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Just a guess. Good luck!
My black/white cat died, and Charlotte, the calico, was looking a little lonely.
I brought Raven, the black female home, and the two of them did the "My territory/hiss hiss" thing for a couple days, but they get along pretty well now.
Raven still does like picking fights with Charlotte though. 
I will be home all day tomorrow (sunday), so I'm going to make that the likely day for the 1st meeting.
I'm hoping the fact that Opie is a male and Krishna is female, will help reduce the chance of any actual
physical fighting. But who knows.
But, as you can see, I am near the end of what I can control in this situation.
I have done everything in my power to smooth the pathway (in my silly human ways).
Time (soon) to let Nature takes its course.
Before an actual face to face meeting, put a baby gate in the door so they can see and sniff each other. It helps. 
Good luck I hope it all works out.
That way, they can have visual contact while still having a physical barrier between them.
I'll go 2-3 days with that arrangement, and see how it goes.
Opie was let out in the main area of the house today (Krishna was outside, with the curtain drawn,
so she couldn't see inside).
Opie timidly went out and looked around ,seemingly fearful of running into the other cat he can
surely smell all over the house.
I could guess at this pont that Opie will be the scared one while Krishna will be upset/angry.
Can't be certain ofcourse, but that's the way it looks like it could turn out.
Man, cats can have as much drama in their lives as people, that's for sure.
(ofcourse, much of the drama is probably mine).
Here are some related pictures, for anyone who might be interested ...
http://wearenotsoulsofunknownorigin.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-2-beings-i-pray-can-co-exist.html
For anyone still not bored yet, here's my elegy to the wonderful Mukluk ...
http://wearenotsoulsofunknownorigin.blogspot.com/search?q=mukluk
As much as with some special people I have known, I consider myself lucky
to have known these sentient beings we call, "animals".
I have other blogs too (a more rational "conspiracy-type" site, and a site on the threat of Dominionism).
Both cats seem comfortable with the barrier for now.
I'm hoping they will take time to confront each other through it, and get more familiar,
while still feeling "safe".
Even with the baby gate firmly in place, neither cat seems eager to face the other.
Opie's been here a week now, but maybe they'll need another few days or longer to work it out,
since the gate's been in place only for 1 day.
Meanwhile Opie mostly (not always) sleeps out of sight on the carpet under the futon couch in the den, and
goes up on the futon when someone is in the room.
Krishna just walks quickly by the den door/baby gate, but otherwise seems OK, and not "spooked".
She did run away when she got her 1st really good look at Opie yesterday, and Opie seems to look nervously out the
doorway to see if Krishna is there.
I feel pretty patient, since both kitties are so sweet.
I got time.
I just hope they are decent to each other, when they do finally get up the courage to go up to the gate
and meet face-to-face,
close-up.
Coupla' scairdy-cats!
I kept the gate up in the den doorway for weeks, fed the 2 cats simultaneously a few times, shared their scents, and the cats seemed to be able to handle closer and closer proximities to each other, so
now the gate is open (gate has been moved to the hall door to the bedroom where the original "home" cat, Krishna sleeps with us on the bed, while restricting the new cat, Opie, to the living room/den/kitchen/dining room area.).
When they 1st met face-to-face without a gate between them (a couple days ago), Krishna ran away,
but was later approached by Opie as she sat in a sheltered corner of the room, where he licked her forehead).
Things looked promising at that point, I thought. He really seemed to like her.
But now it seems, Opie's more dominant (or younger, curious and more playful?) male personality seems to be emerging.
She (Krishna) likes her space, and he is invading it, constantly ----Standing between her
and her food-dish (he's got his own in the den), making her back-off and walk away instead of eating,
and always wanting to be near her when she wants SPACE.
He is always wanting to be around her (probably playfully, it would seem), but he is making her
uncomfortable in her own house, as Krishna can't seem to go anywhere without Opie following,
or crowding her. I am willing to see this go on for a while, but will it ever change?
If not, I will be having 2nd-thoughts about keeping Mr. Opie.
As long as I am there to make sure she can move-around freely without Opie crowding-in, and keep him out of the bedroom/hall area, and letting only HER go outdoors, then she has places she can flee to where she can have peace.
I am not letting Opie outdoors or in the hall/bedrooms yet (places where Krishna goes freely).
These are turning into her refuges, sadly. She mainly just runs from him now.
She hisses at him when he gets too close, but he doesn't back off much.
But he seems excited and "buzzed" to be free to roam a great deal of the house at this point.
The problem is he is not leaving Krishna alone, and she doesn't seem able to "make her space" with him, at least yet.
When she is outside, he lounges relaxedly on the couch, but usually follows her when she comes in.
I am at the end of what I can do, I believe.
I'm willing to give it more time, but it hurts me to see the sweet, aging Krishna made
afraid and intimidated in her own home.
I'm starting to think about the possibility of taking Opie back to Good Friends Adoption Center,
and it makes me feel like a stupid, miserable failure.
Why can't we all just get along?
And this whole affair has made my sense of loss from last december's devastating (for me) passing
of my wonderful boy, the gentleman Ragdoll cat Mukluk, even harder to live with.
I am so sorry to everyone this is not a more uplifting post, but the story isn't over yet,
so maybe there is yet some small hope ...?
Things seem to be improving (as I hold my breath).
The more Opie just stands nearby and ignores Krishna, the better they get along.
I'm pretty sure he just wants to play, to rub, smooch, etc.
But she wants her space, and little-by-little, he seems to be starting to get the concept that he needs to give it to her.
In time, they may or may not be affectionate with each other. Who knows.
But peaceful coexistence is the goal, and we seem to be inching closer to that, with still a ways to go.
Having a safely enclosed backyard with patio area helps (they are never outside alone at night).
When Opie is outside, he is fascinated and distracted by the smells, the plants, birds, bugs, etc, and he ignores Krishna, which is fine by her. She seems quite relaxed when he ignores her, while being just a few feet away.
That is a good sign, I think.
Opie is still not allowed into the hall/bedroom area (I use the baby-gate as barrier), but sleeps in the living room area, or den, whichever he wants. Krishna sleeps on our bed, and we want to keep that fully-established before any more changes.
I talk to him a lot, constantly explaining things in plain English.
Sounds nuts, but it seems to be working.
Last edited Sun Sep 6, 2015, 02:36 AM - Edit history (1)
I am so sad to say this, but it was necessary to take the cat I adopted from Best Friends
after 7 weeks of trying to make it work with my much-older and ultra-meek female Krishna.
Although both cats are sweet and affectionate, the age-energy--temperament difference
was not surmountable between them.
I get along great with both cats, but the 2 by themselves were not a comfortable pair, mainly due to Opie's irrepressable energy
and impish playfulness, but also due to a bit of increasing dominance on Opie's part, simply because Krishna
is so incredibly gentle, and became increasingly un-assertive and even fearful around Opie, perhaps giving him an
exaggerated sense of power, or something.
In any case, I became very defensive of Krishna.
But whatever, it's not the "fault" of either cat---Just not a good combo, as, I am told, sometimes happens.
But I have tried so hard, and it has turned out to be an emotional roller-coaster for me,
since I have developed so much feeling for Opie.
I asked around my friends, but no one was up for an adoption right now.
I made a good friend, and now we have to part forever. Unavoidable.
And yes, my heart is broken.
Can you help?
At this time, he is still there in Best Friends Adoption Center
in Mission Hills, California.
If you or anyone you know lives in the Los Angeles area and might want to adopt Opie,
Please DO!
He's a great cat--I can totally vouch for that.
Plus, I have well over $100 worth of stuff I bought for Opie (pet water bar, food dishes, various toys, scratch post,
pet bed, etc) that are either as yet unused, or semi-new condition, and I would take them myself
right over to wherever Opie might call his new home----Got that? Free delivery!
At the very least, send out your good-vibes to a sweet, wayward kitty soul named Opie.
He deserves a happy ending.
Here's the complete story on my Blog:
http://wearenotsoulsofunknownorigin.blogspot.com/2015/09/opie-and-fred-are-these-2-cats-brothers.html
