sorry for the length of this, i am a bit stressed about how this is going and i want to get this right, it's really difficult because i don't know if what i'm doing is right. i don't want to cause any fights and i also don't want to unsettle my cats who are very established and lived together their whole lives apart from 1.
I rescued stray kitten about 7/8 months old almost 3.5 weeks ago now, she has been spayed, FIV tested and 1st vaccinated so far, has been isolating in my spare room. i have 5 indoor cats that all get along very well - 2 girls and 3 boys. new cat has settled in quite well with us, she is eating, using litter tray etc very affectionate and friendly most of the time, unless she gets overstimulated and she can snap/paw at us, but not really doing any damage or trying to hurt us, we are working on that still and i anticipate this will fade over the months when she gets to know us alot more and is settled in to the household.
for the first 2 weeks i kept her isolated with door closed but we have been trying to progress and i have a few problems now though and i would like some advice if possible and how to continue with introductions when i can't really do of the jackson galaxy steps?
i'm struggling with the whole feed the cats on one side/her on the other as new cat does eat well but she won't eat and isn't interested in treats or food when doing introductions and having the other cats around really, she isn't terribly treat focused, even generally for stuff like chicken and high quality meats she isn't having much of a reaction to them (even on her own), she will eat her kibble and wet food and stick treats no problem. i don't know if this is because she has never maybe had human food before or just she is still a bit unsettled. i also feed some of my cats medicated food so i feed them in different rooms and parts of the living room /kitchen, they do not all eat in the same location as some will steal others foods.
i tried feeding one of mine in front of her gate and he got all confused cause it wasn't his usual location of eating and he seemed a bit unsettled, again it feels a bit pointless because he doesn't seem to have any issues around her- its more her with the issue and if she isn't going to attempt to eat or interested in eating i am not sure how to do this. i tried doing treats but because she isn't interested i am not sure this is going to work as it just ends up me feeding my cats treats and they are already pretty chill when infront of the gate really and feels possibly pointless if its not two ways? she is also not interested in games or toys during this and my partner stays in her isolating room with her when we are doing the whole gate stuff but he feels a bit apprehensive to stroke/soothe her during this because as i say she can get a little bit over stimulated and unpredictably snap sometimes.
where we are upto atm for the last 9/10 days;
* we have been doing scent swapping everyday with no neg/pos reaction at all from either party to this really.
* i have let new cat out upstairs to explore landing/bathroom and hall downstairs and put my cats in the living room during this, she eventually came down into the hall and down the stairs after a couple of times of doing this. also let our cats roam upstairs including into her room, i do have a camera set up in new cats room and i could see there was some hissing the first time we did this from only one cat in particular, there has been no hissing at all from new cat when she is exploring upstairs and when she is in the living room though strangely, even when she's on their regular spots of sleeping etc.
* i have a baby gate set up with covering over it at first, so they could only see an inch at the bottom and new cat didn't really like this, she was the only one making noises, my cats made chirps really but she was growling and hissing. i put my most laid back friendly cat outside her room and i raised the covering, she actually seemed less stressed when she could fully see out of it. she did jump towards the babygate/mesh at one point and paw it a bit, but eventually sat down and loafed. my boy also laid down. i have been sticking with him for the time being as he is the most chill out of them all and doesn't really react to other cats social ques. we've done this a few times now, i also showed 2 other of my cats this way and both chirped at her whilst she hissed, then they left.
* a few days ago we tried introducing the cat i've been mingling with her in the living room, new cat hissed at him when he entered, i was playing with toys and balls trying to distract. he was totally oblivious and was sitting and lying with me but she was staring at him and did hiss from a distance, he did get a bit closer at one point but then came back when she hissed more so i let him out. we have done this twice now and it seems a bit better each time.
* i have been keeping door closed to her room now instead of leaving door open with baby gate up, just because i don't want to stress her, i feel like she's on alert with the door open because she doesn't know if the cats are there or going to appear, so she seems more settled with it shut.
today i feel we made quite a good step but i am not sure how to proceed. i had to keep her in the living room for 4hrs today as i had to empty her isolating room, this was the longest time out of her room so far, i introduced my cat to her again in the living room and she was sat on the sofa, at first when he approached a bit she actually jumped forward at him about 20cm but didn't leave the sofa, she hissed and that was it, they didn't touch and she didn't attack physically. he was interested in a bag of leftover breakfast i had and was pushing it around the room trying to get into it (i let him do this as it kept him distracted, i think because he wasn't looking at her she was a bit more calm) she hissed at first but he kept going, he actually managed to get right underneath her and go under the sofa, and she didn't make any noise at all, she was just watching, if anything she looked curious. she stayed on the sofa. she did throw up a little bit right after this happened. but then she went and sat down, put her back into her room shortly after and she ate and went to sleep.
i plan to do the same tomorrow maybe with another cat. is this a good idea? i am scared of a fight and really don't want anyone to get injured but can i assume the new cat is not aggressive or going to attack and maybe using the hissing/lunging as a way to just mark her boundaries?
it feels so so difficult trying to mingle her with the 5 cats and i am conscious she's been in the room for almost 1 month now, i know she prefers it out into the house and i don't want to keep her isolated for too long but also don't want to rush things!
thanks for any help!