Cat Vs. Cat

This week I will be introducing a new cat to my house. I have had an established cat in the house for the last 3 years. She has been the Queen of in the household for that time.

Tale of the tape:

Kato: named after the character in the Pink Panther Movies, she attacks me without warning
Height: 11 inches
Length:12 1/2 inches
Weight: 5 pounds
Reach: 17 inches
History: She was a feral cat that I had seen roam and hunt in my yard for a couple of years. I enticed her into my house on a cold winter night. She had been hanging around my yard for months. I think because of the bird feeders... good hunting. Anyway, one very cold night I decided she needed some shelter so I threw a tarp over my patio chairs for some shelter for her to get out of the snow and wind. I added a kitty bed under the tarp. She spent several nights there and I was pleased. After about a week I decided to add a little food in the shelter. She returned each night to her shelter for warmth and food. I then began hand-feeding her cheddar cheese. She seemed to enjoy it but was still very on guard.

Then, one night I heard some movement on the deck. I looked out to find a raccoon had cornered the cat in the shelter I had built for her. Feeling responsible for her situation, I chased the raccoon off and lured the cat into my house with cheese. It took almost an hour but I finally got her into the house.

The next 2 weeks I didn't see her. I knew she was in the house but didn't know where. I knew she was inside because I would leave food out and it would be gone overnight. Also, I put out a litter tray and I knew something was there (that really amazed me!).

For the last three years I've been trying to earn her trust. It was a real treat when she allowed me to pet her without trying to bite or scratch me. I had finally earned her trust! Now, she is almost like a domesticated cat. She still will bite or scratch me but for the most part she allows me to pet her without inflicting pain!

Enter the new cat.....
No photo available at this time: Bailey: (named for her coloring, colored like a Bailey's Bristol Cream drink)
Height: 11 inches
Weight: 8 pounds
Reach: 17.5 inches
History: Bailey is a four year old female cat. She has been with my sister for the last 2 years. Similar background as far as one owner. One person that she sees on a daily basis. Every time I have visited my sister, Bailey would run under her bed. My cat does the same thing anytime anyone else is in my house.

This week my sister will be moving in with me. So, we will have two cats who are used to running the household, in the same house. Oh woe is me! I don't know how this will go but I hope to be able to report the experience with this blog. I'll try to get pictures but I don't know what to expect!  My sister and I should be able to get along fine, but our children, I fear, is a whole different story!

I think Friday 10/01/2010 will be D-Day!

Here's our plan:
We will keep them separated for the first few weeks. Each having their own room and food and litter tray.
Then;
Let one roam the house, one day. The next day, let the other roam.


Thursday 09/30/2010
We had to cancel the last move because of heavy rain in the forecast for Wednesday through Thursday night. When I arrived home Thursday night I found that Fedex had delivered the new Router from Hugesnet that I had ordered last weekend. I was happy that I had the entire night not having to worry about my feline so I decided to install the router so I wouldn't have to worry about it during the last move and the Cat Vs. Cat spectacle.

I'll make a long story short.... I spent all night on the phone with Hugesnet support. Went to bed a little after 1:00am without the internet. VERY FRUSTRATED! The last thing the customer support supervisor told me was, it should be up in the morning and if it wasn't, to call back. Oh, yeah, that made me feel better!

Friday 10/01/2010
I woke up and went straight to the router. Yep, same as I had left it 6 hours ago. The heck with it, Off to work I go. My sister had paid for the day on Friday so we had until midnight to get the rest of her stuff out of the apartment. After work, we got the rest of  her stuff and the challenger to the throne and headed home.
By the time we made it home it was close to 9:30. Both of us were so tired we didn't want to make any cat introductions so we both put our cats in their rooms and closed the door. I did take the cat carrier into the room where my cat was hiding under the bed so she did hear that there was another cat in the house.

I had to call Hughes again to get that resolved. Finally, after another hour I had a working router! Next step was to reconfigure my wireless network. My old configuration was for a static IP and my wireless was configured for that. So, after another 40 minutes I had my internet connection fully operational!!!

Sunday 10/03/2010
A very interesting thing happened last night. KatoHmmmmm

Sunday morning Bailey was outside of my bedroom door. She is getting a little more comfortable with her new home. I actually saw her twice. She didn't run away at the sight of me! So, I guess that's a little progress.

Last night while Kato was sitting on my bed I opened the bedroom door. Bailey was sitting just outside the door in the hallway. Kato saw her but Bailey was looking at me and didn't notice the cat on the bed. My cat just watched very intently but didn't react in any other way.

Monday 10/04/2010
Off to work early so I left my three girls home alone! (my sister and two cats) I don't know what to expect when I get home! But, knowing my sister, she'll try to get them together. Oh well, It's her skin! I'll add more when I get home and assess the damage!

I'm home and everything is OK. Kato is still hiding under my bed. Bailey was at the stairs and quickly vanished into the bedroom when she saw me. Looks like this is going to take a little time for all to get accustomed to each other.

Friday 10/08/2010
Tonight we had our first true encounter! Nose to Nose. Only lasted a second but no hissing or scratching. Both cats tails were 3 times the normal size. My cat retreated to her spot under my bed. Bailey ran out of the room, down the hall to her bedroom. Not very bad for the first real encounter! This may turn out alright after all.

I tried letting my sister feed my cat figuring if Kato associated a good thing with my sister it would help bring her out. It didn't work this time but we'll continue to try to get Kato out from under my bed!

All in all I would consider this a step forward!

Friday 11/05/2010
Sorry for not updating this blog for almost a month! I've had a time of it and haven't been able to keep it updated. I've had 'issues' with tweetdeck, hughesnet, my computer, work and truck.... won't go into everything to save time. But, it looks like things will finally settle down enough to do a little blogging!

For those of you that still care.... Thank you! All seems to be going well but I've put the brakes on the cat integration for the last three weeks or so. I've kept Kato in my room for the most part. She is about half the size of Bailey so I guess I'm trying to protect my little girl! With all the other stuff that's been going on I don't need any other headaches (or vet bills). Anyway, my sister is making headway, she's been feeding Kato so that is helping her to earn Kato's trust. Bailey on the other hand is almost my pal. She doesn't run away when she sees me anymore so I guess that's a step forward!

We've had a few meetings of the cats but they still hiss and growl at each other. One 'fight', which was a draw and no blood letting. I think this weekend we'll push it a little farther with the two of them but we'll play that one by ear.

I'm still trying to get a good photo of Bailey but she's not cooperating... maybe soon though!