Kitty Adaptation

April 10, 2006

It’s been almost four full days now since I brought Little Miss Madison home from the shelter and put her up in her own guest room. According to all the literature I’ve read, you should keep a new cat separated from the existing cat for 5-14 days, introducing them slowly during that time.

A couple of times I’ve let them see each other through a cracked door. Each time, Martin has hissed at this new kitty invading his territory. That’s normal. My fear has been that Martin wouldn’t be accepting of the new cat, not vice-versa. It never occurred to me that Madison wouldn’t accept Martin. He's so docile and lazy that I figured it would be easy going for him. Boy was I wrong!

Today I tried a quick introduction to see how things would go. Martin was in the master bedroom, and I let Madison see him from the hallway with the door open. He hissed at her, and to my surprise, this little girl ran at him at full speed, chasing him under the bed! I quickly separated the two, and put her back in her room.

But poor Martin. He went into the bathtub and cowered in there for an hour. I finally took him out and put him on the bed where he cowered in the same spot, unmoving, for another 20 minutes, his eyes glued squarely on the master bedroom doorway. Finally, I picked him up and carried him downstairs so he could eat, which he did. My baby! I feel terrible. It just breaks my heart to see him so fearful in his own home. I never imagined him to be afraid of a little kitty that weighs half as much as he does. This is why you have to be careful introducing a new pet into a household that already has pets.

So, I will keep trying. Poor, poor Martin. He's my baby. I've always been so protective of him, and now I feel like I've let him down allowing this intruder in his home. I hope it works out in the long run. I really want him to have a playmate.

Madison is back in her room, purring away like nothing ever happened. Last night when I went in to play with her, I brought the little laser pointer that I’d gotten for Martin a couple years ago. Martin never showed the least bit of interest in that toy. But Madison is his polar opposite when it comes to toys. She’ll play non-stop until I’m too tired to play. The laser light is a fun toy. She thinks she’s caught the little red bug, then it disappears out from under her paws. Hee-hee!