Old cat not home much since new cat arrived

[loveisagirlnameddaisy]

I'm sure this has been covered a thousand times before but can't find anything that's exactly like my situation.

We have a three year old cat who has always been great, goes in and out independently via catflap, generally stays close-ish to home and indoors at some point every day. Eats well, good behaviour etc.

We got a second cat three weeks ago who was 20 weeks when we got her from the rescue centre. We did everything we were told; kept her in a room on her own for a week, introduced them slowly and didn't force any interaction. Our first cat has reacted by barely being in the house. She's nearby but hardly comes in to eat and wants to go out immediately afterwards.

It's been quite upsetting and we're not sure what to do. We got Feliway Friends on the advice of the rescue, but since our first cat is hardly home, she's not benefitting from it. I know they can react quite strongly to the arrival of a new cat, I just don't know what to do for the best. Wait it out and hope???

A weeks too soon, they should be still separated & scent swapping now.

Cats don’t take change well.

We went by what the rescue centre advised. Most online advice also suggets a week of total exclusion followed by controlled supervision.

To be honest, they've barely had any time together. Three interactions at most of about five minutes if that. And then our cat goes out. When she comes in, we keep them separated, but the scent of our new cat seems to be putting her off spending any time in the house.

It’s not working though is it?

Thanks, most helpful.

icatcare.org/advice/how-guides/how-introduce-new-adult-cat-your-cat

Did you read this? There’s no need to be sarky, it’s not my fault it’s gone wrong & your cats decamped to the garden.

This is a long delicate procedure, a weeks nothing to a cat. It’s like your dh coming home and saying “I love you so much darling I wanted another just like you, this is Kate. She lives here now” you’d be pissed too.

Thanks for link. Any suggestions for how to proceed next?

Go right back to stage one, kitten in one room, resident cat in house (lock her in, buggering off isn’t acceptable behaviour). Scent swap, wipe it over each other for a week.

Then do intros holding the door slightly ajar. Offer her treats if she’ll take them. Then go onto the next stage on the ICC chart. If one stage fails go back to the previous one and start again.

You can give her zylkene capsules sprinkled over food to calm her down. It works synergistically with feliway. Amazons your best bet for that one.

She’s throwing a sulk but she needs to accustom herself to change.