So, my hubs and I have had Maz for about 4 months, and she has settled in really well, and is super snuggly and sweet/ridiculous. She seemed to be getting lonely with no other kitties around, so we rescued a male cat and picked him up on Sunday. Maz is 1 1/2 old, and VERY petite, and our new boy Hercules is 2 1/2 and very large. When we introduced them on Sunday, we put Hercules in his carrier in the middle of the room and let Maz sniff him out. We were planning on just keeping him in the bathroom for a few days, but after a while, when there was no hissing, all seemed well, so we let him out. Maz took a few tentative sniffs at him, and then hissed and skittered off. Whenever they're out together, she stalks him around our apartment and will sniff at him, and then hiss. Herc is COMPLETELY non-plussed by this. He is such a lovebug, all he wants to do is be friends with her. He never ever hisses back or swats at her or anything, he just looks at her and purrs. But, Maz is still freaking out. At first we thought it might just be jealousy, but now I'm pretty convinced she's scared of him, even though he's totally harmless. He's just SO much bigger than she is. And she's normally very vocal, but the past few days she's been almost silent.
For now we've been keeping Herc in a spare bathroom and feeding both of them on either side of the closed door so Maz can get used to his scent, but is there anything else we can do to help them get along? We've been bringing them both out at the same time when both my husband and I are home to supervise, and letting them roam for short bursts. We've tried getting them to play with the same toys together, but he'll go crazy over them, and Maz just sits and watches.
Any tips? Did we royally screw up by letting them meet too quickly? We've only been at this 3 days, so am I asking for too much too soon? I'm trying to figure out where to go from here.
For now we've been keeping Herc in a spare bathroom and feeding both of them on either side of the closed door so Maz can get used to his scent, but is there anything else we can do to help them get along? We've been bringing them both out at the same time when both my husband and I are home to supervise, and letting them roam for short bursts. We've tried getting them to play with the same toys together, but he'll go crazy over them, and Maz just sits and watches.
Any tips? Did we royally screw up by letting them meet too quickly? We've only been at this 3 days, so am I asking for too much too soon? I'm trying to figure out where to go from here.