Introducing Cats advice
Hello. I have a 3.5 year old cat (Lily - tabby) and a newly adopted 1 year old cat (Lola - tuxedo). We have had Lola for around 7 weeks. To give some context Lola came from a hoarding cat house and unfortunately had her own litter at about 6 months - she was quite unsocialised and took a long time at her foster home (and our home) to adapt. She is now very playful and loves cuddles but hides under her table when she’s scared. Both cats are spayed. We have been slowly introducing the pair.
**Intro process:**
\- own spaces with own food, litter tray etc
\- scent swapping
\- positive associations with treats and plays at either side
\- screen door which is now always available and they can always see each other
\- short supervised visits in Lola’s room - up to 30 mins currently
\- site swapping without the other cat present frequently
Currently, Lily (the resident cat) is still a bit apprehensive, she can growl and hiss and lunges/swipes once or twice during the supervised visits. This can cause Lola to hide under her drawers. Otherwise Lily can be distracted with toys during the visits. Lola comes out from hiding with ease - with belly tickles but honestly I get guilty and scared to encourage her out with Lily being miffed. lily sometimes looks like she hunts Lola and jumps up the screen door frequently. However, they do play with each other at the screen door - sometimes lying on their sides and pawing the net.
My main concerns or questions are about progressing the supervised visits are:
\- Lola is obviously scared and if I keep encouraging her out from under her drawers (during the visits) and then Lily swipes or scares her - I feel bad
\- Lola is so much more confident with the screen door up and actually shows she is desperate to get out that room!
\- if we let Lola further out her room (when Lily is around) I am very apprehensive that Lily will get angry and take it out on Lola. This happened once and Lily chased her back to her room and swiped
how would you progress this situation?