New Cat

[Cairns&Whisky]

Hiya,

I've not been on for a while.

About 4 weeks ago Cairns was killed by a car (i think), someone put him in a wheelie bin and i had to fish him out, not the nicest way to find your poor cat. :cry: I was distraut. Whisky has been fine, not much change but i felt she was looking for him so I thought I'd see about another cat.

I called my local Cat's Protection and the lady had just picked up one the night before. I've called her Lizzie...She's black and white, very friendly, happy wee soul. Whisky on the other hand, hasn't came downstairs out of the bedroom (where she normally lives) but i'm worried incase she's not eating as the food is in the kitchen downstairs. How long do i give it before i should see an improvement with them being friends? Lizzie doesn't seem phased by Whisky, she's happy enough. Whisky used to come downstairs and say hello every night when i came home from work but not since Lizzie came on the scene.

I might have to give Lizzie back to the cat's protection if they're not friends within a couple of weeks....it's Whisky's home and i don't want her to feel she can't roam around freely.

Any thoughts?

Lisa
x

[yola]

A couple of things; can you give Whisky some food upstairs? I have one of my 3 cats who doesn't really venture beyond our bedroom much . . . it's just the way he likes it!

Also, can you bring Whisky down so she gets a chance to interact with Lizzie? Does Lizzie go upstairs at all to see Whisky? If so, maybe she needs her own space for a bit to firstly get used to Cairns not being around and secondly to get used to having Lizzie around! Are you managing the introductions or just leaving them to get on with it?

You really need to give them a good few weeks to bed in. They may never be best of friends and the cat dynamic may change - don't forget it's a different cat so the relationship will never be as it was previously, but ulitmately they should co-exist OK.

Oh, and so very sorry to hear about Cairns. What a horrible thing to do, throw his body into the bin. Some people have no heart :(

[Cairns&Whisky]

Hi Yola,

I'd happily give Whisky food upstairs but I feel that if i did that i'd never see her again, only when it's bedtime. She'd be happy to stay there with food and water....She normally comes downstairs...so i'm hoping she'll pop down for some food soon. I'm not there all day but I'm trying to keep an eye on the food i'm putting out so i can see if she is coming down or not.

Whisky's not a cat that likes to be lifted up so there's no way i'd make it down the stairs without a scratch on my face lol. I did take Lizzie upstairs a couple of times, she's sniffs, looks at whisky then exit's the room again, i'm scared to shut the door incase it get's heated and they end up scrapping just cos i'm not sure what to expect.

I managed a couple of introductions now i'm leaving them to it...which isn't really going far.

Hopefully in the next week or so they'll beable to walk past eachother...Lizzie's not the problem, she'll happily follow me around but Whisky seems to be even more timid than she normally is. Fingers crossed time will heal :)

xx

[dandysmom]

Whisky is probably still grieving for Cairns, and upset at another cat in her house. Introducing two adult females isn't easy...been there, done that...but hopefully they will come to the point of tolerating one another if not becoming chums. Do let us know how it's going....