Hello All,
Our dear cat of 14 years passed away this past January after a brief battle with cancer. My girlfriend and I caved and decided to adopt two cats from our local shelter (not from same litter). She grew up with two cats but this is my first time managing two cats that are new to each other and of different ages (1 year and 3 years).
The younger one is very rambunctious and needs a lot of attention, needs to climb everything, and needs a lot of playtime. The older young enjoys social time but is a bit more reserved.
The biggest issue right now and they do not seem to get along at all. We kept them separate for a few days and then decided to allow them both into the living room. At first, the older one would hiss and avoid the younger one. The younger one was curious but would back off. However, it developed into the younger starting to become a little more assertive and almost starting a swiping fight. We noticed she usually seems to do this when she has a vantage point over the older one. We kept them separate when away, but would occasionally let them both lurk with similar results. I contacted the shelter's behavioral advisor and she said we should aim to keep them separate until that type of behavior stops.
We now keep them separate but this has evolved into a few other issues. First, they are both starting to show signs of separation anxiety and get upset when we are not there to socialize with them. Second, our other room (bedroom) also gets cold easily and we do not want them to stay in there too long without our supervision with a space heater. (Don't want to leave it on when we leave) We tried using the bathroom but it is small and they got bored very easily. (One chewed up her cardboard scratcher)
Any advice on how we try to manage to get them accustomed to each other while also keeping separate and managing their separation anxiety? The behavioral advisor and other sources recommend giving them treats underneath the door so they start associating each other with positive things. Like I said, I did not grow up with multiple cats but with dogs so I instinctively view this behavior as unusual and in many cases stressful. My girlfriend is less worried but the situation is causing us a bit of stress so I can listen to experts all day, but if anyone has any cat stories on this matter I would love to hear them!
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/aqxc0v/adopted_two_new_cats_facing_a_few_challenges/
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