andy@Shasta.ARPA (09/21/85)
I recently make the "wrong" decision with a stray cat and may soon be faced with two problems. (Actually she's pretty wonderful. She comes when meowed at and is very affectionate and pretty.) They don't get along at all. I'd also like to convince the new cat that indoors is best. (I'm not going to name her until I'm sure that I can't find a good home for her.) Spike, my current cat, refuses to be an outdoor cat. She hasn't had much experience with other cats in her five years. (I've had even less; we've been together for 18 months.) I would really like to avoid letting the new cat be indoors/outdoors, but don't want her to be outdoors only. So what do I do? -andy decvax!decwrl!Glacier!Shasta!andy goes to andy@su-sushi.arpa
wjr@x.UUCP (Bill Richard) (09/26/85)
<> Note: This is STella Calvert, a guest on ...decvax!frog!wjr. In article <333@Shasta.ARPA> andy@Shasta.ARPA writes: >I recently make the "wrong" decision with a stray cat and may soon >be faced with two problems. (Actually she's pretty wonderful. She >comes when meowed at and is very affectionate and pretty.) They >don't get along at all. I'd also like to convince the new cat that >indoors is best. (I'm not going to name her until I'm sure that I >can't find a good home for her.) Look for cat books by Carol Wilbourne for more than I can stuff in this article -- she has good ideas on introducing cats to each other. Spike, your older cat, has seniority rights in the house and will fight to defend them unless you can get around it. The way you do that is IGNORE THE NEW KITTY. When the new kitty has made her peace with Spike, Spike will let you know that there is a new cat in the house. You suddenly notice her, raise a big fuss, and say all kinds of stupid stuff like, "Gee, Spike, where did you find the new kitty." "Good grief, Spike, you found a great cat." And so forth. Since you haven't named the new cat yet, you might consider naming it (when Spike draws her to your attention) Spikeskitty. The general idea is to pay attention to Spike when you fuss the new one. Then Spike doesn't get her feelings hurt, gets lots of positive attention for bringing a new cat into the family, and has a friend. As to the indoor/outdoor problem. A while ago we moved our five cats from a place where they could get outside easily to an apartment where it's much more difficult (and dangerous). They sniveled and wimped about it for a while, but now they know that we have decided it's inevitable that they stay in, and only charge the door once in a while. (Having catlocks on both doors to our apartment helps a LOT.) Good luck! STella Calvert (guest on ...!decvax!frog!wjr) Every man and every woman is a star. PS -- I would give you titles for Wilbourne, but most of my books are in storage and I know some of them are out of print. However, she does do a monthly column for _Cat Fancy_, a magazine you should be able to find at any big newstand.