Gnocchi

Good Afternoon!

Two weeks go by quickly! Just wanted to give you a small update.

Gnocchi has really opened up to us and is quite talkative now. She spends all her time supervising Emily while she works from home. We’ve been extremely slowly introducing her to our other cat, Padmini. For the first week that was mostly by feeding on opposite sides of a door, with scent transfers (swapping bedding, using the same grooming brush, etc), and occasional “space” swaps (letting each of them explore the other’s areas). There were a few hisses at each other from under the door but it seemed more the fear of the unknown than outright hostility.

Last week we started feeding them on the opposite sides of a baby-gate covered in a blanket, modulating the distance their food dishes are from the barrier and how far the blanket is off the floor (allowing glimpses of each other) based on their comfort level. As of today, we’ve introduced play time within sight of each other (but still physically separated by the gate) to great success. Both seem relaxed and a bit curious as long as they have some space between them.

We’ll keep on reinforcing positive activities and feeding times over the next week, getting them more comfortable with each other’s presence and proximity slowly.  Maybe by next week we’ll start losing the baby gate and playing with each individually in the same room together. It is a gradual process but the results look promising!

Sincerely,
Trevor, Emily, & Gnocchi