So, I have had cats most of my life. The most senior cat in our household is Nala – she’s about 10 years old right now. I have had her since the day of her birth – her mother (my cat at the time) was Persian and her father Siamese. Nice mix. She is a fabulous cat, but has always been my cat. Shy, possessive, attentive. Very lovable. The kind of cat happy to follow me everywhere and sit on my lap for hours at a time.

So, after Ianiv & I started living together, Ianiv got into the whole cat thing. Wanted a cat that would sit with him too. So, to start, we joined up with VOKRA, a local organization that rescues kittens from the street and places them in homes. As a foster, we were a temporary home for kittens in need. It was a great way for us to introduce Nala to having other cats around. To test the waters, so to speak. The plan was to wait a while for the right kitten to drop into our midst then decide to adopt it. Little did we know it would happen early on. Our first foster was for 2 little black/white kittens. Who loved me and were not so hot on Ianiv. So, they were not for us. The next one was a shy puffy little thing that immediately opened up and fell in love with us. We ended up keeping him – Guinness is his new name.

Well, Nala took to him better than the previous kittens. She hissed much less. And seemed ok with him. Another good sign. So, after a few weeks we let him into our bedroom – this was the once place he was not allowed before. It was Nala territory. She was not so happy about that and has not been the same first. Jealousy, etc. She has been snubbing me ever since. Very happy to have me pet her when she wants, but she refuses to sit with me. Not a good situation.

So, we are using two approaches to the situation.

1. We have a plug-in diffuser with cat pheromones called Feliway. Supposed to reduce stress by strewing around the “happy” smell cats emit when the rub against something/mark something.

Feliway is an synthetic analogue of the feline facial pheromone which reproduces the familiarization properties normally produced by a cat when it deposits its own facial pheromones in the environment.

2. We are starting to put Nala on a feeding schedule. Although I dislike scheduled feedings for the inconvenience, it makes sense. Here is why:
With open feeding (food always there), Nala never needs to ask me to feed her. No need to suck up.
With scheduled feeding, she will be more affectionate to get my attention, and then be appreciative after feeding

It’s not an easy transition. If she doesn’t eat everything when the food is put down, it must be taken away. And she may be a bit grumpy at first about the new routine.

So far, after only 1 attempt (removing food after breakfast), she has been super attentive. Following me, sitting near me, rubbing around things for my attention. So, it’s cool. I am hopeful she’ll be back to normal soon. Just needed to break the grumpy routine.

If you ever encounter this problem, try the above two methods.