Testimonial 49 - Lizzie and Gizmo

We contacted Mary because we were at a loss on what to do with our two cats. Lizzie and Gizmo are siblings from the same litter. The rescue wanted them adopted together because Gizmo was so attached to his sister. A few months ago, something happened and Lizzie decided to start going after her brother. Gizmo would run off and hide while Lizzie stalked him. We tried so many different things on our own and maybe that was part of the problem. We were told to let them work it out, separate them, give them treats together, use a water bottle and I’m sure a few more suggestions. I decided to contact Mary because we needed someone to diagnose why Lizzie was going after her brother and more importantly, help us implement a plan that would work to get them back together again.

Mary was fantastic. She came out to our house and met with us for a couple of hours. We went over Lizzie and Gizmos history, she asked us a lot of questions. Mary shared she believed Lizzie was actually scared of her brother. I had a hard time understanding this, but she explained that Gizmo gives absolutely no signs of challenging his sister, he hides, and he will squint and not look at her. Something happened that scared Lizzie and she started taking it out on her brother.

Mary helped us implement a detailed plan to get these two cats back together. She warned us it could take months, and after 4 months, there has been so much improvement. There hasn’t been any hissing or growls and Lizzie has not tried to go after him since we started this training. This is still a work in progress, but I have high hopes for these two!

I can’t tell you how much it meant to have Mary work along side us during this process. She answered all my questions and believe me, there were many. She gave such invaluable feedback and helped us learn techniques. She’s not a therapist, but she sure helped me build confidence to help Gizmo and Lizzie. I do believe with patience, Lizzie and Gizmo will get to be brother and sister laying together side by side. Thank you so much Mary!

Sarah Y. from Severn, MD

Update

I wanted to let you know that Lizzie and Gizmo are now acclimated and together again! As Mary taught us, the key was getting Gizmo to trust again. Gizmo would stay on top floor but wouldn’t come down. We remained patient and began leaving the cat door opened for longer periods of time since there had been no acts of aggression from Lizzie for several months. Finally last November he began to come down. They have had no incidents and have been co-existing with no supervision for a month now. Anyway I wanted to share. It took 2 years, but we finally got there!