Hi, so I have a cat who is 4 years old (xion) that has some pretty bad separation anxiety. some days she will meow for god knows how long after i leave for work, and as soon as i pull up to my building she’s meowing at the door before I even walk in. I’ve been thinking about getting a cat friend for her for over a year now, and months before i even started looking for a cat i was watching videos on how to introduce, setting up a “base camp” of sorts, and basically was reading a ton on how to make the introduction smooth.
the thing is is that even though she has separation anxiety, she’s been shown to be pretty territorial with cats, and at one point even peed on my bed because she’d gotten out and just seen an outdoor cat. however last year, i had a friend visit who had brought their cat, and she was standoffish for a bit but ultimately was able to ignore his presence. that showed me that she’s not too insecure to be introduced to another animal.
well a couple weeks ago i went on petfinder and i saw a 6 month old male named wolfenstein that i fell in love with based on the pictures alone. i sat on it for a few days and ultimately reached out to meet him. my only intention was to meet him and to see what his personality was like. i didn’t get my hopes up much, and i did mention to the shelter that i was only considering adopting. a week later i went to meet him, and he’s actually pretty perfect. a little timid, but does his own thing and avoids conflict. i ended up meeting a couple other cats that i really liked but either none of them would be as good for my resident cat, or i felt i wouldn’t be able to provide them the best life possible with my schedule (they were special needs) so ultimately i applied to adopt wolfenstein and that’s when the anxiety started kicking in.
i went nuts, bought a whole new cat tree, cat beds, more toys, and a ton of blankets and set up a base camp within the span of 5 days. i got new treats, catnip (to calm xion) and have set up my office as a base camp. everything is ready and i’m set to take him home tomorrow. but now i’m experiencing some really, really bad anxiety about bringing him home. like what if i made the wrong choice? what if xion reverts and starts peeing on things? what if she thinks i don’t love her as much? what if i can’t provide wolfenstein with the best life possible? what if i possibly have to rehome one of them because they’re not getting along? what if xion tries to eat him?? i plan on using jackson galaxy’s method to introduce them, and i’m planning on doing it slowly. i just don’t want xion to be lonely during the day when i work, and i want to give him a good home. i just need someone to tell me i’m doing something right
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/n6105e/anxiety_about_adopting_a_new_cat/
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