What's with Sabrina?

Louie and I have been spoiled: our first integrations were successful.

There hasn't been any fighting. Our first four are friendly and want to
meet the newcomer. No one has even said a cussword. But Sabrina is
terrified! I think we've gotten ourselves and agoraphobic cat!

Takayuki...

If she is agoraphobic, she wouldn't be the first under-the-bed type
cat. Hazel Az's Dorrie and RB Selena were always wary of ceiling
eagles, and Charleen had a cat who lived mostly under the bed for
seven years.

If I had a scaredy kitty, it would make me a little sad too, and I
would wonder if she's unhappy and if there's anything I could do that
would relieve the fear and discomfort. But Sabrina's in a much better
situation now, and she hasn't gotten to know her friends yet. It's
still developing.

We've left the door open, but she will not leave the computer room. It
seems like she thinks she is limited to this one room alone, and she
must defend it. Maybe that's not so out there; she was first in a
nursing home and a patient's limited space; Richard restricted her to
certain parts of the house, then confined her in a hot apartment
building without much in the way of food or water.

She's not so wild that she won't accept attention. With the door closed,
she's quite open with us. But let it open and she acts like a feral
who'd been on the streets a while, mistrustful, posturing. I don't think
she wants to fight the others. She could have; her personality isn't
aggressive.

I so want this to go right. I can say that when she does growl and hiss,
there's fewer of them, and they're quieter, and less of the angry-cat
wail that sometimes accompanies such monologues. I hope to God this is a
good sign, that I'm just being impatient. I don't want Sabrina to have
any more trauma than she's had in the last year or so. We love her;
she's a good girl, and she needs to know she's in a home where she'll be
appreciated, where there's stability.

Has anyone out there had to take a long time to get a cat acclimated and
integrated? And am I just a victim of bad mama guilt, and impatient?
We've never had to deal with something like this. Tips, ego-stroking
words--help!!

Jo Firey...

Integration around here has always been a few days in a separate room to get
used to the sounds and smells and to being away from whereever before was.
Then its always been pretty much "this is your new brother/sister. Deal
with it. We've been lucky in that its always worked.

Jake's "fear" of Kayla is even starting to be a joke. I mean he will sleep
on the same sofa with her, and then an hour later get her to chase him.
Then he sits up on the counter with a smug look on his face while she gets
yelled at.

I'd be leaving the door open whenever you are home. A closed door may be
making her think its a boundary she isn't allowed to cross. (Wow, a cats
that recognized boundaries!)

Blessed be,
Baha

mlbriggs...

Do you have a little radio playing in her room? If not, it could help
her get used to a variety of sounds and voices. MLB

Will in New Haven...

I hope your results are better than ours but WoToo stays in my room and
everyone else has the run of the house. She was not a young cat when my
Mom died and I inherited her and she had never shared space with other
fur people. In fact, she had never spent much time with any other
humans. Her reactions to the occasional encounter at the door are no
longer scary. She just backs away and gets under the bed really fast.

This isn't all tragic. We get along fine and WooToo seems quite happy.
I get plenty of time with the rest of the crowd. Sometimes the best
you can do is the best you can do.

Will in New Haven

Joy...

Have you tried shutting up the other cats and letting Sabrina wander through
the house? My might even try taking her out of the room and shutting the
door. If she becomes familiar with the smells of the other cats but roaming
where they have been, maybe she will be less fearful.

Another possibility might be taking her into a different room (other than
the one she considers hers) and introducing her to one cat at a time.