Man this is kinda weird for me to do because I'm normally the one solving other peoples cat troubles, but for once I am stumped on an issue of my own.

To sum all this up in the quickest way possible, my eldest cat passed away on Jan 7th. We had no plans to replace her as we have three others, two boys and a girl. The girl, Pingu, is known as mine as she is very clingy to me and normally is not far from where I am regardless of what I am doing. If I am in my room, she is normally nearby, be it visibly or hidden away in my wardrobe or something.

After Pepper (the elder cat) passed, Ping didn't really act negatively other than comforting which I expected from her, she's always there to cuddle and cheer me up when I am upset or down. Pepper was a bit of a grouch and hadn't really ever formed a bond with the other cats, she kinda just tolerated their existence.

Well, about a week or two ago, Pingus sister Gloria came to live with us. It was completely spur of the moment as we know her owner (I am her owners full time carer) and she told us how she never really came home anymore, she only came in to eat then would go back out again and not be seen for days, the exact same behavior Pingu showed which was why she came to live with us in the first place. My mum decided that we should give Gloria the option to live with us if she wanted it and as such she does now live here. The other cats had issues at first, but they did when Pingu first moved in as well as Bean. I've done all the standard cat introductions and such and they all get along fine now.

But here is my problem. Ever since Gloria came to live with us, Pingu won't come in my room, in fact ever since Gloria moved in none of the cats really want to be in my room anymore. They still come in every now and then, but they don't hang around like they used to anymore and it is really tearing me apart because I love having my little cat community. I think it is because Gloria has taken up pretty much permanent residence on my bed which I am trying to fix, but every time I manage to situate her somewhere else she just comes back again.

Like I said there is no negative activity between the cats, they all eat together and have treats together, they don't hiss or attack each other, they go out together and on the rare occasion that Gloria is in the front room they all lay down and nap together. But my room has become barren when it used to be so lively. I'm wondering if Gloria is letting off a negative scent as I know cats avoid other cats who smell ill or are close to death. They avoided Pepper quite a bit near the end of her life. She will be going to the vets when my mum gets her paycheck as she wants to have a bit of money to fall back on if something negative comes up in the checkup.

I kinda just wanna get some more ideas right now as I've ruled out almost everything I can think of, and trust me as someone who works around cats a lot and did a basic veterinary course I had a lot to rule out. I just want my Ping to come back really, I miss having her nearby, now she sits in the spare room all day. She acts fine when I go see her in there, she is still my loving, purring little girl but she just won't settle in my room anymore.

TLDR: Cats sister moved in, now other cats won't chill in my room like they used to anymore. Wanna know more? Read what I wrote, I narrowed it down as much as I could. Need to know more? Ask.

Personally I think that one cat in the house is happier than if it shares the house with other cats. They are naturally solitary animals. But that's my opinion.

It could be also that some time and patience is needed before Pingu comes back again to your room.

Another option to learn more about the mutual hiearchie between your cats, is to install cameras and filming them when you sleep. The behavior of cats toward each other can be often completely different when their owner is not at home or is sleeping.

- My cats all get along, I would not keep them together if they did not as I am not a monster who forces their cats to co-exist. They all have their space and I've been around cats long enough to know the signs of an unhappy one, which is why this issue with Ping is confusing me because she isn't unhappy.

I have been using cameras to keep an eye on them, but this is limited to my bedroom and the upper hallway as I live under my mothers roof and she doesn't want me sticking cameras everywhere. But I can't see anything negative, like I said before the cats still come in my room on occasion but they don't hang around like they used to. When they're in here they act like nothing is wrong, but they don't go near Gloria. If she is on my bed, they don't come on the bed, but will if she is on the side or in the wardrobe.

I'm glad to hear your cat's are at least happy.

It could be Gloria will be more attached on you?

It's a new cat in the house, and a cat that's decided your room is the most comfortable area. There's nothing really you can do to make the other cats come in to your room again. They just need time to all get comfortable with each other.

I imagine it's likely that they're still not quite used to the new member of the 'pack' and Gloria has obviously decided that your room is her current domain, so I imagine they're giving her her space and letting her have where she wants to lay.

I find also that cats sometimes 'rotate' where they sleep. My eldest cat is a primo example because she does this all the time. For months at a time, she lived in my brother's room, then after a while she decided she liked the living room couch, so she slept out there for a few months, and then she wanted in my mom's room, and now she's back to the couch.

I would really try not to worry about it. Cats are fickle creatures, and as long as they're all behaving normally otherwise I wouldn't be too concerned.

Imperial is probably right. c: Give Pingu some more time. Even if she's getting along okay with the new cat, it's likely she doesn't see her as part of the family yet and isn't comfortable enough to share your room with her. We have four cats and take care of two more about two or three weeks out of the month. Ours are very used to them, but even so it tends to take them a couple of days to adjust back to their normal routine.

I would continue to encourage positive associations between them like treats and play time when they're in the room together. I've heard good things about the diffusers that mimic pheromones- they market them as decreasing spraying/scratching but their actual purpose is to reduce stress in cats. You can try putting catnip toys or other fun things in your room too.

Lastly, it might help to wash the blanket that Gloria is sleeping on often, so that it doesn't smell like HER blanket, but I wouldn't keep moving her out of your room. She chose your room because she feels safe there and likely safest with you.

- Yeah I've been through this song and dance many times, I've just never had this issue before. I've had cats being spiteful to one another and other things but I've never had cats just completely avoid a room because of another. It looks like they were all just having a bit of a tiff, things have really settled down now. I found some Feliway that I'd bought for a cat that didn't happen and that has helped the situation, I didn't think I had any otherwise I would've used it immediately, thank you Kestrel for reminding me that I had one.

Things have progressed since I posted my worry, the others are starting to settle in my room again and the sisters seem to have a mutual friendship going on, they clean one another and like to lay together. I have them both asleep with me as I type this, it's really nice to have my purring fuzz babies again. Dave has taken up the vacent space that Pepper left behind, my mum is actually content with this as Pepper would sleep on the pillow next to her all night. Dave now occupies that spot when he's not trying to break out the broken window >-> He's a rebel, our Dave.

Gloria is sleeping in more than one spot in my room now, I also got some new nip toys in so she had something to scent with her own smell as all the others have the scents of the other three cats on them. I used that to get the other cats used to her smell, as well as vice versa with their scents to her. She's really settled in nicely, which is great as we were worried that she might want to just leave again the moment the front door opened, but she has made no attempts to go back out since she came in. Ironically, this is exactly what her sister did.

I guess I should get this locked since the problem is slowly amending itself, I just wanna thank everyone for the suggestions and comforting advice. Anyone that knows me even a little know my cats are my life, so when something is up with them it worries me as I want to make sure they're all happy and comfortable.

Glad to hear things sound like they're getting better. All of the female cats I've owned have always been very particular about their company and don't warm up to new additions very well, so it's great that yours are progressing so quickly.

Best of luck!

- Yeah Ping has always been a bit up and down with other cats, after she was basically bullied out of her previous home (where she lived with 15 others) she's always been very clingy and has abandonment issues. When I went to Texas for 2 weeks my mum told me it took her 2 days just to get her to come out of my room and eat something other than a couple of handfuls of dried food. When I got home I was greeted with her yellow eyes lighting up, tail straight in the air and straight on my bed meowing, chirping and nuzzling against me. She's very special to me, which is why this entire ordeal had me concerned because she didn't act iffy when Bean decided he wanted to live here (He turned up at our back door one night and basically never left).