like that! He must have been a real scrapper at some point in his life because he does not back down at all! If I only had Hunter to worry about, I think I would allow Hunter to be in the room with Indy outside of her cage by tomorrow. I believe Hunter will not harm her. I think Hunter is acting correctly.

This is now day 4.

~~EDIT~~

Just thought I would show you how I have the access to the garage set up as a safe room for Indy. I taped the cat flap opened and then placed a baby gate in front of the door so that all three cats can sniff noses and get to know each other. Also, just before bedtime I put Hunter and Haney into my bed room and close the door. I then let Indy come inside the house so she can have a look around in the family room and kitchen for about 15 mintues. I thought it would also be a good way for Indy to leave her scent so my other two cats can become familiar with her scent. What do you think?

HaneyHarperIndyMum (Val) · « **Reply #12 on:** August 27, 2008, 00:48:02 AM »

Indy is doing fine today. Late last night I put my other two cats, Hunter and Haney into my bedroom and shut the door. I then opened the door leading to the garage to see if Indy would feel like coming inside. She did! At first she would only come into the hallway and quickly went right back out to the garage. She watched me for a moment and then came back inside. She came down the hall and into the family room . She stuck close to me but soon felt comfortable to explore into the kitchen. I just sat on the couch and soon she jumped up into my lap. Indy stayed inside with me for about 30 minutes and then I put her back out into the garage.

I think I will continue these short indoor visits over the next week. That way when Indy does get to meet Hunter and Harley, she will be aware of her surroundings. I must admit though that I'm so worried about Haney coming face to face with her since he already attacked her once. Hunter seems to care less about Indy being here other than just wanting to watch her. Hunter is very passive.

sixfurballs · « **Reply #11 on:** August 26, 2008, 10:05:20 AM »

Have just sent you a message before reading this thread. I gave you some ideas in that but hopefully some more members here might have some other ideas what to do next. How is Indy now?

HaneyHarperIndyMum (Val) · « **Reply #10 on:** August 26, 2008, 06:17:55 AM »

Thanks again Debsymiller!

Yippee! My friend fourfurballs is here! Feels funny to call you that name, I'm so used to you being called newpig!

I have another question for all you cat experts. I now have Indy in my possession as of yesterday. I let her and my other two cats, Hunter and Haney, sniff noses through the door yesterday and then today I brought Indy inside to my family room for an hour but kept her inside a cage for her protection. I wanted to let Indy, Hunter and Haney get a chance to sniff noses and be able to see each other. All seemed to go quite well at first. Hunter really could have cared less about Indy and just watched her for a moment sitting back from the cage. Hunter never did come up to sniff noses with Indy but did approach the cage but when Indy hissed at him he just backed off and walked away. Haney on the other hand decided to just lay down right near the cage and watch her. Indy did not hiss at Haney nor did Haney show any signs of aggression, at least not that I could tell. I'm new at owning cats so I still am learning their behavior. I kept Indy secure inside the cage and allowed her to just watch us and get used to the house noises for about an hour. I then took her back out into the garage, her 'safe room' for now.

I had made a big mistake though. When I was taking her back out into the garage, I propped the door open leading to the garage so I could carry her out while she was still inside the cage. I had my back to the door when I sat the cage down. I walked back to the door and shut it, thinking it was now safe to open the cage and let her out. However, I did not realize that Haney had followed me out the door and had gone underneath my car that is parked inside my garage. I then opened the cage door and Indy hopped out. I gave her a little pat on her head and told her she was a good girl then I turned to walk back inside my house. In the blink of an eye, Haney darted out from underneath the car and attacked Indy. It was very scary. I had to grab a walk stick that was near and knock Haney away from her. Haney then tried to attack the stick briefly but quickly focused back on attacking Indy. Indy tried to dart away but Haney kept on her back very viciously. I ran to pop open the door leading into the house and then sort of batted/knocked Haney in that direction and managed to get him back inside the house. Indy was so frighten and ran to hide. I could not even lure her out of her hiding spot tempting her with tuna. I was frighten too. It was totally unexpected. Now I am afraid to let them even sniff noses again.

I should tell you that my Hunter is a very well balanced non aggressive cat who I think will be just fine. However, Haney is fairly new here too, I only adopted him back in May. Haney had a lot of aggression issues when he came here. He even attacked my little Chihuahua in the beginning but he has come such a long way and I thought he was past that aggressive behavior. I am so worried now as to Haney's mental state as well as Indy's. I don't want Haney to revert back to his old bad behavior. Also, Indy is my son's family cat so she already knows me for 3 1/2 years now, but she does not know my home or my pets. PLEASE, do you guys have any advice as to how to handle the introductions now? I know today was a huge mistake and hopefully not a major setback. Do you think it is?

Should I let Indy meet Hunter first and then a few days later bring Haney back into the intros? Would that be easier, one cat at a time? I felt so horrible that this happened to Indy. I know it was a stupid mistake on my part and it should have never happened, but it did. I just hope I can fix this now?

Here is how smoothly it was when Indy was inside the cage. Haney laid down and watched Indy, never hissing or growling. He seemed fine and so did Indy. It was very uneventful really.

This is Indy just laying on my lap. She is the most affectionate and sweet little lady kitty you could ever meet. She really loves to lay in your lap for long periods. She always used to jump into my lap when I would go visit my son. I think I sort of felt more at ease with her since she already knew me. I should not have rushed the intros with the cats.

sixfurballs · « **Reply #9 on:** August 25, 2008, 10:39:35 AM »

Hi - just spotted your post about Indy. I've just logged in as having some problems with Dino which wanted some opinions on.

BTW - for other members - I've just seen some photos of Indy and she is gorgeous.

Debsymiller (Rufus' mum) · « **Reply #8 on:** August 22, 2008, 18:52:27 PM »

No problem! And by the sounds of it you are right about the stress and I'm sure she will be so much happier with you

HaneyHarperIndyMum (Val) · « **Reply #7 on:** August 22, 2008, 17:40:44 PM »

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate your help here. I am really worried about taking Indy into my home but I just feel in my heart that she will be so much better off and will thrive here. My home is very quite for the most part, that is until my three grandkids come for a visit. I really think that Indy is completely stressed out where she is living now.

Debsymiller

I thank you so much for all your information! Wow that last link really explains why a cat sprays and now I am even more convinced that Indy sprays because she is unhappy. I almost feel as if I would be rescuing her now. Indy is really pulling on my heart strings and I want her to have a good life.

Debsymiller (Rufus' mum) · « **Reply #6 on:** August 22, 2008, 11:58:52 AM »

Just found a drect link to the leaflet:

http://www.cats.org.uk/catcare/leaflets/VET06-Sprayingandscratching.pdf

Debsymiller (Rufus' mum) · « **Reply #5 on:** August 22, 2008, 11:57:41 AM »

Having just looked at the list of leaflets that you can download, I notice that the 'spraying and scratching' one is missing from the list. It really is very useful so I would suggest e mailing cats protection and seeing if they can send you a copy... if they can't, then let me know and I will scan it into the pc and send it to you.

Debsymiller (Rufus' mum) · « **Reply #4 on:** August 22, 2008, 11:55:18 AM »

As someone who has a cat with a urination issue I will say there is definately light at the end of the tunnel! My Layla came to us after having a very bad start in life and had never been properly taught how to use a litter tray and as a consequence was absolutely terrified of anything litter-related! Her case was very severe but with a lot of hard work she is now prett good with the tray.
I would read up on a some articles on litter traiining and if needs be, go right back to the beginning and re-train her although by the sounds of it that won't necessarily be needed as the spraying, rather than leaving puddles, is likely to be stress-related. A good way to relax a cat (as well as TLC and a safe environment of course!) is to use Feliway which is a pheremone which you can use as a plug-in or a spray which helps cats to feel calm and secure and has been prooven to help with spraying issues.
Cats can spray for a variety of reasons, illness (check with vet about urinary infections) unneutered(if the case get this done ASAP) stress cause by new location, something they perceive as a threat or general changes to the household or if they are unhappy.
If Indy does spray then make sure you clean the area thoroughly afterwards as if any of the scent is left, it will draw her back to spray again in the same area.
There are some leaflets that CP issue which are really well informed, easy to understand and give excellent practical advice. Here's the link: http://www.cats.org.uk/catcare/leaflets_essential.asp
I would recommend you download and read: feline behaviour, spraying and scratching and also welcome home but of course, feel free to read them all as they are very useful!
I hope Indy likes the new (and hopefully more settled!) home!

Author Topic: Adding a Third Cat ~ Progress seems to have come to a stand still (Read 16763 times)