We have an eight year old female cat who we have had since she was a kitten. We also had her sister who unfortunately got hit by a car a few years ago so girl cat has been on her own for a while now. When we got them as kittens they were pretty much feral and we suspect possibly mistreated because they were very timid and it took them a while to trust us. Girl cat is still very jumpy and whilst she is fine around us, she doesn't interact with any strangers coming into the house and prefers to stay upstairs out of the action.
A good friend of ours recently moved abroad and had nowhere to re-home his 2 year old Tom so we decided to take him in. So far we have kept the two cats separate and boy cat has settled in very well with us. He is affectionate and even loves our two young kids. The area we have kept him in has windows that look into our garden and girl cat had amused herself by prancing around in front of the windows in what I assume is a territorial display. This had resulted in some hissing and growling from boy cat. We decided after a few days of this to introduce them and initially they were ok but eventually it ended in a fight. Girl cat was surprisingly feisty for a cat who is normally so timid!
Since then we have kept them apart and let boy cat explore some more of the house without girl cat around. We've also swapped over some bedding and put it near where they eat in an attempt to introduce some positive feelings with the scent of each other. Does anyone have any other tips? I have read about Feliway Friends but it has mixed reviews and I feel like it's a temporary fix. We just want them to be happy and settled in our home.
Sorry for the long post, thanks for bearing with me. Any advice would be appreciated!