I have done some searching on the forum for my situation but couldn't find anything that was a good match.
My fiancee are in the process of combining households into a 2 bedroom apartment. One of the rooms is dedicated to her art studio.
Cats involved:
My Cat:
Logan. Male. Approx. 8 years old. Neutered. Approx. 15lbs NOT declawed.
Rescue cat from shelter. No history.
Very loving and playful cat. Loves to open cabinet doors and knock things over to get attention. Very curious.
LAP CAT TO THE EXTREME!
Fiancee's cat:
Ophelia. Female. Approx. 3 years old. Spayed. Approx. 10lbs NOT declawed.
Rescued, fostered by Vet while pregnant.
During foster care, cat had to be kept in a separate room from other pets. She did not get along with other pets.
After kittens were weened, my Fiancee received momma (Ophelia) cat and moved her into a studio apartment with no other pets.
Took about 2 weeks for Ophelia to acclimate to new house but became a very loving pet.
Loves brushes and special 1 on 1 treatment on her terms.
Loves to ride in cat backpack with mom on walks. (mesh on all sides)
Our Challenge:
We both love our cats and each others cats. Re-homing is really not an option as far as we are concerned.
My Fiancee has been bringing Ophelia over to my place (where we will live together) about 2 times a week for a few hours for the last month. Sometimes my Fiancee will sit with Ophelia in the art studio room with the door closed and Logan will be in the rest of the apartment with me. Other times, we will put Logan in the master bedroom and let Ophelia roam freely in the apartment. Regardless of the arrangement, Ophelia is completely stressed out, hisses and growls at me and Logan. (She sees Logan when being brought into the apartment.) In the mean time, Logan just wants to say hi and smell her. He does not have any adverse reactions to Ophelia such as hissing, arching, or any aggressive or defensive behaviors.
We have tried bringing Ophelia's bed over, her favorite snacks and food, toys, etc but she still remains stressed out. This weekend we plan on trying a calming collar which helped her acclimate to my Fiancee's apartment. The calming sprays don't seem to work for her.
I am looking for advice to help make the transition more smooth and find a technique that may help Ophelia feel more at home and less threatened by my cat. I know they probably won't become best buds but I would at least like to have them in the same room.
Note: Our current apartments are very close to each other. Short walk so no car rides involved.
Combining Households
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Mollycat
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Re: Combining Households
I love how you've thought about this and are trying a carefully planned method to introduce Opie. Unfortunately cats don't usually work that way. The moving back and forth to different parts of another cat's territory then home then back again is likely stressing her out more than a move.
You need to follow the protocol for bringing a new cat into a home that already has a resident cat - rather than keep moving her back and forth. There are lots of detailed guides and plenty of support here for how to do that but it starts with giving the "new" cat a dedicated room with all her things and the door closed at all times and NO WAY for the resident cat to reach her, ever. Be prepared for the introduction process to take months, in the end it may not work at all if she is a cat that does not like other cats, but this has to be painstakingly slow to have any chance of working. At every step (and there are many steps) give her a week of being comfortable before moving on to the next baby step.
Giving Opie her own space where she will understand she now lives, where she is safe (from the resident cat and any other unseen terrors, from her point of view - she even has to get used to the noises outside and figure out nothing is going to attack her) and once she feels settled and safe then you can carefully begin to go forward. You already know it takes her a while to settle, so I just cannot stress enough how slow you have to go. If she is used to a studio apartment she will be fine in a single room, and your art studio sounds perfect. But you will need to be 100% sure there is no accidental escape or contact between cats before she is settled and ready.
You need to follow the protocol for bringing a new cat into a home that already has a resident cat - rather than keep moving her back and forth. There are lots of detailed guides and plenty of support here for how to do that but it starts with giving the "new" cat a dedicated room with all her things and the door closed at all times and NO WAY for the resident cat to reach her, ever. Be prepared for the introduction process to take months, in the end it may not work at all if she is a cat that does not like other cats, but this has to be painstakingly slow to have any chance of working. At every step (and there are many steps) give her a week of being comfortable before moving on to the next baby step.
Giving Opie her own space where she will understand she now lives, where she is safe (from the resident cat and any other unseen terrors, from her point of view - she even has to get used to the noises outside and figure out nothing is going to attack her) and once she feels settled and safe then you can carefully begin to go forward. You already know it takes her a while to settle, so I just cannot stress enough how slow you have to go. If she is used to a studio apartment she will be fine in a single room, and your art studio sounds perfect. But you will need to be 100% sure there is no accidental escape or contact between cats before she is settled and ready.