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Cat Forum / General Topics / September 20042nd Cat Added, Original Cat Refuses to Calm
We had a cat since July who--for the past month--has been an only cat. She's done fine in that regard. Just 3 days ago we bought in another one, a small kitten. The original cat is among the most hostile I've ever seen a cat. 3 days later, and it hasn't calmed down even a tiny bit. Total hostility. The new cat doesn't antagonize the old one, and the old one doesn't attack it--but it does moan and hiss if the new one is anywhere near it. It doesn't prevent either of the two from eating or going to the litter box, but the hostility is something I don't want. And moreover, we like the new cat and we aren't going to get rid of it because the old one doesn't like it. One, we are the owners and we decide who lives here, not either of the two cats. Two, the new one doesn't antagonize the old one and is not hostile or hissy in the least; it's all the old one who is. If it were the other way around, the new one would've been returned pronto. As it stands, it looks like we're going to have to rehome the old one (again, we've just had it since July) and keep the new one. This hostility is unnecessary, is not going to be tolerated, and frankly if the old cat would be happier somewhere else then so be it. That said, does anyone have any recommendations which could possibly turn things around--make it where the old one stops being hostile? LRH | As it stands, it looks like we're going to have to rehome the old one | (again, we've just had it since July) and keep the new one. This hostility | is unnecessary, is not going to be tolerated, and frankly if the old cat | would be happier somewhere else then so be it. This is very cruel, *very* cruel. The old cat needs at least a month time. My two didn't get on initially, but after three months they played with each other. Don't forget to give your old cat plenty of extra attention! Play with them together. Make shared times happy times like treats, food, petting etc. | That said, does anyone have any recommendations which could possibly turn | things around--make it where the old one stops being hostile? | | LRH >"...it looks like we're going to have >to rehome the old one >| (again, we've just had it since >July) and keep the new one. This hostility >| is unnecessary, is not going to be >tolerated..." A few years ago, my cat was 14 when I brought a 2 month old kitten home. It took months and months to get the older one used to the kitten. Last year, the (now 4/12 year old) cat took 6+ months to get used to the 6 year old new arrival. The first 4 months were spent with the newer cat in the bedroom and the resident cat and me sleeping in the living room. They still have their spats, but it's much better now. I went through some very rough times, but I am glad she's here..she's my pearl! > We had a cat since July who--for the past month--has been an only cat. > She's [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > That said, does anyone have any recommendations which could possibly turn > things around--make it where the old one stops being hostile? I don't think 3 days is long enough. Give it more time. This is natural for a lot of cats. Give it at least 2 weeks. Yeah, I read some Google postings where some advised to give it 2-3 weeks. Having read that made me feel more at ease. It's just that earlier on this cat was a new cat; we had a black cat for sometime before bringing this one in (now the old one), and the black one sometimes exhibited some biting tendencies towards the "new" one (now the "old" one), but nothing like what I'm seeing now--nothing even close to that. They were for the most part cordial--right from the get-go--with nothing more than the black one every now & then doing his thing, which we would intercept when we caught him doing it. No hissing, scratching, or fighting per se--small bits of it, but nothing like what I've seen in this case. That's why I thought something was wrong. But yeah, now what you're telling me & what I've read says give it more time. Done. LRH > > We had a cat since July who--for the past month--has been an only cat. > > She's [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > I don't think 3 days is long enough. Give it more time. This is natural > for a lot of cats. Give it at least 2 weeks. > Yeah, I read some Google postings where some advised to give it 2-3 weeks. > Having read that made me feel more at ease. [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > telling > me & what I've read says give it more time. Done. It depends on the cat. My newest one, Kiki, is just as casual and relaxed as can be. I've got three others and they all have their own tolerances for new cats/people. Each of the three I had before Kiki all took the adjustment at different paces. I also recently added a new guy to my home... I lost one 18 1/2 year old last September to CRF, and the 16 1/2 year old to heart disease this June leaving me with my four year old. I figured it had been long enough and last tuesday brought in a 2 year old from the local Animal Rescue League. I gave him my 2nd bedroom/office as his room and the established guy know the new guy is here but so far that is all. I am opening the house to the new guy one room at a time, with the established guy sequestered during explorations. Cats are VERY territorial. Any time you give to the new guy, double with the old guy. A decent short article is at: http://www.thecatsite.com/content/view/11/26/ Hope you're enjoying your new one as much as I am enjoying mine... Cats are territorial animals, and a lot of care must be taken when introducing a new cat to the household. They should be kept separated for at least a few days, and then SLOWLY introduced. First by scent, then by sight. There is a lot of useful info on feline introduction out there on the web. Sending the first cat away would be unfair and traumatic. Cats don't think the way we do. Your first cat thinks the new one is a threat to its (and your) home, and is being protective. If he/she can learn to associate positive things with the new cat (treats, favorite toys, etc...), you may be able to change (over time) his/her reactions to the new cat. One of the worst things you can do is just throw two cats together (as you can already see). Good luck to you. I suggest trying a large wire doggie kennel to keep the new cat, its litterbox, and food in for a few days. Keep the kennel out in the general living area so they can see and smell one another and not hurt or be a threat to one another. I did this when introducing a new kitten to our household (after a week of total separation and blanket-switching - for scent transferral), and it was successful. Your first cat has not been with you long, probably feels insecure. She has gone through a lot of changes in a short time and needs your patience and understanding. Sometimes they need every ounce of your understanding, even when you think they don't deserve it. She needs lots of extra attention and reassurance right now. Cats react differently and it just takes time. Be careful not to put people emotions on her like since she is hissing and growling, she's just a "bad" or "mean" cat. I'm not clear why you would think of rehoming her when you were the ones who brought in a second cat. I really think time and patience is what is needed, but on the very rare chance that after months they are still hostile, why would you rehome the first cat and not the kitten? Sounds like she was fine before the kitten. Anyway, good luck and my fingers are crossed that all of you will hang in there. Rhonda > We had a cat since July who--for the past month--has been an only cat. She's > done fine in that regard. > > Just 3 days ago we bought in another one, a small kitten. The original cat > is among the most hostile I've ever seen a cat. 3 days later, and it hasn't > calmed down even a tiny bit. Total hostility. > We had a cat since July who--for the past month--has been an only cat. She's > done fine in that regard. [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > LRH Larry, It takes time, but it also may take some specific steps to acclimate your two cats. However, it definitely *can* be done if you are willing to work on this. If you will send me a valid email address, I will send you a copy of a fairly lenghty description I wrote some time ago that describes the steps I used. My email that is attached to this message is valid except that you need to "take-out-the-litter" to reply. You could also do a google search for some of my messages where I have described the long, slow (but very successful!!) introduction of Holly and Duffy. Holly was my resident cat and had previously attacked any other cat in sight, but she and Duffy are now good friends. The first album posted under my signature uses photos to show much of what I did. 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") We have four cats. Nocturne, Smokey, and the kittens (Kumani and Tyche). Smokey is male and the rest are females. Nocturne was our first cat. It took Smokey about two weeks to accept the kittens and Nocturne about three. Nocturne HATED Smokey when we got him. We had to keep them in separate rooms for a month until they got used to the scent and sight of each other. Even now Nox will hiss at Smokey if he gets too near her, but that is not really a big deal. They do not hurt each other. They do not act aggressively towards us or towards the kittens. They do not bite or pull out each other's fur. Nox simply hisses at him and walks away. Sometimes he chases her, and when he does this we put him in the bedroom for a half-hour time-out. That settles him right down. Those two will never be best of friends, but they've learned to share our two bedroom apartment for over two years now, and tolerate each other. --Enfilade Thanks for the tips. As of 2 days ago, things died down and now they're fine. Larry, Just to add my 2 cents, my mom & I have 3 cats, 2 males and a female; all were strays that we found on our property. The first cat is a male that my mom found in our garage. We tried to find the original owners, to no avail, so we decided to keep him. We took him to the vet and a few months later, we had him neutered. The second cat we got was the female; my nephew found her wandering about our back yard and decided to bring her inside. She and our other cat sniffed each other and seemed to get along from the get go. We took her to the vet for a check up and had her spayed a few months later. Our third cat, another male, came around our house around the beginning of November of last year. He would sit at the outside of our front door, waiting to come in. We left him in, fed him, and kept him for the day and took him back to our Amish neighbor, thinking the cat was his. The cat would then again come back to our house in the morning and we repeated the scenario for about a month when we decided just to keep the cat. Our 2 cats seemed to get along with the new addition, probably because the other 2 were already fixed. Today they all get along well. BTW, the 3rd cat was neutered. Christine
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