Update on the cats

Anubis and Simba are doing well, aside from a continued flareup of Simba's interstitial cystitis.

She has been to the vet to make sure she hasn't developed an infection, aside from that we just wait. She almost got past it, then the fireworks this weekend shot her stress levels up again so we're back to fighting it. Unfortunately our vet also advised me there is still no research that has shown any promise in prevention of her condition. The issue is apparently cause because the cat has holes in the glucosamine layer along the urinary tract - studies have at least shown this much. However the research also, sadly, shows that simply supplementing glucosamine into the diet does not repair these holes and therefore does not help the issue. He did tell me there is some current research into whether a daily glucosamine cath will help, but even if the research shows promise I don't think I'd ever use that method. Unless they found that a one-time cath of glucosamine would help, it's a matter of the cure being worse than the disease. For now, as much as she hates me scruffing and medicating her, the Diazepam does work.

Unfortunately the cystitis causes pain, and the pain causes Simba to be, I suspect, a bit moodier than she would otherwise be. We were making good strides in getting her to like Anubis, but now she's gotten to where she is confusing the heck out of him. Sometimes she doesn't mine him sitting next to her, sometimes she'll hiss. We're trying to give her a firm "no" anytime she hisses for no good reason (ie: he hasn't startled her or chased her or, his new odd habit, stared at her on the litterbox). We're getting there, but slowly.

It doesn't help that Anubis has decided that with James and I out of the house much of the day, he needs a new playmate, and Simba's it. Now, even as a kitten Simba wasn't much into rolling around playing with the other cats. She likes to play with toys, she likes to snuggle. But she's not big on the pounce-and-play with other kitties. Anubis, on the other hand, likes to roughhouse a bit. He doesn't understand why she keeps hissing at him for pouncing after her. After all, he wants to play, why shouldn't she? Unfortunately his boredom has reached levels where he's jumping out at her on her way to the litterbox, on the way to her food bowl... pretty much all the time if he sees her. Which, of course, means he gets hissed at again. For some reason, though, she's running instead of her normal approach I've seen her use with every other new animal I had in the house - standing her ground and swatting. We're quite convinced that all it would take is one warning swat for him to get the picture, but she just won't swat him. So the learning process is requiring us to catch him in the act and stop him, and make sure he knows we're saying no to him without her thinking we're telling HER no for something. It's all getting rather complex and confusing, but they're both smart cats, we just need to make sure we're consistent. It's not that he's doing anything BAD, just Simba won't scold him properly herself but she clearly wants him to back off, and if he wants to make a friend we have to teach him how to interact a bit more calmly.

See, Anubis has never had a kitty playmate before. Not since he was a kitten himself. So he doesn't really know his manners as well as he probably should. He knows not to be mean, he just doesn't know that other cats don't like to be pounced every second of every day.

On the upside, they have come nose to nose a few times. Once she walked right up and sniffed him while he was sleeping. Simba is still occasionally hissing for no reason (we assume the times she hisses are when she's in more pain), but it's happening less often now. Anubis has gotten brave enough to come into the bedroom once or twice a day now - Simba has yet to start wandering regularly into the office, but we're thinking we may have to carry her in there to get her to realize she's allowed in there again. The other day Simba walked right up to Anubis, they sniffed each other's faces.... then the neighbors shot off a firework and she thought it was his fault. So right back to hissing again. Two steps forward, one step back...

It's a slow process but we're getting there. It'll get better once James isn't interviewing constantly, we stop running around trying to pick up things to organize the house, and we settle into something that resembles routine so both cats can sort of figure out what's going on. Until then it's a little crazy, and they're still both doing much better than expected.

We're just mystified by the fact that the situation is reversed from what we expected. We seriously thought Anubis was the one who would have trouble getting along with another cat...

Introducing cats - Romeo

It's official. Anubis is completely smitten with Simba.

Unfortunately Simba does not return these feelings at the moment. She's still not to sure about him. She'll be fine hearing and smelling him in the same room, but when she sees him she starts acting all defensive. I still think part of it is because she's not very used to fluffy cats and she thinks he's poofing his fur at her.

But last night we woke up to hissing again and looked down, there was Anubis on my side of the bed, Simba curled up next to me - Anubis was just staring up at her. Not like the dominating stare, but that cute little face he does when he wants attention. He seems desperate for her to like him and she just won't have any of it yet. We figure she'll take another week or so to get the idea that he isn't going to eat her.

But it's cute and sad. He's so determined. She was at the food bowl this evening, and he sat there with his nose right at her tail but wouldn't go any closer. He spends a lot of time at her favorite spots when she's not in them, sniffing and purring and rubbing his head all over.

We were out all day today, found Simba curled up on the bed where we left her and Anubis hanging out in the office. But I saw a clump of his fur in the bedroom that I hadn't seen before so looks like he tried to make friends again today while we were gone. Poor guy. But I have this feeling one of these days we'll come home and they'll be curled up together, once Simba gets over thinking he's out to get her. But for now it's like watching a little boy with his first crush on that girl who still thinks boys are icky and have cooties.

Introducing cats - tearing down the gate

We had something unexpected last night. I fell asleep on the couch, and woke up to strange meowing. I thought it was Anubis at first, crying from behind the gate... but then I realized it was coming from the kitchen. It was an uneasy sound, I went to turn on a light. There was Simba, staring toward the gate. And there was Anubis, out in front of it. He'd jumped over.

We don't know if he's been jumping over for the last few nights or not. Either way I reassured Simba, who retreated to the bedroom, and Anubis jumped back over the gate.

I made my way back to the bedroom to finish the night out actually in a bed. Not sure how long I was asleep before I woke again, this time to soft growling. It was low and quiet enough I wasn't sure what it was at first. But then I started looking for Simba. She was curled up on the cedar chest at the foot of the bed, growling away. I grabbed a flashlight to try and see what she was on about.

There was Anubis, curled up quite casually in the doorway of the bedroom. None of Simba's fur was raised, Anubis showed no signs of aggression, but Simba's ears were halfway back, nervous style. I tried to reassure her. James tried to reassure Anubis who decided maybe he wasn't allowed in the bedroom after all and took off to head back behind the gate. Simba calmed down and started purring after he was gone.

We went back to sleep. The gate came down in the morning, unceremoniously. We made sure that no big deal was made about it, we acted as though nothing odd had happened. The gate simply came down, that was it.

Simba eyed the lack of gate rather heavily when she came out in the morning, but didn't run. Other than that, not much happened. Anubis came out to explore a few more times. Sometime later in the day James brought Anubis back to the bedroom to show him he's not forbidden from that space. Unfortunately Simba had crawled under the bed from the thunder. I lifted the dust ruffle to check on her, and Anubis peeked under with me. She hissed, so he took off again.

I did manage to coax her out but for at least half an hour she didn't seem interested in coming out of the bedroom. I was a little afraid the experience had scared her into hiding, but sure enough she came back out into the living room.

She fell asleep on her favorite pillow on the couch, and Anubis came out into the living room to play a little bit.

She seems somewhat reassured when I try to show her Anubis is allowed here, but she is still very wary of him, at least when she catches sight of him. She's been in the same room with him several times now, flopped on her favorite pillow. But as long as she doesn't look at him, she doesn't act out of the ordinary. I know she can hear and smell him, and that he's close. It's only when she sees him that she acts bothered. Amd she has, after all, started to peer down the hallway now - tail up high and curious instead of down and tense.

Here is where having two behaviorists in the house is a plus, since we can both bounce things off of each other. Even with all the things I catch, with all the things I know about my cat, I had missed something that should have been obvious. Happens to all of us, I'm just glad he thought to mention it because it puts things into perspective.

We were discussing the cats' personalities, going over again why we didn't feel there would be many fights. I mentioned that Simba, even outside with the other barn cats at my parents' house, had never been on top. Her mother ruled the roost until she died, then her sister took charge. Once said sister died, sometime toward the end of my time at OU, the hierarchy in the group changed again. By the time I finished college and came back home, Simba had been bumped down to the bottom rank. It had been as good a time as any for my parents to bring her to me in my new place.

I told all this to James - I had apparently not explained to him before that when she came to me she was at the bottom of the totem pole. He pointed out what I had missed.

The last time Simba was with other cats, she was the one getting pushed around. Now that suddenly she is faced with another cat again, she is probably a bit nervous she will get pushed around again. So it is very possible that she is posturing to try and make sure she's not stuck on the bottom again.

One way or another, I think once she realizes that Anubis isn't going to try and eat her, she'll be fine. For one, I think she thinks he's got his fur raised at her - she isn't used to cats quite so fluffy (and he has loooong fur). So once she realizes that she may calm down.

For now, I think it's simply best we don't push the issue. I have advised James that while it's okay to carry Anubis into the living room to show him it's his house too, we may wish to leave the bedroom alone since that's been Simba's "safe zone" with every other animal I've brought into this house (guests and foster doggies included). I want her to feel like we're not going to be carrying "invaders" in all the time. So at this point we just let them do what they do and let them work around each other and get used to things. It does seem clear now though that they're at least not going to hurt each other, just avoid each other, so we should be okay to leave the gate down now. We're keeping both of them handy just in case, but we don't expect issues. Tonight, really, will be the test, since Anubis is bolder now and we're just trying to let them be.

I am, of course, nervous even though I know I have no reason to be. Simba is my baby and I tend to be a little paranoid when it comes to her. We're heading out of the house for a few hours tomorrow which makes me uneasy even though I know they'll be okay.

Monday will be the real test, as James and I will both be out the entire day. Hopefully Simba will adjust soon. Go figure, we both thought Anubis would be the problem and he's been perfectly calm. I know she WILL adjust, it's just a matter of when. Hopefully another week at most. She seems to have my two week adjustment period.

Introducing cats - Day 3

Not too much to tell today. The cats seem to be relaxing further, progressing steadily. There have been a few more encounters at the gate with no hissing or growling.

Last night was a bit rough as James actually slept in the bedroom instead of in the office with his cat, so there was a bit of yowling, but we ignored it and eventually it stopped and everyone got to sleep. I know this sounds mean to some people, but it actually is the best way to handle an animal who is crying when you know they're not hurt or sick. Going into the room every time they cry not only reinforces the behavior because you come when they wail, but it also doesn't allow them to find out that they are, in fact, going to be okay if they are left alone.

So there was one little call down the hall to let the cat know someone was still here, then we stayed silent the rest of the night.

Simba didn't seem bothered at all by the yowling. Slept through most of it from her cat bed in the living room, I assume, since she didn't even make her way back to the bedroom until much later and I heard not a peep from her. She didn't cry at all when she came back, just sat at the cedar chest at the foot of the bed and went back to sleep.

James left the house for a couple of hours today so I slipped in to spend a little time alone with Anubis, to make sure he knows even when James isn't here I am safe to be around. He's still wary but coming around. I'm sure part of it is a bit of backslide because the new surroundings smell like me, and I also smell like that other kitty that hissed at him. But I have been petting them both, going back and forth between the rooms and getting their scents on each other a little bit. I think that should help, if they smell it on themselves and come to realize the "other cat" smell isn't a threat.

But they don't seem to be acting completely scared of each other anymore, nor are they acting aggressive at all. Both cats do still act a little wary when they catch sight of each other, but nobody has been running away. They'll stare for a minute then turn and walk off. Every so often Simba still comes to me for reassurance that I still love her even though there's another kitty. But those times are becoming fewer and fewer as we go along.

Only 3 days in and everybody's making loads of progress. Which is a good thing, because I think "mom" and "dad" will be a LOT calmer once the cats have settled in. It's quite clear they are going to be fine, but it will definitely feel better once we've completed the process and everybody's comfortable.

Introducing cats - Day 2

Day 2

The night seemed to go well (for the cats anyway, the people didn't do a whole lot of sleeping). Kitties had their first encounter this morning through the gate. Thought it was going okay, but Simba hissed and yowled. But most of her hair still laid flat and her ears didn't go back all the way so it could have gone much worse. It took Anubis a minute or so to hiss back. Simba took off for the bedroom, he retreated and James had to calm him down but everyone seemed to be okay within a few minutes (except me who is a nervous wreck - you can know all the steps and processes but when it's your own and emotions get involved it makes things rough).

Simba came back to the living room after a bit and ate a little, started to play with her toys so all is well again. We're not going to push the issue. They know there's another cat there, now we just have to let them do their thing and hopefully both will get nosy enough to meet again and maybe it'll go better next time.

I tried to feed Simba some treats in view of the gate. She started to pick them up and shake them but wouldn't actually eat them. She kept looking back toward the gate like something was going to come take her treats from her. But it's a start. And she's not used to me feeding her anyplace but beside her bowl anyhow. So I moved them back to her food bowl, she crunched them down and seemed fine.

She got back to playing again, and I noticed some little food bits around the bag of Anubis' food. Looks like somebody's been nosing in. No wonder her food bowl is still full this morning. She skipped right past her diet food for the good stuff.

Later in the day she actually played in front of the gate, and the two cats eyeballed each other - no hissing this time. I think Simba's primary issue is making sure she isn't going to be replaced. She is displaying some mild signs of separation anxiety - I tried to close the bedroom door to change and she started to cry loudly on the other end, so right now all doors must be open where I am.

All in all, it's been going much better much earlier than we expected. It looks like we may be able to take the gate down by next weekend, since they don't seem to be aggressive toward each other so much as wary and avoidant.

Wish us luck.

Introducing cats - day 1

Over the last couple of days, I have been in the process of helping my other half move up to my place.

As of today, James' cat is moved up. As a bit of background, said cat is suspected to be part bobcat somewhere in his family history, and does not generally handle stress well. So we had spent a long time up to now mulling over how to handle the move.

We put some of the pheremone spray and a couple of James's old shirts in the carrier with him in the hopes of calming him down. We had tried the Comfort Zone diffusers and sprays with my cat with much success in reducing stress levels, but had thus far not tried its effects on any other cat.

Anubis panted and cried some in the car but James says that's MUCH better than he's ever done in a car ride, and that's even the longest one he's ever been on. He's in the front room now with James, he's already eaten, drank a bit, and rubbed his face on some of the furniture. Hasn't used the litterbox *yet* but we brought his old one with all the litter in it so we'll see by morning. He says he's doing better with this than he's EVER seen him do on a move before, so that's a good sign. We had planned ahead by not only putting a pheremone diffuser in the room, but also by trying to set up some familiar things before bringing him in. The desk was already set up, plus we also brought all his toys, his food and water dish from the old house, everything we could set up to make him feel at home. Familiarity is important, especially making sure there are still things that smell like the cat in the new house. This is why we kept the already "dirty" litter - totally dumping the box and refreshing it could slow the process.

My own cat, Simba seems to be doing okay. She was a bit clingy until she realized I was still going to pet her. I tried to push into my normal night routine and after that she seemed to be pretty much okay. She's a little tense, of course, but then again so are we and there's still boxes all over (we're going to start tackling those tomorrow). But she's locked eyes with Anubis at least a couple times - she put her ears halfway back like she does when she's not sure about something and wants me to tell her it's okay, but she hasn't poofed up or growled or acted like she wants to run from him. She seems curious more than anything, a little wary but he doesn't seem upset by her and she's MUCH calmer than she was with the dogs (and with Shaggy she even started to come out and get nosy about him after the first day). She is, as a general rule, an adaptable cat, but she does sometimes get a bit jealous and she is getting old and set in her ways, so I wasn't sure how she'd take it. She's not frantic, and doesn't seem to consider him a threat. Both of these things are very important.

So hopefully this is a good sign and all will go well. Simba's crashed in her kitty bed right now. So we seem to be okay as far as stress levels go. We're good for now, the next big hurdle is when we're ready to remove the gate, but we'll deal with that when we come to it. Right now, they can smell each other, they can see each other while James and I are up. He's going to sleep in the front room with his kitty tonight, so Simba can curl up with me tonight. That should help.

We're still nervous, but so far it's started off better than we expected it would so I think we're going to be okay. Now if we can just get some of this clutter pared down we'll be good. We're tackling that tomorrow.

That should help Simba relax a bit too, I think. She wasn't quite sure about the boxes that started to take over the house, so clearing that up should help.

The sad part is, I know all the steps, I've helped other people transition their pets before. I know the advice tends to work. But there's that extra layer of nerves when you're dealing with your own cats.

If the rest of the process goes as smoothly as tonight has gone, I think everyone will be okay.

Their welfare comes first right now.

We'll see where it goes.