I need a new "hideout" for my cat, suggestions, please
AlongCame_Molly
Posts: 2,835 Member
in Chit-Chat
I have a 6 year old cat (Elphaba), and we just recently took in a stray abandoned kitten (Rasputin), only about 18 hours old when we found him. We bottle raised him, he's about 8 weeks old now. He's turned into the greatest little companion for my son, they just love each other.
Elphaba, however, needs convincing. She's always been le grande dame of the house and so far is not pleased with our new baby. She mainly keeps to herself like she always did before, (lazy cat) but since Rasputin is old enough to roam at night now, he is getting more intrepid and curious about this big cat that must be investigated. He bravely invades her hideout every night (which is right under my side of the bed) always at like 2 in the morning, and Elphaba hisses and yowls at him, waking us up.
TL;DR: the cats are waking us up at night. We can't shut either one of them out of the bedroom, because they will yowl and cry at being excluded.
I am thinking the best option is to offer Elph a new hideout or safe place, away from our bed, so if she chooses to start cussing out the kitten in the middle of the night it won't be as obnoxious.
A cat tree is out, because they are pretty expensive, there's literally not one single place we could put it in our small house, and I can just picture our toddler gleefully shaking it to make it "rain cat". No dice. It must be completely inaccessible to a small child where she can feel safe, (not that she's ever in any danger, she's just crabby) and defensible against a kitten. A cat Fort Knox, if you will. Preferably reasonably priced, but if a solution is AWESOME and relatively fail-safe, I'm willing to concede on the cost.
I think maybe a nice wide shelf installed high up on the wall would be ok, but how would I teach her to use it? What if she rejects it because she didn't choose it herself? (Yes, she's a spoiled B like that, I've been meaning to have a talk with her about it)
Has anyone successfully taught a cat to abandon an old dig for a new one of your own choosing? How would I go about doing that?
What do you guys suggest? Has anyone had a problem like this? What did you do? Are there any products/websites you know of that would help/offer insights?
*cue the inevitable wise@ss comment about how I should get rid of one of them, dogs are better, etc.* :yawn:
Thanks, guys!
Edit for typos
Elphaba, however, needs convincing. She's always been le grande dame of the house and so far is not pleased with our new baby. She mainly keeps to herself like she always did before, (lazy cat) but since Rasputin is old enough to roam at night now, he is getting more intrepid and curious about this big cat that must be investigated. He bravely invades her hideout every night (which is right under my side of the bed) always at like 2 in the morning, and Elphaba hisses and yowls at him, waking us up.
TL;DR: the cats are waking us up at night. We can't shut either one of them out of the bedroom, because they will yowl and cry at being excluded.
I am thinking the best option is to offer Elph a new hideout or safe place, away from our bed, so if she chooses to start cussing out the kitten in the middle of the night it won't be as obnoxious.
A cat tree is out, because they are pretty expensive, there's literally not one single place we could put it in our small house, and I can just picture our toddler gleefully shaking it to make it "rain cat". No dice. It must be completely inaccessible to a small child where she can feel safe, (not that she's ever in any danger, she's just crabby) and defensible against a kitten. A cat Fort Knox, if you will. Preferably reasonably priced, but if a solution is AWESOME and relatively fail-safe, I'm willing to concede on the cost.
I think maybe a nice wide shelf installed high up on the wall would be ok, but how would I teach her to use it? What if she rejects it because she didn't choose it herself? (Yes, she's a spoiled B like that, I've been meaning to have a talk with her about it)
Has anyone successfully taught a cat to abandon an old dig for a new one of your own choosing? How would I go about doing that?
What do you guys suggest? Has anyone had a problem like this? What did you do? Are there any products/websites you know of that would help/offer insights?
*cue the inevitable wise@ss comment about how I should get rid of one of them, dogs are better, etc.* :yawn:
Thanks, guys!
Edit for typos
0
Replies
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Put Elph and Rasp in a bag until they get on.0
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Is her hideout something you can physically move in and of itself? If so, start by putting it on a bedside table, put her in it to show her where it is so she knows where to find it (maybe put some treats in it for her), until the little one is able to jump up on the table, she should be fine and that may give her enough time to get adjusted to the interloper (remember, cats can take several months to accept a new member to their household, and she knows this little "critter" needs to learn his place- thus the hissing and yowling, she's telling him "This is my space, stay out, you need to learn that I am in charge here you young whippersnapper!")
Find some places for the little one to establish as his own hide out too (maybe a hide out in your son's room since they're good buddies?), it sounds like he's looking for a space of his own too, and there also may be that he's looking to her for his mother figure since he is so young. Ultimately, they will need time to sort it out in their own catly manor and it will take time and patience.
My two each have their own spots on the bed, one likes the back of the chair in the living room the other the back of the couch, they trade off on lying on the plastic bin that's sitting in the middle of the bedroom floor with my holiday scrubs in it ( I took it out of the closet when I was switching out my winter/summer clothes last year and one of them was sleeping on it so I left it out and now either one or the other is on it most of the time and I don't have the heart to take it away from them.) So it can be done.0 -
Put Elph and Rasp in a bag until they get on.
DO NOT do that.
They need to be introduced to each other slowly.
Feeding time is a good time that they can be introduced, but don't have them eat right next to each other. A bit far apart usually helps and sit between them, so they can't get near each other. They pretty much need to "see" each other from a distance they both feel is far enough to feel secure in their own space.
Sharing the items where they spend most of their time with also helps. If you brush them, use the same brush on both so their scent gets passed from one to the other.0 -
my cat loves to be high on her shelf but she's not running from curious kittens shes running from rambunctious dogs0
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Put Elph and Rasp in a bag until they get on.
DO NOT do that.
They need to be introduced to each other slowly.
I saw it in a Simpsons episode, it must work. How much more evidence do you need?0 -
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My boyfriend just moved in and brought his cat. We were worried about how his and mine would get along so we built some cat shelves. It was much cheaper than a cat tree.
We just took some wood I had laying around and upholstered it or wrapped it in twine and then mounted them on cheap but sturdy mounts from Home Depot. It does require a lot of holes in the wall.
As you can see, it's kitty approved.0 -
We just got a kitten, and I found this book to be very helpful: The Cat Whisperer by Mieshelle Nagelschneider. She has good insight into cat behavior. Best wishes!0
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Mind. Blown, Good link.
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I have a 13 year old grumpy cat. I took in an abandoned Egyptian Mau kitten (saw him dumped on the street, so I scooped him up). Same issue as you....old grumpy was not amused. I got another kitten from the rescue to be his playmate which has worked out well and they have each other instead of bothering the old grump.0
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Time. That is the #1 factor.
Other than that, try to get them to play "together." Get a flippy-toy and play with one cat. When the other seems interested (but not jumping right in, getting in the way), start playing with the other cat, so they see each other and can get used to each other.
The only "problem" with cat shelves is that you'd need to make sure that there are at least two avenues of escape. If the kitten is coming from one direction toward E, then E needs to be able to get away, if she wants to.
eta: Basically, try to get them together when you're awake, so the temptation to harass will be less when you're asleep.0 -
Is her hideout something you can physically move in and of itself? If so, start by putting it on a bedside table, put her in it to show her where it is so she knows where to find it (maybe put some treats in it for her), until the little one is able to jump up on the table, she should be fine and that may give her enough time to get adjusted to the interloper (remember, cats can take several months to accept a new member to their household, and she knows this little "critter" needs to learn his place- thus the hissing and yowling, she's telling him "This is my space, stay out, you need to learn that I am in charge here you young whippersnapper!")
Find some places for the little one to establish as his own hide out too (maybe a hide out in your son's room since they're good buddies?), it sounds like he's looking for a space of his own too, and there also may be that he's looking to her for his mother figure since he is so young. Ultimately, they will need time to sort it out in their own catly manor and it will take time and patience.
All of this.
All the cats I had growing up took some time to adjust to each other, and the eldest never got chummy with the younger ones because of the large age gap. They may never get along and you may just have to deal with it, unfortunately.0 -
Put Elph and Rasp in a bag until they get on.
Hmmm, I was thinking something more like this...0 -
Put Elph and Rasp in a bag until they get on.
DO NOT do that.
They need to be introduced to each other slowly.
Feeding time is a good time that they can be introduced, but don't have them eat right next to each other. A bit far apart usually helps and sit between them, so they can't get near each other. They pretty much need to "see" each other from a distance they both feel is far enough to feel secure in their own space.
Sharing the items where they spend most of their time with also helps. If you brush them, use the same brush on both so their scent gets passed from one to the other.
This is a pretty good idea!0
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