Hello Donna and staff,
I am just letting you know that things are going well for Fric (now Gemma) in our home. We adopted her last Friday, and initially I allowed her to have the master bedroom as her private space with gradual and short introductions to our other cat Tanzi. She seemed to enjoy the privacy and I would just keep going in the room every so often to talk with her etc.
As expected, Tanzi was a bit territorial, but not in an aggressive manner just some low quiet growls, slight hissing and constant watching. Gemma was able to allow Tanzi to be in charge and she would just move around quietly and then return to her bedroom. Over the next few days, it became apparent that they have very similar personalities that match well. They are both nice, gentle and quiet cats whose curiosity keeps them continually looking for each other (even though they were both nervous and unsure). With lots of encouragement and patience things have just gotten better each day. In such a short time (by Monday ), I have been able to leave all rooms open and they are both quietly playing or sleeping. They give each other space as needed, and seem to enjoy the night hours playing together. The big test was when Gemma went to eat from Tanzi’s food dish and thank goodness Tanzi was fine with it. Gemma seems amazed with the amount of space she can check out, walking around the bed and playing with the many toys and floor scratchers.
Gemma is still quite shy with my son who sometimes moves quickly around the house, but she is not hiding from the action as much. In my opinion, this is a surprisingly quick transition, but I guess the energy between all of us works well.
Thanks for understanding the personalities of the cats you rescue in order to house them in the best possible situations.
Sincerely,
~ Shelley, Lee, Lucas, Tanzi and Gemma