I recently got roommates to help cut costs. The first roommate, Jen, came a week before the other roommate, Mike, moved in. We've all been friends for about five years.
My two cats, Sevi and Drogon, both adjusted within a week to Jen. Initially, there was some discomfort and hissing, but it all petered out pretty quickly and they were cuddling with her just as much as they did with me.
However, shit changed when Mike showed up. Mike has a cat of his own, who tends to keep to herself on the cat tree or in general wherever Mike happens to be. The cats themselves are still adjusting to each other, figuring out territory and whatnot, and there's been some hissing/growling, but no major altercations so far. It's only been a couple of days.
Sevi, however? Personality did a 180 the moment Mike finished moving in.
She's always been a sweet, inquisitive cat who's never had a single issue with visitors. I even took her to work at my old job and she loved meeting everyone. You give her a treat, you're her best friend, hands down.
When it comes to Mike, though? She turns into a completely different cat.
- She will come to him to sniff him or examine something he's holding, just like she'd do normally. He'll relax and not move and let her do her thing. Then suddenly, she'll hiss loudly and recoil, or hiss and swipe at him with her claws. It's important to note that SHE is the one initiating the contact, then getting mad for whatever reason. Sometimes he'll call her over softly, she'll come to investigate or even rub her body against his legs, only to flip out if he so much as slightly relaxes.
- If Mike just happens to be walking to the kitchen or something, she will sometimes suddenly swipe at his feet and legs while hissing loudly. He could completely ignore her while talking to one of us in the living room and she'll still give him a warning hiss if he so much as comes within a foot of her bubble.
- We've been trying to get her used to Mike by having him give her treats often. She turns into a begging kitten when it comes to treats, all opinions forgotten. However, as soon as she remembers she hates his guts, she'll growl loudly and slash at his hand with the treat in it.
- She's been nice to me, but only to a point. Even I have to watch my step around her now because if she's still annoyed by Mike, no one is safe from her swats. She backs off me because I tend to growl or hiss back at her when she does it. While she was perfectly fine with Jen before, she now growls/hisses at her if she tries to pet her. Just because Mike is here.
Mike thinks that because it's just been a couple of days since he and his cat moved in, she's just still in an adjustment period. But, I'm still pretty worried. She's never acted like this towards ANYONE before. Even when I had to suddenly throw them in boxes to evacuate to my sister's house during a hurricane warning, she was still just as chill as ever with my sister and her husband, who she'd never met. Wary, but she has never in her life gone to attack someone with intent to harm before.
But Mike? It's like for whatever reason, he brings out her demon side. I don't know if it's because she doesn't like the presence of the new cat and he smells like her, or if it's something else.
Since she's been hanging out in my room a lot since he moved in, I asked him to dump a shirt or something of his in my bedroom floor so she could maybe be forced to get used to his scent while I was at work, but I'm not sure it's worked.
Maybe I'm being paranoid. I know she's stressed because two whole new people moving in, plus a cat. I'm just worried she'll be trying to attack him forever, and I have no idea how to mitigate the adjustment period other than trying Feliway. Which I can't afford and can't confirm works.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/akvoel/got_roommates_now_my_cat_hates_everything_and/
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