Hello!
So I need some advise or tips. Here's the story- I adopted my cat Lucy 8 years ago with my ex-boyfriend. We had our own apartment and she had free roam of the place and no other pets to bother her. We moved into another house and she shared it for only three weeks with my ex's dog and loved him. Shortly after that me and the boyfriend went our separate ways and I of course kept that cat- I was the one who trained her and fed her and snuggled her more but she did love him as well. She was always friendly and she was a very well loved cat by us both. After our break up I temporarily moved back in with my parents- at the time they had 2 cats, one the same bread of my Lucy- and 1 dog. I only lived with my parents for 2/3 months before I moved in with my new boyfriend- his family already had a cat who was about 8/9 years old at the time and had never lived with another cat as an adult- only when she was a kitten and the older cat died shortly after. I left Lucy with my parents and she seemed to love it at first. She had 2 cats and a dog to play with and she had free roam of the whole house & my parents LOVED her to death! She lived with my parents for 6 years and over those years my parents got 3 more dogs total- one passed away within 1 year of getting him. As soon as my parents got the second dog, a beagle- she began to pee where ever she wanted to, she'd hide and you wouldn't see her for days! I'd come visit her and see her and try to snuggle with her but a dog would come up and she'd be gone…hiding where I could never find her. I tried to bring here to my husbands house once and that did not go so well- I wanted to slowly introduce the two cats but no one wanted to listen to me and I ended up being in a cat fight- I was ripped up and had to take my Lucy back home. Last November my husbands cat passed away at the age of 14 I believe- three weeks later I took my Lucy with me. It took her a few days to start to venture out of our bedroom and by the time we moved out this past April she was very social, No longer hiding and would sit with me for hours. The day we brought her home she wanted nothing to do with me and was all over my husband…even sleeping on his pillow with him. But that only lasted a few days- by week two he couldn't go near her without her scratching him. My husband is the sappiest cat person I have ever met! The first thing he does every morning is find Lucy and bring her to me- he tries to snuggle with her and he kisses her- talks to her all sweet, he searches for her to give her a little pet and a kiss the second he comes in the door- I've had him give her treats and try to play with her. She is beyond attached to me and when he is around her with me in the room she is a complete brat! If I am not around she will sometimes let him pet her or play fight with her- that is the one thing I've tried telling him she doesn't like and that is play fighting- he's not rough at all but likes to mess with her a bit- his old cat LOVED IT and he misses her so much I feel bad he can't do that with my Lucy. I have tried to get her to snuggle with the both of us & she will until he moves to pet her. Also- she is friendly with EVERYONE that comes in our house except him!
Until 2 days ago she was the only cat. We decided to rescue a little 7 week old kitten from my cousins who were ignoring her health issues. She is the same bread of my Lucy- female as well. they look almost identical which is why I took her- but she has a bad upper respiratory infection and worms- she is on anti biotic's and has had her first de-worming shot. I was told to keep them away for a while longer and I read a bit this morning on how to introduce them.
SO here are my questions: Obviously Lucy does not like my husbands playfulness with her and sometimes I think she flat out hates him! But will she get worse with the new kitten around? Will she see him with the new kitten and attack him more? Is there something more I can have him do with Lucy to change her attitude? Is there something I should have him stop doing? I want him to be able to snuggle with both of our cats just as I can do. I see him getting sad about it and he feels unloved by Lucy which makes me sad.
Any tips or advise will be greatly appreciated!
thank you!
