A little over a year ago, I added three members to my cat family. Brothers Butch & Sundance and their older adopted sister Francis came to stay while Mom was out of commission. We didn't want them to stay alone, so decided to throw them into my mix.
I let them stay in the back bedroom for several days so they'd have a space to call their own. They could get used to the sounds and smells of the new house, and hopefully, would adjust quicker. It was a good plan. In theory.
Sundance ventured out after several days and cordially started to introduce himself. Frances peeked out the door and saw several faces looking back at her. She gave a disgruntled meow (which I interpreted to mean "I'm in a damn group home!") and went back to her cat condo.
Butch was angrier. He apparently wasn't happy that he'd spent a week with a catheter stuck up his parts. He bolted out of the bedroom and started growling at every feline he saw! He spent a couple days hiding under my bed, and then figured out the cat door led to a whole new world and left! The rest of the group sat around wondering what the heck had invaded their world.
He particularly liked terrorizing Tuukka and Molly. After awhile, he left most of the others alone, but knew he could get some kind of action from those two. Molly would run and hide in the closet, not coming out if she saw any sign of him.
Tuukka would take him on and there were several serious battles where I'd find big clumps of cat hair and missing claws. Both had bloody noses more than once. Poor Tuukka, who is more of a lover than a fighter, seemed stressed every time he saw Butch come his way.
After awhile, Francis (who only got feisty if someone got between her and her canned cat food) went to live with Mom in her new digs, so she was fine. Sundance loved all of his new cat siblings and I'd find him hanging out with them in sunny spots or on the cat condo.
Poor Butch was still struggling - lots of growling and hissing every time he saw another cat, which was pretty much 24/7! I made sure I gave him extra TLC - lots of lap and play time. Sundance was constantly bathing him, I think telling him to relax. After several months, he got to where he could eat with the other cats and not spend the whole time growling or trying to steal food. He still spent a lot of time outside. Way outside! One night I saw him looking in the front window at me. He learned how to clear the cat fence! The good news is he knew to come back.
Ironically, Butch is the most social with people. He loves visitors and will happily sit on anybody's lap. He likes sleeping on clean laundry, broke the cat door, climbed the Christmas tree, and will sit under the deck, innocently looking at me while I frantically call him.
So after a year, I think Butch has found his place in this crazy cat house. Molly still hides from him, but doesn't growl when she see him walk by. Progress! And Butch has found some spots in the house to call his own - an important aspect of a multi-cat household.
Our happy cat world has once again reached equilibrium!
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