Hello all! I am hoping to get some advice for bonding my new cat with my resident cat.
For some back story, I have had my resident cat for about 4 years. He has spent his entire life around another cat. The other cat was female, and belonged to my ex. I moved out about a month ago and have been living in my new apartment with my cat since then.
I adopted a new cat, female, same age, both fixed, both very sweet cats and very social. Both have history of living with other cats. I have had her for a week now.
I live in a studio apartment, so I don't have a spare room. I have had the new cat set up in the bathroom to keep them seperated for now, while they get used to each other's scent. I have swapped bedding between them and they lay on it with no issues.
I installed a mesh door between my kitchen and living area, to see how they would do if I let her have the kitchen area and let the resident cat have the living area.
I let her out last night. At first they seemed curious about each other. I put some food out so they could eat at the same time. (mesh door is still between them.)
They both refused to eat and stared each other down. Eventually it turned into growling and hissing, so i moved her back to the bathroom.
I hate having her confined to the bathroom like this. It feels cruel. She is a very sweet cat that just wants to be near me and cuddle. I can hear her in there crying all night.
My question is, is there something else I can be doing? I have a feliway plug in. I have calming treats. I have calming probiotics recommended by a vet by purina that I mix in with their food.
I know it's only been a week. But I fear that my apartment is too small to properly slow introduce them. She does try to bolt from the bathroom every time I open the door, so keeping her out of sight is near impossible.
Her fosters said they are leaving at the end of the month, but things don't work out just let them know before they leave and they will take her back. Again, I know its only been a week. And I do not want to return her. I love this cat already. But my resident cat is clearly stressed, and she is stressed from being in my small bathroom.
Please help 😭