Yesterday evening I began the process of introducing Bryson to his sisters. I brought him into the living room in a carrier and placed it on the coffee table. Buttercup started the “hiss, hiss, growl, growl” routine. Penny joined in, but not as enthusiastically, although she did sweep her whiskers back for effect. Bryson just sat there in the carrier, looking at them. He did nothing; no hiss, no growl, no paw-jabbing-out. After about 20 minutes of verbal abuse from his sisters, I decided Bry had had enough for one night and took him back to his room. Because the girls usually sleep on or near me, I spent a good deal of time with Bry in his room, knowing that I’d have contact with the girls all night.
After the visit, I left the room to do laundry. As soon as I left, Bryson’s paws emerged from under the door, pads up, as if he were trying to pull the door open. Being tired, and still having the laundry to do, and feeling sorry for Bry in his confinement, I suppose I wasn’t thinking clearly. I said, “Okay, I guess you might as well come out,” and opened the door.
Bryson explored the bathroom with me, then left to have a look at the rest of the house. Not long after, I heard the gosh-awful noise of a full-fledged cat fight. Buttercup and Bryson were in a corner by the fireplace rolling around and fully engaged, back-foot kicking and all. I yelled something, don’t remember what. Bry streaked down the hall back to his room and I closed the door. Buttercup evaporated.
I finally found Buttercup under the bed, hissing and growling toward the bedroom door as if she thought Bry was coming through any minute. I lay down on the floor, pet her and talked to her, and she finally fell asleep. I closed the door and went to sleep on the bed above her. She did come out to awaken me for breakfast at 7 this morning, but she didn’t do her usual head-boking, meowing, and purring. When I fed the girls, she started hissing and growling at Penny–displaced aggression. After eating, she went back under the bed in a spot where I can’t reach her. All this time, Penny has been periodically appearing and disappearing. When I left for work, she was in the living room window.
As far as I can tell, Buttercup is not injured. Bryson has dried blood between two of his back toes; when I tried to look more closely at it during my visit with him this morning, he pulled his foot away and I didn’t push the issue. He is now the only cat who is still speaking to me.
Given my experience with Bryson, the events during the carrier exposure, my having seen Buttercup sitting in that corner before Bryson entered the room, and Buttercup’s behavior before Bryson even came (I broke up a similar cat fight between her and Penny at 2 o’clock one morning), I think Bry must have approached Buttercup and she jumped him. I didn’t see what happened so I don’t know for sure, but that seems the most consistent with everyone’s behavior.
I plan to try to salvage this disaster by keeping Bry in his room until the weekend. I will then start bringing him out in a carrier for short periods of time, as much as everyone seems to tolerate. Only when the hiss-hiss-growl-growl behavior has stopped will I bring him out without the carrier and only under my direct supervision.
Does anyone else have any suggestions?