I adopted my first cat 4 years ago. Silvie is around 6 (not very old, but certainly the house matriarch). She and my dog at the time always had a respectful relationship. But life evolved for me and our family grew to include a new boy in our house, my bf's first ever pet of his own, Six. Six was around 6 weeks when we got him and Silvie tolerated him, but as six got older he was rambunctious and constantly pestering Silvie who was a bit of an old grump and very sensitive. If the kitten moved towards her she's run off scared, making her a tempting target. We provided some of her own space but as it wasn't violent we wanted Silvie to adjust. She did, and though they never got along she eventually got her backbone lined up and staked out 'her' spots in the house that he was to respect and didn't run scared when he got uppity. We could tell that most of Six's issues were his interest in play rather then being malicious and as fate would have it we got a call from a local farmer that Mumma cat had abandoned two kits at 3weeks and would we take one? Dubbed 'Seven' by my bf, six was just a year when we took his new baby sister in. He immediately began chirping at her, and when introduced after a cursory head bop, he took to cleaning her and caring for her. Silvie was blissfully left alone while six and seven new best friends romped around the house.
It was the best it could have been for everybody.
But then it got better. Seven is four months old now. A happy clam, not the 300gram kit I picked up. More like a chonky turkey leg.
I noticed lately Seven 'bugging' Silvie. A lot like how Six started as a kitten, trying to bat her tail/ stalk her. I was worried Seven would take to bullying her and kept my eyes on them. Silvie always 'retaliated' but not as she usually did, like she wasn't running away or growling. As I watched to my surprise they were PLAY FIGHTING! With seven laying playfully down while Silvie 'roughed her up' . Then I started seeing them on couches together. Seven jumping up by Silvie, and Silvie initially upset and watchful slowly then relaxing... Today I watched as Silvie approached sleeping Seven and began grooming her. Seven woke up and gave her a sleepy nuzzle. Now Silvie is sleeping beside her friend. Six came by for a quick kiss (butt lick) to Seven and left Silvie and then snuggling.
Putting my family together has been like baking a cake blindfolded, hoping I was adding the right ingredients in certain amounts. Unsure if I was adding too much or if I'd made a mistake by adding one of the ingredients. It's been 2 years but we have something nice together. Sometimes there is something missing in the recipe, and adding it makes all the difference. Seven was that last ingredient :)
TL:DR. My cat family expanded over two years: got a young boy who chased my old gal around. Old gal learned to stand her ground, got young boy a little sister to play with. Romping ensues with old girl left alone (happily). Recently little sister attempts to play with ornery old lady and eventually old lady begins to groom and snuggle with little sister. Old gal isn't alone, everybody is happy.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/edi8pj/my_old_girl_is_finally_making_friends/
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