If I haven’t stated before I love animals! If I could have endless dogs and cats my life would be content. Growing up, I had 2 different black labs (both at different times) and a couple cats every now and then but my dad was not a cat person so we didn’t have them for very long.

When I was 21 our second lab was put down and my dad didn’t want to train another dog. At the time, I was currently living in an apartment and was utterly depressed that my puppy wasn’t around anymore. We weren’t allowed to have dogs in our apartment so I had the sudden urge to adopt a cat. I adopted my baby Lucy when she was 6 years old at our local humane society. Since then, she has been my best friend. She is the calmest and sweetest cat alive. She also has major anxiety over meeting strangers so her and I got along too well. I moved home for 2 years and brought Lucy home with me. My dad fell in love with her and finally became a cat person.

One year ago I moved out of my house again and moved into another apartment. Lucy and I lived alone together again. As the summer turned into the school year I started to feel bad because I’d be gone for 8-12 hours at a time and she’d be left alone. When we lived at home, my dad was always there (being retired) so she was never lonely. I started to see her become more and more needy when I would come home from work. She also had my morning routine down to a science and would cry when I would walk out the door. I started to think about getting her a companion to keep her company.

The two of us got through the year with the thought of a second kitty in the back of my mind. I did some research and found that, with a cat as timid and calm as Lucy, a kitten would be better to adopt and bring home than an adult cat. On a complete impulse (I’m a very impulsive person when it comes to something I want) I went back to the humane society just “to look.” They had so many litters of kittens and were looking to get rid of them, so of course, it was too perfect for me. I fell in love with a little kitten who was the runt of her litter and the calmest of them all. I figured she would be the perfect match for my Lucy.

Today I got to pick up my new baby, Zoe, and bring her home. I have been nervous to see how Lucy would react because she hides when ANY adult besides me is in the apartment so I didn’t know how she would take a new animal. I introduced them by having Zoe in her carrying case and Lucy walk up to see her behind the bars of the door. Lucy was so scared when she saw the case that she was walking soooooo slowly to see what was inside. As soon as she saw Zoe she hissed (which I’ve never heard her do before) and ran away to hide. I did some research about introducing cats with new kittens and from that, I set up a room for Zoe in the bathroom. Everything that I’ve read said to let the kitten explore without the other cat around. It also said to have her spend a lot of time in “her room” to give the old cat some time to think things are normal while getting used to the new cat’s scent. As soon as I put Zoe in the bathroom, Lucy got the nerve to come out. I gave it some time before I pulled Zoe out again. I tried to reintroduce them but Lucy hissed again and ran to hide.

I’m trying to figure out how to keep these two both content while also introducing them to become best friends. I don’t want Lucy to become depressed and angry, she’s been through a lot. Before I adopted her, she had been in some tough house holds and it gave her some serious PTSD and anxiety. I know she needs a friend so I’m hoping this works. If ANYONE has any tips or tricks on how to get them to bond and for Lucy to become less anxious, PLEASE let me know. I am now an official crazy cat mom and want to have 2 happy little kitties.