Advice on getting 2 cats to get along

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mdsu - 29 Sep 2006 10:00 GMT

I brought two new cats, Charlie and Ellie, home from the local Humane
Society this past Tuesday.

Charlie and Ellie were neutered and spayed the day before I got them.

When I got home, I let them out of their carriers at the same time.
Initially, they smelled each other. But after a minute or so, Ellie grew
tired of Charlie invading her space and hissed and took a swipe at him.
Charlie didn't back off and over time became increasingly aggressive
towards Ellie. For instance, Charlie made a game of it by stalking Ellie
when she tried to walk away. Soon they were rolling around the floor
fighting with Charlie on top of Ellie. (Charlie weighs just over 9 lbs,
whereas Ellie weighs just under 6 lbs.) I sprayed them with water to
break it up, and separated them by placing them in different parts of my
apartment. They've been separated since.

Because Ellie was recently spayed, I need to limit her physical activity
for 7-10 days. That's one reason for separating them. Another reason is
that I have to go to work, and can't leave them alone together for the
time being.

I've been alternating the rooms in which I keep the cats to help them
get used to each other's smell. And I understand that Charlie still has
male cat hormones in his system despite the fact that he was recently
neutered. Maybe that accounts for his overly aggressive behavior towards
Ellie. Any idea as to how long before the hormones work their way out of
Charlie's system?

The bottom line is that Charlie and Ellie are both sweet cats and I want
them to get along. (I awakened in the middle of Wednesday night to find
Ellie asleep on my chest with her head nestled against my chin.) Do you
think I'm doing the right thing so far? I would appreciate any
constructive advice you have to offer.

Thanks,
Rich

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Rene S. - 29 Sep 2006 15:35 GMT

Hi Rich,

It sounds like you're doing all the right things, but it's just been a
few days. It might take a few weeks or more for things to settle down.
Keep alternating the rooms they are in, and try feeding them on either
side of a door. After a while, you can try feeding them at alternate
ends of the same room or have supervised visits for short amounts of
time. You can also use Feliway spray or a diffuser.

In the future, if either cat needs to go to the vet, you might want to
keep them separated before and for about 24 hours after the event. I
need to do this with my cats, as one of them really gets upset and goes
after the other one. (It got so bad once that I basically had to
reintroduce them.) A little prevention goes a long way!

Rene

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mdsu - 29 Sep 2006 23:07 GMT

> Hi Rich,
>
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> Rene

Thanks. I think I'm already smelling cat pee in the apartment. That
would suck! I'm beginning to wonder if I got the cats too soon. My last
cat died only a month ago. I missed the companionship. But this week I'm
a little sleep deprived (because of the cats), and I'm feeling a little
stressed about it, especially if one or both cats is going to mark
his/her territory.

Rich

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Rhonda - 30 Sep 2006 07:27 GMT

> Thanks. I think I'm already smelling cat pee in the apartment. That
> would suck! I'm beginning to wonder if I got the cats too soon. My last
> cat died only a month ago. I missed the companionship. But this week I'm
> a little sleep deprived (because of the cats), and I'm feeling a little
> stressed about it, especially if one or both cats is going to mark
> his/her territory.

I've had a lot of "oh no, what have we done!" moments when bringing home
new animals.

It takes time for everyone to adjust. Everything is so different and new
to them, plus they are still recuperating from their surgeries.

Is the litter different? If so, maybe you can find out what the shelter
was using and change to that for awhile.

See if you can find where the pee is and put a litter box there if you
can, or clean and cover the area. If they are peeing outside of the box,
it's great you're catching it so soon.

Hang in there. They are as stressed as you are but things will calm down
and you'll all get used to each other.

Rhonda

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mdsu - 30 Sep 2006 16:55 GMT

>> Thanks. I think I'm already smelling cat pee in the apartment. That
>> would suck! I'm beginning to wonder if I got the cats too soon. My
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> Rhonda

Rhonda,

Thanks. It's nice to know I'm not the only one to ever experience this
sort of thing.

Actually, I'm lucky so far. The pee I smelled was on part of my
briefcase. It wasn't such a big deal. I treated it with Nature's
Miracle, and the smell is gone. I now know not to leave my briefcase on
the floor. And I hope that's the extent of the marking.

Unfortunately Ellie still growls at Charlie. And that is definitely not
a good sign. I bought some Feliway, and I hope it helps.

It's still too early to put them together. Charlie seems fully recovered
from being neutered---he wants to play all the time. And he yowls for a
little while when I go in the other room with Ellie. In contrast to
Charlie, Ellie still needs time for her incision to heal.

Both cats go to the vet next Saturday. It can't come soon enough!

One more question. I ordered a cat condo from catcondoheaven.com. It
hasn't arrived yet. But when it does, I don't want to set it up until
Charlie and Ellie have adjusted to each other. My thinking is that if I
allow one cat to start using the condo/gym before the other one, I will
have problems later when the "follower" (Ellie in all probability)
starts to "invade" the Charlie's territory. Thoughts?

Thanks again,
Rich

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Rhonda - 01 Oct 2006 08:59 GMT

> It's still too early to put them together. Charlie seems fully recovered
> from being neutered---he wants to play all the time. And he yowls for a
> little while when I go in the other room with Ellie. In contrast to
> Charlie, Ellie still needs time for her incision to heal.

Yes, that's how it was with our cats. It's a big operation for the
females and not so much for the males. It hardly slowed down the male
cats but the females didn't even want to walk the first day.

It's going to take Ellie a couple of weeks at least.

> Both cats go to the vet next Saturday. It can't come soon enough!
>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> have problems later when the "follower" (Ellie in all probability)
> starts to "invade" the Charlie's territory. Thoughts?

The condos have several different levels so it might actually help the
introductions. They can hang out on different levels and be fairly close
to each other, but still have their own space.

We've had a couple of spats on ours only when one cat landed on a level
already occupied and startled that cat.

Hope it's going better there,

Rhonda

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barb - 29 Sep 2006 15:38 GMT

Hi, Rich, Some of the posters including myself use Felway. I don't know if
it brought peace between my cats or if they just naturally worked it out.
Felway is a plug-in.

Some people put a scent on both cats so they have the same scent.

--
Barb
Of course I don't look busy,
I did it right the first time.

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kitkat - 01 Oct 2006 17:33 GMT

we got a second male cat (we now have two) about a month ago - they are both
neutered.

the younger cat (1) also pounces on the older cat (5) when he's not looking.
It's such an unfair fight. My older cat that's been here longer is now
relegated to a small spot under a chair and that's about it. I've been told
that I should've let them fight instead of keeping them separate or
separating them everytime they get into it. - but I didn't. now they have
nothing to do with eachother and my old guy never comes out even to sit on my
lap any more out of fear. and I hope that doesn't happen to you.

so maybe you should let them go at it (unless blood is involved) even though
it's horrible to hear? but I'm only refering to my experience.

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mdsu - 01 Oct 2006 21:15 GMT

> we got a second male cat (we now have two) about a month ago - they are both
> neutered.
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> so maybe you should let them go at it (unless blood is involved) even though
> it's horrible to hear? but I'm only refering to my experience.

Thanks for writing, but, no, I'm definitely not going to let them go at
it. Your experience tells me that's not the right thing to do.

I'm going to introduce them slowly. They first need to get used to each
other's scent. One thing I'm doing is rubbing them with rags and then
putting the rags by the other cat's food bowl so they associate the
scent of the other cat with something positive, food in this case. Maybe
next week I'll start to open the bedroom door just enough so they can
see each other, but not wide enough so they can squirm through.

I don't care if it takes 3 months for them to tolerate each other. I'd
rather have them apart for 3 months, then have a lifetime of problems.

Rich

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Elle - 01 Oct 2006 23:19 GMT

Try to find a screen (or even jury rig some chicken coop
wire) that covers the whole doorway of one room, such that
the cats can see each other but not get into the same room
at the same time. Keep this setup for about two weeks. Then
see how they do for a short visit. Separate again for
another day or so. Repeat. The net describes similar
approaches to getting cats to get along. The animal rescue
organization with whom I work has used this technique for
years with its catteries, and it has rarely, if ever,
failed.

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mdsu - 02 Oct 2006 02:13 GMT

> Try to find a screen (or even jury rig some chicken coop
> wire) that covers the whole doorway of one room, such that
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> years with its catteries, and it has rarely, if ever,
> failed.

Interesting suggestion. I'll have to see if I can find a large enough
screen. Thanks!

Rich

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Brenda - 02 Oct 2006 04:27 GMT

>Try to find a screen (or even jury rig some chicken coop
>wire) that covers the whole doorway of one room, such that
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>years with its catteries, and it has rarely, if ever,
>failed.

I read with interest all the advice on slowly introducing two cats and
I have to smile. I live full time in a motorhome, and I don't have the
luxury of extra rooms in which to sequester a new cat. So I just throw
the little sweetie in there and hope for the best. (Not literally
throw, it was a joke.)

The first time I did it the old cat, Charlie, didn't like the new
cat, Casey, and never warmed up. After four years, Charlie passed
away and I brought home another kitten. So now the older cat, Casey,
just took to Chloe like a big brother. No blood, no fur flying, some
hissing when Chloe jumps on Casey and startles him. But after only a
few days they seem to be the best of friends, even licking each
other's ears.

I haven't seen that too often in my many years of cat ownership. I
think it must just be personality of the cats involved. I'm so glad
Casey has accepted Chloe, it makes my life a lot easier.

Brenda

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mdsu - 02 Oct 2006 21:24 GMT

Elle,

It's not feasible to find a screen that will cover the whole doorway. I
doubt a standard baby gate would be sufficient. Both cats are 1 year old
and have lots of energy. They could probably climb or jump over a baby
gate. I do have a few questions. At a minimum, how high do you think the
gate should be? My guess is that 48" would be sufficient. Second, it
sounds like a mesh screen might be best in that it would prevent the
cats from climbing it, though the material would have be durable enough
so that the cats couldn't claw their way through it. Do you agree?
Finally, do you know of a good source where I could find such a screen/gate?

Thanks,
Rich

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