Introducing a new cat off to a bad start

Question
Hello Ali,
I had a wonderful snowshoe male that loved other cats so I adopted a tabby female that had been abused. Vinnie loved her from the start and there were no problems with them bonding from the first day. Three years later Vinnie passed away. It has been eight months and Mia seems to have adapted to being alone but because she now spends many hours alone due to my new job, I adopted another easy-going male cat. I set up the safe room and had planned to introduce them slowly but Mia barreled her way through the door and confronted Dreyfus in a very hostile manner. I separated them quickly before any physical contact was made. They are separated now and seem fine, but anytime Dreyfus hears Mia meow he gets so upset! He growls and hisses even if he is no where near the door. It's only been a couple of days and my plan to introduce them in a couple of weeks has probably turned into a couple of months or more. Mia is eating and using her litter box fine and has the run of most of house. Dreyfus is in his safe room, is friendly with me, lays in the bedroom window in the sunshine, is using his litter box fine, but not eating much. He's been through a lot and I hate to see him so terrified of Mia. Do you have any suggestions on how to undo the damage?
Thank you,
Sheila


Answer
Sheila,

This situation might be remedied by using a homeopathic remedy called Rescue Remedy. Based on your description I would bet that Dreyfus is now fearful and a bit traumatised by the less than warm reception he got from Mia. Rescue Remedy is a blend of various flower essences that work well to help with fear/anxiety/trauma based problems. You can usually purchase Rescue Remedy at a natural health/health food store. I recommend that you give 6-8 drops in Mia & Dreyfus' fresh water each morning and I think you will find that Dreyfus calms down and Mia isn't so cranky about meeting someone new. You may even feel safe enough to continue with the original introduction schedule. I hope that this helps. Please do not hesitate to contact me again, I would be happy to be updated on the progress!