[Amara120]

Long story short, the cat I just brought home from the shelter a couple of hours ago got spooked and ended up in the pit of despair that is called under my daughter's bed. And somehow a sandwich wrapper in that pit of despair adhered itself to his butt. So when he does come out from under the bed, no matter how calm my motions are, me moving to catch him and the feeling/sound of the wrapper flapping along spooks him and back under the bed he goes.


Any ideas on how to lure him out long enough to remove the wrapper?

 

[Amara120]

I got him out. He hid under the other bed for the rest of the night. The resident cat has decided today to hate him. This morning he started off occasionally hissing when the new guy got too close to his perch point (after the new guy tried to co-mingle scents by rubbing up against him), but then very suddenly started to growl and make fight sounds when the new guy was across the room, and he started to snap at my hand when I grabbed him to lock him up. I don't remember this much trouble when the current cat moved in, and there's a huge size disparity this time.


The shelter told me the new guy is 2 years old. But he's small, about 5 pounds, and parts of his body are too big for the rest of his body. His tail is huge and looks like it should be on a body twice the size. His ears are also huge when compared to his head. And his paws are way too large for his legs. I don't have any good photos yet, but here's a couple. Is he likely younger than 2 and still growing?

 

[catloverami]

He looks to me like a Maine **** cat....yes they have long tails....the breed is one that will weight 15+lbs. for an adult female and 20+lbs. for a male. The breed is slow to mature and reach their full size in 4 yrs. Of course, without any registration papers, he wouldn't be considered a "purebred".
They usually have a lovely temperament and are very companionable.

Breed Profile: The Maine ****

 

[Amara120]

He looks very similar to our cat that died in July, I actually started crying when I saw him. Montressor, there were a few people that called him a Maine ****, but he was only 11-12 pounds his whole life, and this boy is a Mini Me in everything but his face. I didn't get him as a replacement though, personality I had to decide between him and another cat and I thought that the other cat would be a good cuddle buddy to our surviving cat eventually but it would be a more difficult process getting there than with this cat, Iverson. I suspected he might be younger than 2 from his paws, but I did not expect the kitten energy, eep!

 

[Amara120]

Resident cat afraid of new cat, how do I make him unafraid?

Long story short, both cats have a temperament that unknown cats are welcome so I let them meet right away. The vet says the new guy is actually around one year old, the old guy is 13. (The shelter said two years old, so I expected a certain amount of adult cat calm.)

Meeting went great, first feeding did not. The new guy was super greedy and kept sticking his head in the resident's bowl. I was worried about the resident cat because there is a size disparity. Third time, resident cat hissed at new cat, new cat backed off and went back to the other dish, and I thought the matter settled.

Nope, whenever they see each other, resident cat hisses, sometimes growls, and runs away, low to the ground. If they are both close to the dividing door, he hisses.

So new cat is locked in a bedroom that is too small for territory and clearly wants out and resident cat won't eat unless someone is near him. Family life and house maintenance is disrupted because of how many non work hours are spent in the bedroom.

I just want a peaceful and integrated home.

 

[Tosha Crow]

I took a long break in my status as a cat caretaker, so I'm far from an expert. I can say that some cats hold onto kitty behavior for a long time. My ex and I had a tortie that would get kitten zoomies well past her kitten years. They did slow down, but she was probably 3 or 4 years before that really started to happen. On the upside, she was very affectionate, even past that. We got her and her non-bio (I am guessing, gray tabby) sister as one year olds, so I have no idea what their kitten hood was like.

Granted, I know different breeds have different personalities, so I don't know if that's typical for torties or not. The gray tabby we adopted with her was far more chill and more cliche adult cat like. She'd show up for pets now and again, but mostly just did her own thing.