Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OH dear,

Luna and Rame met last night. It was a horrible experience for all three of us. The vet said since it was a week and since he was healthy, it was time they met, since both wanted out of their rooms so badly. Yeah, well, THAT was a bad idea!

I let the two cats meet each oher. Luna sniffed and they stared, and then she chased him into another room and then HISSED and then Luna ATTACKED!!! Poor Rame, he did not know what hit him!! At first he tried to run, but she cornered him so he had no choice but to fight back. They ran around the house trying to bite each other and I finally got them separated by clapping my hands. He ended up with a little scratch on his nose but no other injuries even though she tried to bite him! This is the first time I have seen her be the least bit aggressive ever.

Now Rame is terrified!! He will not leave the bathtub; he will not walk out of the bathroom - the same room he was begging to be let out of the day before. Every time he hears a noise he hides behind the shower curtain; every time he hears Luna cry, he gets nervous. Luna, of course, is bolder. She hissed at him this morning through the door. I cannot be with him every minute (He is in my tiny bathroom!!)

How am I going to get her to not terrify him? She is going to keep hissing at him. He is SOOOOO scared. How do I stop her from being so aggressive toward him? It is not as if she is going to change her mind about how unhappy she with him around. Do I just start all over again? Is the resident cat going to get used to the idea that here is another cat around or will she simply continue to terrorize him?

Hi There,

I am so sorry that this first meeting was so traumatic for all of you.

I would have kept the cats apart for at least another week, and even then would not have allowed them to meet face to face with no barrier between them. You have no choice but to start again by keeping the cats totally separated for a period of at least 2 weeks. Then perhaps you can put the newcomer in another room while allowing Luna to explore his territory. I would not allow him to suddenlt have the run of the house, as that is too overwhelming for him. Maybe put some of Luna's bedding in his room and some of his where she will be exposed to it. Finally, a safe meeting can be attempted with Rame in a carrier while Luna is allowed to explore, after which he would be returned to his safe room for a time.

It can take cats many months to get used to each other, and even then they might only tolerate each other. This introduction is going to take a lot of time and patience and must be taken very slow.

Take care, and good luck!

PHKitkat

Did you see the tips I posted in a string below to you? You may want to start some of those and re-introduce gradually.
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Tammy and Pookey
(Stanley 8/91 - 8/07)

Here's what I posted under "The Hissing Has Begun":

Here are a couple things to try in order of least confrontation to get them used to each other over a few days to a couple weeks.

1. Rub each cat down with a separate towel. Then they can smell the other cat's towel and get used to new scents without confrontation.

2. Lock Luna up in a room and give new cat full run of the house to sniff around without confrontation. Also lock new cat up in the carrier out of site (in another room) or loose in another room and let Luna sniff out new cat's room (where new cat is spending all his time. This way, they can get used to new smells without facing off.

3. When you do start gradually introducting them, put new cat in the carrier and let Luna sniff thru the carrier slots so they can safely sniff each other. I'd clean the offensive carrier out well to get rid of other conflicting smells (other animals, etc.)
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Tammy and Pookey
(Stanley 8/91 - 8/07)

Dear Friends,

Thank you for the suggestions.

I actually did all the suggestions, except for the cat carrier part. I skipped that because Rame is so afraid of his carrier he screams when he is put into it. I thought putting him into something he hates and then exposing him to a very angry older sister while he is in the thing he hates would be a problem. Perhaps I shoud get two really big cages and put each of them in one of them and try that.

I brushed them down with each other's towlels, I let them into each other's rooms and I let them look at each other through a crack in the door. Rame, the new guy, is not afraid of the rest of the house; he LOVES the rest of the house. He loves the smells, the furniture, the windows. He loves hiding under the chairs and attacking my toes when I walk by and he loves looking at the trees. He is not overwhelmeed at all. He is only afraid of Luna nd now he is not happy with me when I try to get him to go back into his bathroom.

I will keep them apart for longer as you all suggest.

What I do not understand is how they "get used to each other" when they do nto interact with each other.

Maybe you put Luna in the carrier since Rame has a deep fear of it. Just keep a barrier between them when they meet and keep the meetings short until they seem to calm down.
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Tammy and Pookey
(Stanley 8/91 - 8/07)