Samantha

[NKBurlington]

I managed to click off a couple of pictures of our new girl Samantha.

Here she is;
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v230/nokiddingburlington/Dscf0006.jpg

With her being a tortie, she's very shy and timid. She's been spending alot of time in the basement alone.

She really, really wants to come up stairs but my resident boys, Ritchi and Sammi, won't let her. They sit at the top of the stairs and at the first sight of her, chase her away.

As for Vos, they don't seem too bothered by him anymore. He comes and goes as he pleases, and they let him.

My question is this; is it because Samantha is a female that they are chasing and tormenting her? She is now the only girl out of four cats. The other three are boys and seem to get along. The don't love each other (other than Ritchi and Sammi, of course), but they tolerate each other.

Having said that, Vos is male and he and Samantha seem to tolerate each other also; but they've lived together for about five years or so.

How can we make it easier for Samantha to come out of her shell? Will she EVER come up stairs? Will she come up on her own? Will my boys let her come up; ever?

I'm really worried about her spending so much time in the basement while the rest of us are up here.

I'd really like your advice on how to have them get along. We've tried the Feliway spray, but that doesn't seem to work very well.

Should we just carry her up here and see what happens?

And advice would be appreciated.

[jazzcat]

She's beautiful.

I really don't have much advice but have you tried putting Sammi and Ritchi up in a room or somewhere with the door shut and let Samantha have a little time to roam by herself or with Vos? I think making her comfortable up stairs might help the situation.

One thing I've learned with introducing new cats to the house is that it take time, some times a lot of time.

Hopefully you can get more and better advice here. Good luck and thanks for sharing the picture of sweet Samantha.

[NKBurlington]

Originally posted by jazzcat
She's beautiful.

I really don't have much advice but have you tried putting Sammi and Ritchi up in a room or somewhere with the door shut and let Samantha have a little time to roam by herself or with Vos? I think making her comfortable up stairs might help the situation.

One thing I've learned with introducing new cats to the house is that it take time, some times a lot of time.

Hopefully you can get more and better advice here. Good luck and thanks for sharing the picture of sweet Samantha.

No, not yet but we have talked about doing that. I think we'll give it a try tonight.

[catmandu]

Bewitching Samantha,is such a Gorgeous,Terrific Tortie,and may the Lord,bless you,for helping her.

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

Lori had a great suggestion about putting the boys in a room so they can't get at Samantha. She will come up if they aren't there to chase her back down.

I'm finding that things go real smooth when both cats are sleeping because Peanut sleeps upstairs and CJ sleeps downstairs. It's almost like Peanut forgets he's there. She's her old self....until he decides to come upstairs. Then she goes on the defensive until he goes back downstairs. So as long as Samantha knows she can roam freely without the boys being right around the corner, she will come around.

It think this will also help because it will get her scent all over the house so the boys can get used to her scent being in all their normal places.

Good luck and hopefully things will calm down soon. I'm in the same boat as you right now in trying to introduce a new kitty - what fun, eh? ;)

[NKBurlington]

Samantha is being a miserable you-know-what!

She growls and hisses not only at Ritchi and Sammi, but at me as well. She does not like me very much. She doesn't mind DH though, so that's good.

Her and The Boys have had a couple of run ins. She will not stop being agressive towards them which in turn, makes them agressive towards her.

Is it because she is female? Does gender play a role in how cats interact with eachother? I've never had a multi gender cat household before.

My MIL said that if push came to shove, she would take one of the cats. She has two females already so we were thinking of giving her Samantha, keeping her cats all one gender and our cats all one gender.

She's the cutest little thing and I hate to see her so pissed off at everyone. She just does not seem very happy and I hate that!!

Poor little girl.

[NKBurlington]

:(

We're about ready to give up on her . . .

Any advice for us?

[catnapper]

I didn't know you got a new cat! Sorry for coming in late here!

How old is she, and is she spayed? Right now Pouncer is driving us NUTS by chasing and tormenting Abby. We have come to the conclusion its because he smells her "femaleness" and we *hope* he stops once we get her fixed at the end of the month.

Introducing cats is always different based on the cat. Torties are known for their prissy attitudes, and their moodiness. Its got to bne very stressful for her to be stuck in a basement and every time she attempts to leave it to be hisses at and sent back down by her new brohters. How long has she been in your home? When we introduced Harrya nd Abby it took almost a month for Pouncer to accpet them. Alleb accepted them within a week... so its up to the cats to determine how long the introduction shold take.

Did I help any?

[NKBurlington]

She is fixed and she is about nine years old. She was living with another cat, Vos whom we also adopted. The Boys have no problem him anymore; just her.

I don't know what to do.

Everytime one our boys comes into the room, she just starts growling and hissing. I don't think she wants to be friends.