Signed Mei
Posted By admin on June 30, 2011
Signed Mei
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Trying to re-socialize a cat?
Tonight one of our friends brought her new kitten over in a carrier to meet out cat Mei Mei. Mei approached the carrier cautiously, but then she hissed and ran away! Over the course of an hour she would advance and retreat, hissing and growling each time. We did not let the kitten out of the carrier as we were afraid she might attack it.
As a kitten (she is just over a year old) she lived in a house with lots of dogs and cats, but since we adopted her almost a year ago she has been an only pet. Is her behavior a sign that she'll have nothing to do with other animals from now on, or should we try again?
There are a couple of good tricks to get two cats to adjust. Take a sock and rub it all over the kitten to pick up the scent...then play with your other cat, and rub the cat nicely with the scented sock.
Also, you can lock Mei Mei in a room and let the kitten wander and get it's scent all over... then put the kitten away and let Mei Mei sniff it out.
Obviously, the key is to introduce them in a friendly way without actually introducing them face to face first. Luckily, cats are big on scent, and so there are several clever ways to do that.
ALSO, it's very important that once the kitten and Mei Mei are in the same habitat, they need SEPARATE facilities for the bathroom, and to be fed in separate dishes. Mei Mei needs to know that she will not go hungry because of this...special treats like real tuna are most definetly in line here...if Mei Mei associates being around the kitten with play and yummy food, that can help the transition go more smoothly.
Cats really are social animals...it just takes some time.
Good luck!
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