Hey all! I need some advice from the pootie people. Here is the story:
My SO and I have 2 cats which we adopted from the pound as kittens. They were different litters, one boy and one girl, but they socialized together well. Here they were as kittens (this was last year, not 2005 like the cam date says):
Bambi and Thumper
More below...
Since we got them (or rather, they got us), we've moved to a slightly larger place with more windows and space to run and play inside. Here they are now:
Bambi and Thumper
Both of them are neutered and have friendly personalities. The girl, though, is a bit skittish of everything, but we think that she may have bad eyesight and poor smell, and so her hearing is almost overdeveloped - she hears and reacts to things even the boy doesn't react to - and that may be the reason for her skittishness.
A week or so ago, this stray kitty started coming to our back door every evening, so we gave him bowls of dry food and water. And he kept showing up. On the third night, he let me pet him, and by the fourth night he was jumping in LE's (LaEscapee, my SO) lap.
It's clear to us that he was previously someone's cat. He's too easy around people to have been a feral cat. But he's also clearly been outdoors for a while, fending for himself; he's very thin, and he's got what looks like a road rash on one leg that's healing, and something bit him on one of his balls, and that is also healing. He's primarily a creamy white cat, so he sticks out like a sore thumb in the outdoors here, and is probably an easier target for the racoons, possums, etc that dominate the outdoors here. And judging by his reaction to us as well as his skittishness about any sound outside, we made him feel safe when we were out there with him.
LE and I checked with the neighbors around here and he's nobody's cat. So we've decided to adopt him. We called the vet and he's gonna get his shots this week, as well as get neutered and tested for the main diseases (FIV, FIP, and FeLV).
Here he is eating outdoors a couple nights ago:
Sherbert
We've named him Sherbert, cuz his color markings look like orange sherbert. We call him Bert for short. And last night, we coaxed him into our large carrier and brought him in to the house.
Now, Bambi and Thumper have been watching him out the window for the past week or so, and they've been more curious than hostile.
When we started petting him, they would smell us when we came in and most of the reaction was again, curiosity. One growl at the strange smell the first night, but not really hostile in general. Bert even stood up to the window nose to nose with Thumper through the screen and they just smelled, no hostile behavior involved.
Last night, before we put him in our spare bathroom, we left him in the carrier out in the open for an hour. Bambi is more freaked and she just slinked around the carrier; she growled a couple times, but not at Bert - she growled at Thumper, so I think that maybe she remembers Thumper's smell before neutering and is reacting to Bert's maleness, which will be rectified before they get any kind of real outside-of-carrier face time. We also think that Bert is pretty young, perhaps even a little younger than our two. He isn't showing traditional signs of adult male behavior, i.e. he hasn't sprayed at all (Yay!), so it's possible he hasn't learned to yet. So we're hoping that his probably being young will help make socialization a bit easier.
Bert's been in the bathroom for almost a day now, and he's just a doll. We think he probably was an indoor kitty before. He's relaxed and not skittish at all, he's adjusted to his surroundings including using a litterbox (Yay again!) and I think he's just grateful to be indoors and cared for. He gives hugs - not kidding - he puts his front paws on my shoulder and rubs my cheek.
Bambi and Thumper are doing ok so far. Thumper is more curious than anything. When Bert was in the carrier in the living room, Thumper actually laid down in front and went nose to nose with him as they smelled each.other, and then Thumper turned over on his back in a prone stance; we've taken this to be a good sign. Sure, there's been a little growling from both of ours, but it's not continual, just occasional and random, and there's been no growling whatsoever from Bert.
We know that it's hard to bring another cat in to a house that has two resident cats, so what we're asking y'all is do you have any tips or advice for socializing a new cat in to a house that has other cats there? Or any stories of your experiences?
We sure could use all the wisdom we can get! Thanks!