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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / July 2004Do new cats NEED to fight the residents?
I'm getting some conflicting info from googling this whole "introducing a new cat" thing. There is a viewpoint out there that a new male, in particular, will need to rassle with the current residents in order to establish the new hierarchy. Henry mostly watches the other cats, but he will occasionally make a lurch toward one, that I'm fairly certain would end in a clawfest of some sort. On the other hand, he may just be interested in playing/sparring, which the two current cats do all the time without injury. The problem is, I don't think I can find out unless I actually let him close the distance. And he's pretty damn tough, so I think he'd prolly mess up one of the other cats pretty bad before I could subdue them. What do you think? He seems pretty determined to sort out the pecking order in his favor. He's prolly in line to be alpha cat since he was only neutered a week and a half ago. Bah. This is the most stressful cat adoption I've had to endure. I'm half thinking of just trying to find a family for Henry because it's worrying me so much. Brian Link, Minnesota Countertenor ---------------------------------- "I think animal testing is a terrible idea; they get all nervous and give the wrong answers." - regmech > I'm getting some conflicting info from googling this whole > "introducing a new cat" thing. [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > half thinking of just trying to find a family for Henry because it's > worrying me so much. I think I would get him declawed before exposing the other 2 cats to the interloper. Maven > Brian Link, Minnesota Countertenor > ---------------------------------- > "I think animal testing is a terrible idea; > they get all nervous and give the wrong answers." > - regmech > > I'm getting some conflicting info from googling this whole > > "introducing a new cat" thing. > > > > There is a viewpoint out there that a new male, in particular, will > > need to rassle with the current residents in order to establish the > > new hierarchy. <snip> > I think I would get him declawed before exposing the other 2 cats to > the interloper. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > they get all nervous and give the wrong answers." > > - regmech NO!!! *Please ignore* this person who suggested declawing. That is cruel and inhumane. Declawing is amputation. Moreover, declawed cats have a much higher incidence of later behavioral and health problems, including biting, inappropriation urination, and arthritis. In addition, the idea that your current cats need to have the new cat declawed in order to "protect" them is ludicrous. Think about what that would leave the poor declawed cat to use for protection -- his teeth! *Just in case* you were to consider this person's suggestion, please look at these sites first: http://www.stopdeclaw.com http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/declaw.html http://www.cara-adopt.org/declaw.html http://declaw.lisaviolet.com/declawvettch.html http://www.maxshouse.com/facts_about_declawing.htm http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=002 MaryL (take out the litter to reply) Photos of Duffy and Holly: >'o'< http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly) http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in") > > Brian Link <blink@visi.com> wrote in message > news:<cdfhf015n7mb0qu2qmf7k49u3t75qr1gm5@4ax.com>... [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > NO!!! *Please ignore* this person who suggested declawing. How would YOU know? Have you ever tried it? Either on yourself OR your kittykatt? > That is cruel > and inhumane. I am beginning to think you are. For you to say let this male cat have his run of the 2 already there really stinks. > Declawing is amputation. How would YOU know? Have you ever tried it? Either on yourself OR your kittykatt? > Moreover, declawed cats have a much > higher incidence of later behavioral and health problems, including biting, > inappropriation urination, and arthritis. Don't listen to her. My cat, which was 7 when I "had him done" is now 14 years old and he is running like a champ. It all depends on how you treat them. It sounds like you are unfit for having animals. >In addition, the idea that your > current cats need to have the new cat declawed in order to "protect" them > is ludicrous. Think about what that would leave the poor declawed cat to > use for protection -- his teeth! Yeah, let 'em fight it out. You are a real beast Mary. Course, you always have been. You and that Liz beach. :-} (clippage of dogma and other half-truths related to a perfectly accepted (by most vets) and acceptable (to keep the peace) practice. > MaryL Go back to Kansas toto, and don't let the door hit you where the good lord split ya'. Maven > (take out the litter to reply) > > Photos of Duffy and Holly: >'o'< > http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly) > http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in") w&item=002 > MaryL > (take out the litter to reply) > > Photos of Duffy and Holly: >'o'< > http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly) > http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in") I took a look at your little "balls of fur and fun". Looks like something is wrong with both of them. You need to get them to a vet posthaste. And teach them some manners not to be getting into all the furniture and pictures. A week's recovery from declawing would do them a world of good. Just my feelings.... Maven << Just my feelings.... Maven >> f.ck off. Candace (take the litter out before replying by e-mail) See my cats: http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace "One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other than human." (Loren Eisely) > << Just my feelings.... > Maven >> > > f.ck off. ooops, you said a nasty word Candace. how does aol feel about the 'f' word? Maven > Candace > (take the litter out before replying by e-mail) [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > "One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other > than human." (Loren Eisely) > > << Just my feelings.... > > Maven >> [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Maven Oh, lord. Lookit the new troll. Fresh and shiny. And it seems to think it has original thoughts! Because no one comes to this group and mentions declawing in order to get a rise out of people or anything. Nope. Never. It can't find the shift key, either. I can't wait until school starts back up again.  Signature-- ~kaeli~ Local Area Network in Australia:... the LAN down under. http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace << ooops, you said a nasty word Candace. how does aol feel about the 'f' word? Maven >> I dunno, why don't you ask 'em? Candace (take the litter out before replying by e-mail) See my cats: http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace "One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other than human." (Loren Eisely) Read thte thread I started called "Waaah, help me, please." I'm a little over 2 weeks into intro'ing a neutered (for several years) 6 yr. old male to my two resident cats, a male and female, and I'm finding it stressful, too. See the suggestions Mary, etc. have given to intro'ing. We're installing a cheapo screen door this afternoon as the next step in our intro. I feel the same as you, that it would be easier to return him to his rescue group, but I know I would feel bad and worry about him and wonder if it would have worked out if I had just given it a little more time. But it's very stressful because our house isn't big enuf for prolonged separations and it is making us short-tempered. To complicate it, this cat meows and howls incessantly so we never have a moment of peace. He howls to be with the other cats and, if he is, he charges them and scares the sh!t out of them. It's crazy. Did you get some Feliway? Some people claim it works but $130 later, I haven't seen it yet. It's all working out to be far more expensive and stressful than any previous intros I've done and, I agree, it's very disheartening. If I had a huge house, it wouldn't be so bad but it's a little house and it's all very disruptive. Candace (take the litter out before replying by e-mail) See my cats: http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace "One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other than human." (Loren Eisely) In the fine newsgroup "rec.pets.cats.health+behav", on 17 Jul 2004: > Did you get some Feliway? Some people claim it works but $130 > later, I haven't seen it yet. It's all working out to be far > more expensive and stressful than any previous intros I've done > and, I agree, it's very disheartening. If I had a huge house, > it wouldn't be so bad but it's a little house and it's all very > disruptive. Feliway seems to have a very subtle effect. When I first tried it with mine, I really only noticed a difference when it ran out. Good luck with the screen door, I know it will help! SignatureCheryl > In the fine newsgroup "rec.pets.cats.health+behav", > on 17 Jul 2004: > Feliway seems to have a very subtle effect. When I first tried it > with mine, I really only noticed a difference when it ran out. I wondered if Feliway was working too until the first time it ran out. As long as I'm fostering kittens I'm staying stocked up on that stuff. It's been the salvation of my carpets. W > I'm getting some conflicting info from googling this whole > "introducing a new cat" thing. [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > Brian Link, Minnesota Countertenor Yes. There are always exceptions, but I think on the whole that new cats do need to fight the resident cats. It's totally scary and stressful for humans, but after doing the gradual introduction, I really think things just simmer and don't get better if you don't let them fight it out a little. What I have found, admittedly with two female cats, is that a) the fighting upset me, but no matter how awful I thought it was, they didn't really hurt each other, appearances to the contrary and b) After 4-5 weeks of death battles, they just decided to be friends and now they love each other dearly. I don't think sorting out the pecking order is optional for them. They have to do it. << After 4-5 weeks of death battles, they just decided to be friends and now they love each other dearly. I don't think sorting out the pecking order is optional for them. They have to do it. >> If that's the case, then I'm spending a lot of time and effort putting off the inevitable. My resident cats won't fight the newcomer, they'll just hide from him so I don't know how it will ever get sorted out if you are correct. Candace (take the litter out before replying by e-mail) See my cats: http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace "One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other than human." (Loren Eisely) > << After 4-5 weeks of death battles, they just decided to be friends and > now they love each other dearly. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Candace Well, the only certainty is that nothing happens the same in every single situation. I know it's incredibly hard to detach, but if you've kept them separated at the beginning and given them a gradual introduction to each other, and it sounds like you have done all the textbook things to date, then maybe the denouement is that the resident cats won't hide forever (once they realize the new cat isn't going to go away and isn't going to be locked up permanently) and will, on their own cat timeline, deal with the new cat. All I can say, is it happened with ours, after a very unpromising beginning, and I've seen harmony magically restored to a multicat room after it seethed with tension every day for a week. I don't blame them for hiding. Who needs conflict, especially if they can make it so miserable that the new cat goes away or gets confined for much of the day? There are two of them and only one of him, so in theory, they should be able to control the day as a team. Maybe your role, at some point if not right now, is just to make it clear that nobody's leaving and nobody's getting confined and they're just going to have to work it out. I'd surely try that approach for a week or two before making a decision to return the new cat. Call it the last chance dance. Good luck.... > << After 4-5 weeks of death battles, they just decided to be friends and > now they love each other dearly. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Candace Well, the only certainty is that nothing happens the same in every single situation. I know it's incredibly hard to detach, but if you've kept them separated at the beginning and given them a gradual introduction to each other, and it sounds like you have done all the textbook things to date, then maybe the denouement is that the resident cats won't hide forever (once they realize the new cat isn't going to go away and isn't going to be locked up permanently) and will, on their own cat timeline, deal with the new cat. All I can say, is it happened with ours, after a very unpromising beginning, and I've seen harmony magically restored to a multicat room after it seethed with tension every day for a week. I don't blame them for hiding. Who needs conflict, especially if they can make it so miserable that the new cat goes away or gets confined for much of the day? There are two of them and only one of him, so in theory, they should be able to control the day as a team. Maybe your role, at some point if not right now, is just to make it clear that nobody's leaving and nobody's getting confined and they're just going to have to work it out. I'd surely try that approach for a week or two before making a decision to return the new cat. Call it the last chance dance. Good luck.... > > I'm getting some conflicting info from googling this whole > > "introducing a new cat" thing. > > > > There is a viewpoint out there that a new male, in particular, will > > need to rassle with the current residents in order to establish the > > new hierarchy. <snip> > > Brian Link, Minnesota Countertenor > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > After 4-5 weeks of death battles, they just decided to be friends and > now they love each other dearly. I totally disagree. I used a very slow, careful approach for the introduction, and my cats did not go through anything like you descibed. New cats do not "need" to fight resident cats -- but that is something that will often happen if care is not taken to avoid it. MaryL > I totally disagree. I used a very slow, careful approach for the > introduction, and my cats did not go through anything like you descibed. > New cats do not "need" to fight resident cats -- but that is something that > will often happen if care is not taken to avoid it. > > MaryL We took lots of care to avoid it in the first two weeks. And then exactly what were trying to avoid happened anyway. It is a process of sorting out the rules of co-existence, and I see it happen not only at home, but at the no-kill whenever a new cat is added to the multicat rooms. It astonishes me how cats will mercilessly torture a new cat, and then bap .... best of friends one day. I'm sure there are exceptions, but I don't think you can stage manage it out of existence in every situation. What's relevent to the OP is that the confrontations often look a lot worse than they are and that they don't, at all, mean that the cats will never be friends. >We took lots of care to avoid it in the first two weeks. And then >exactly what were trying to avoid happened anyway. It is a process of [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >confrontations often look a lot worse than they are and that they >don't, at all, mean that the cats will never be friends. Teach first grade for a while. Cat behavior will be become much clearer. -- Bogus e-mail address, but I read this newsgroup regularly, so reply here. |
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