Brokenhearted

by Jennifer
(Avon Park, FL)

I adopetd my cat, Lulabelle, from a shelter. She was estimated to be 7 yrs old at that time. After I got her home I noticed she would not let me bend over and pet her on the head. She should back off as if she had been hit or abused. It took quite a while to build up our relationship to this point and I love her so much. I look forward to seeing her at the end of the day. Our special time is on the bed. That is where she felt most comfortable for me to love and kiss on her and rub her belly. Six days ago I took in an abandoned 6 week old kitten. She has a great personality and everyone loves her except Lulabelle. People keep telling me to give it time but, Lulabelle won't come to my bed anymore and hides all the time, once when I tried to hold her she hissed at me. Her body goes all rigid when I try to hold her and meows pitifully. I try to keep the new kitten in the bathroom to give Lulabelle her space but she still won't come to me. Lulabelle and I had formed such a strong bond and I feel like I'm losing her. Is it because of her traumatic past or because of jealousy? Should I give it more time or will Lulabelle deteriorate more rapidly? This kitten is cute but my heart belongs to Lulabelle. Is there a chance that they will ever get a long or is that too much for Lulabelle to handle? I don't want to lose her. It's breaking my heart. Help!!!

Answer by Kate
Hi, you didn't tell me how long ago you rescued Lulabelle. If it was fairly recently then yes I would say that it was too soon to have rescued another cat.

You can try to introduce the cats using the process here on this page https://www.our-happy-cat.com/introducing-cats.html

Take it slow and make sure that you give both cats plenty of your time and lots of games. this helps to take their minds of other issues. Also bonding with a cat takes time and also some special tecniques to give the cat confidence in you, see my page here about bonding with a cat https://www.our-happy-cat.com/new-cat.html

Don't worry too much at this satge, it can take quite a bit of time to settle new cats into a home and also for cats to bond with their owners especially if they have been rescued from a shelter and may have had nasty experiences before.

Take your time, be calm and I'm sure your confidence will rub off onto the cats in time.

best wishes Kate

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