Hi all,
I was after some advice (sorry for the long post)…
I have two litter sisters, 3 years old. Mina has been with us since 8 weeks old while we adopted Daisy a couple of months ago from the breeder where she had been since birth. Daisy came with some behavioural problems mostly due to lack of training, the worst of it being anxiety especially when going out for walks but we are slowly getting this under control.
My main problem now however is that both girls are quite jealous of each other. They manifest their jealousy in different ways. Daisy will push Mina away from me and hubby whenever we are cuddling Mina or giving her any attention. If we call Mina, it is always Daisy who comes to us first. Daisy will wake up from deep sleep if we try to even whisper any niceties to Mina. If we are on the sofa with Daisy and Mina approaches, Daisy will growl. Mina, on the other hand, will not push Daisy away if we are cuddling her. She will just stare at us from a distance with an unimpressed look on her face, then let out a long sigh and turn her back to us.
When it comes to feeding time, as soon as I bring out the girls' bowls Mina plonks herself down in the middle of the kitchen floor and stares at Daisy with a mean look. Daisy usually then retreats in the far corner of the kitchen and avoids Mina's stare. As soon as they are eating though, they are fine. Similarly, when it's bedtime and we go upstairs (they sleep with us in the bedroom), if Mina is in the bedroom first she will sit down in the middle of the room to wait for Daisy and give her the mean stare. Sometimes Daisy will not even enter the room until Mina has taken herself off to bed. Other times, she tiptoes around Mina and hides behind a chair in the back corner of the room until we all go to bed. If Daisy is in the room first and Mina comes in, Daisy will growl at Mina and Mina either ignores her or stares back at her, which is when we usually put them both in their beds to avoid things from getting more heated. They have so far never gone for each other, thankfully.
It's only been a couple of months with Daisy around but there has not been any improvement in the situation. I am wondering if anyone on here has (had) similar issues and if you would have any advice on how to at least avoid this from escalating, which is my biggest fear at the moment. The girls generally do not interact much, apart from a fleeting moment some mornings when they have just woken up and Mina might "wash" Daisy's face (which Daisy does not really appreciate but just about tolerates), and some other rare moments when Daisy is feeling playful and she throws herself on the floor for a little roll and Mina might come and lick her face for a bit.
I would love for them to get along better, I guess it is too much to ask that they be best friends but it would be nice if they enjoyed each other's company at least some times!
Thanks ever so much in advance!