2 weeks ago we adopted a 5yr old female named BooBoo. we currently have 2 female cats - 6yr & 8yr old. we went thru the proper introductions.. put BooBoo in the spare bedroom w/food,water,liter for about 5 days... we would put the resident cats in the bedroom & let BooBoo have some time to roam the house. after about a week of this we've let the cats roam free while we're home, but lock BooBoo up at night. There has been the expected growling/hissing and batting/chasing... nothing major. but it seems like BooBoo was more adventurous the first couple days... she would come down into the living room to visit us & the cats, but a fight or hissing would develop & she would return to her room... but it has progressed to her NOT wanting to come out of her room AT ALL. it's even tough now to entice her out from under the bed. Is this normal??? Will she eventually come around & visit the living room again?? What can I do to socialize her w/the other cats?? I don't want to FORCE her out of her room & add stress...
We bought 2 Comfort Zone plug-in's and I honestly can't see them helping yet...
Any suggestions, or encouragement would be greatly appreciated. All of the cats have WONDERFUL personalities... one is very shy, but also very sweet. Thanks, and sorry that was so long!!
You're doing all the right things, except now you have to let her come out at her own convenience and don't interfere. Let her and the other cats become adjusted to each other on their own. The only thing you should be doing is seperating them IF they are fighting harshly together, then time-outs for the instigator would be appropriate at that time. Fights should only be seperated when claws and teeth or drawing blood is a concern. Otherwise, hissing, growling and swatting are normal introduction reactions.
Don't continue to lock BooBoo in the room at night, it's time for her to have free roam of the house at night too. She will retreat only when she is provoked, nervous or whatever, but will learn that she too has a rightful place in the environment and will learn on her own when and where she feels most comfortable with the other cats.
In the immediate sense, give each cat individual love and attention. Other ways to help are involving them together with playtime (you instigate play with interactive toys, etc)....feeding times, etc. It may still take some time yet for BooBoo to feel completely secure in her new home, but give this some time and try not to interfere with the cats unless absolutely necessary. The heirarchy and harmony need to be established by them with as little interference on your part.
I will leave BooBoo's bedroom door open tonite. It's just so hard when you love/care about all the kitties to see them growl/hiss & chase each other.. You just want them to get along & your first instinct is to break it up before it starts... but I guess I need to let them figure out their heirarchy the way that cats do.
I should let them grow/hiss/chase and only intervene if a real fight breaks out. Hard to do, but if it's what the cats need to do, then I'll have to stay out of it.
