Thread: Integration *sigh*

I rescued a 4 year old MC 3 weeks ago a week before that I bought a 3 month old German Sheperd. All the GSP wanted to do was play and my MC used to hiss and swipe at him claws in, I also have a 4 year old Golden Retriever who pretty much ignores the MC. 2 weeks in all 3 were able to stay in the same small room (my den) and at one point the GSP was laying accross my narrow foyer with only 6" between the wall and the pups face. My wife and I were right there to see his reaction, the cat finally walked between the pups jaws and the wall without incident, after 3 week they are all pretty much getting along, no more hissing every once in a while a little barking. I say give it time.

Thanks for the response Emerson.

Today I learnt that my MC baby is too overly friendly & when cleaning out the ferrets MC was happy to hang around with them but too innocent (or stupid) to run away from them and I almost died of fright when I heard him yell. He is fine, no blood, no damage. That is not going to happen again he's just too trusting.

The problems I am having with the moggie are that she has -

*Started over cleaning
*Gone off her food
*Twitches (like invisible itches - but he hasn't brought any nasties with him!)
She has finally stopped (mostly) ripping me to bits when I stroke her now, but it's like she's trying to worry me on purpose. When she was out with the ferrets for a few minutes she came back to life and was her old self.
It's like we take half a step forward and she takes 5 steps back.

I have been through the Mordor of integrating new cats. Mandy Coon loved Rose, our Bengal mix and they were instantly friends. Then we adopted Sampson, a giant ginger tabby. Mandy HATED him and it took a solid four months to stop her from terrorizing him to death. He was so scared of her that he began spraying the house and not using his box at all. Finally we had to allow Sampson to go outside as he pleases, if only to get a break from Mandy.
We adopted another cat in November, this time an older male Coon. Mandy was a tangle of hissing and claws for a few days and then she was fine with him!!
Now, Merlin and Sampson had some male cat domination issues to sort out and we had some really ugly fights here for a few weeks. However, Merlin appeared to be instigating but it turned out that he was quite ill with a bladder infection and also recovering from serious starvation and the extraction of most of his teeth. Now that Merlin is healthy he is a peaceful cat and there are no more big blowouts. So, it can take a long time or it could take a few days, you just have to see. However, if your cat seems really unusually out of sorts I would check with the vet. Mandy is an anxious cat to start with so the constant grooming and picky eating is normal for her. She can't eat around the other cats. Maybe try feeding yours alone until she adjusts to the newcomer?

Thanks for the advice MandyCoonie,

No spats, not really. Only when he gets too close and she hisses and pats him away. He is still testing her and his boundaries which is perfectly normal and am prepared for.

I think part of the problem may be a hairball (when she did attempt a spat and got a load of fluff in her mouth and not much else) As she is a short hair I don't think she was quite prepared to swallow all that fluff.

For the suspected hairball or possible blockage I have been giving her half a teaspoon of petroleum jelly daily and today after examining her litter tray (the things we do for our cats!) Have given her milk for it's laxative effects and we are watching her carefully.

We have been doing all her feedings on her own, we did start on the kitchen counter where he can't reach yet but moved her into the quiet of our bedroom for feedings when she spent the whole time just watching him.

She will eat but only his kitten kibbles - not her own and dreamies. She hasn't been touching her wet food and she snears at his - yurk. She will however gobble down a small bowl of tuna (I'm concerned about the tuna with all the salt content but at least she's eating) which I put the petroleum jelly in with and extra water.

I have removed felliway from the house and am trying again with smaller doses of the serenum to see if that makes a difference to her twitching and over cleaning. She will not play with her favourite toys but she will play with us with a piece of string or any of my hair bands that she likes to pull apart! (pfft, expensive toys for nothing)

It doesn't help that she has taken to squinting her right eye like a pirate, but I think this may be a result of either rubbing her face in the catnip or from the over cleaning and is a scratch. I have been using cotton pads and a mild saline solution twice a day on this. (It does seem to magically get better when she is-
*Playing with string
*Eating tuna
*Eating dreamies
*Rolling in catnip
and then get much much worse again when he is in the room or when looking at us directly. Is she milking this?

(I'm very sorry if this is a bit jumbled or if I have repeated myself :S)

No progress on her using her litter tray or anywhere else in the home :(

Her meow is (has been for a few days) a pathetic scratchy, almost silent sound.
She was much friendlier after the Serenum and was playing etc but she still won't eat her normal food and every now and then is making hacking movements (but only briefly) I'm really hoping that after a few more days of petroleum and loving and affection she will start passing whatever is in the way and stop worrying me. It probably doesn't help that everyone is moulting.

My stress levels are through the roof much like hers and I desperately want to take her to the vet but I'm pretty much broke for 2 weeks. I am very sorry that I bought my beautiful boy home (as much as I adore him) and keep having mini breakdowns filled with sobbing.

I've taken all the steps back again. He is confined to the kitten room for most of the day and gets only the odd roaming when she is snoozing on our bed. I hate so much that I am the reason for her unhappiness and am almost to the point of giving up.

someone suggested on a separate post, rubbing both of them with powder (I guess that would be talcum powder) and trying to reintroduce them
don't stress, don't fret, that's the worst thing you can do I think - I made the same mistake when I had to leave mine to the cattery for 3 weeks, I was so stressed, I continuously talked to her, assuring her that she needn't worry, I would be back, she'll have fun - while at the same time a knot in my stomach was telling me "noooo it won't be fine, how can my baby be fine without me for 3 weeks" - I think she picked up on my anxiety, because she was so anxious when we arrived, she behaved so agressively, that the owner ended up calling us back and asking us to take her back. I see no other explanation than me being so overly anxious that I passed it on to her...
So - relax, plug Feliway, if you can give her a bath I would do that (since she's a moggie though she might not like it so much) it will neutralise her scent a bit and also get rid of some of the molting - and if not then try the talcum powder trick? may be see if you can find something that's fitting for cats? after you did theat - give him her blanket for a couple of hours so her scent is on him... and let them get used to each other.
I believe that cats are great comedians - they know what button to push to get you where they want you. I believe that if you ignore her bad behaviour she'll get over it.... If you have to do some crying, or stress a bit, just lock them up each in their room and you just go in your own so it doesn't impact them, and leave them with Feliway....
where are you based?

Hey Alekto,

I'm in Derby, in the UK. I think I've just been seeing things a little squiffy. The talcum powder thing didn't work with her, a bath is not going to happen but we have been stroking her (with protests) to help shift her loose hairs. I am taking her to the vet tomorrow for a check up, to get whatever is needed for her pirate eye and if needed some laxatives. She is much happier today (still a moody cow) but I'm not so worried about the state of her, she is more social with us, not eating properly yet but she is drinking. I think either I am going to find a nasty hairball somewhere or a poop that wasn't in the litter tray.

You know when you make a post that you wish you had never made? Last night I was tired, had just finished work at 11pm and was assuming the worst.

Right now she is bullying Cpt. Nemo and rushing around after him and she hasn't had any Serenum. He is loving the attention from her and thinks it is all a game. Still a pirate, still twitchy. Almost heard a meow!

and Felliway? No go, not again. It has a really odd effect on her and no effect whatsoever on him. Fingers crossed this isn't me being overly excited or jumping the gun *knocks on wood*

At this point I'm thinking that we didn't really rush the introductions, that they were moving at the right rate and we did have the no contact again for a few days until he rudely barged out and chirped at her. (I have looked over my previous posts and I don't think I have been the clearest on all this :S)

Has anyone tried the Pets at Home kitten/puppy coconut wipes? I'm thinking of using these for her instead of the feared bath.

The stories are reassuring, the advice, well, I've done everything I could find written down. You never know with cats. She could be a misery tomorrow. Scrap that, she will be as she hates the vet.

Edited to add update/photo: This is how they are now, you can see mucky Cpt Nemo and the pirate at the top with her eye

LOL at the "rudely barged out and chirped" I always thought the Coonie chirp was a cute and friendly thing until Mandy used it to scare Sampson. She still does this if he comes around a corner or gets close to her, and his eyes go wide and he runs away!! Merlin is even worse and he does these long chirps and low trills to get attention. He rarely makes a real "meow", but he tries LOL! I think his strange and gravelly voice is what scares the two tabbies the most. Mandy speaks "Coon" and doesn't mind him.
Cats can and will "milk it" and Merlin's way is throwing up on purpose. I wake up every morning around 6 to his fluffy face and super long tail wrapping around my head, and if I toss him off the bed he will barf on the floor right next to the bed!!

oh that's such good news, Muddled, it looks like things are getting close to resolution then - let us know what the vet says today...