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[JdFoX187]

A friend at work came to me yesterday and asked if I could board her cat for her for an extended amount of time. She's moving and is trying to get a house suitable for said cat. So she offers me $100 a month and enough food and litter for him and the two cats I have. Sounded like a great arrangement.

I bring home the little guy today and things just went downhill. He's about 6 months-old, neutered with all of his shots. He's docile, sociable and gentle. My two cats -- a brother and sister pair -- are about 3 months-old with their shots. They're sociable and a little rough with each other, but still loving and friendly. Introduce Chester, this new cat, into the mix and they turn into Mr. Hyde and his evil sister. Poor Chester just sits in a corner scared to fucking death, quivering. He tried to be friendly and all they did was hiss at him. So I've got them all separated, but how do I get them to intermingle? This might be for a couple months, so I want them to get to like each other. I know male dominance and all, but is there anything to help ease the situation?

 

[purg3]

probably best to keep them separated for a little while. If she gave you some of that cat's toys, let your cats smell it or play with it so they get used to the other cat's scent. It can be a slow process, it just takes time.

 

[Devolution]

Keep it confined in a separate room that it can't leave and the other cats can't enter, so they can get used to the smells of each other. Then you introduce it slowly to the household. If he's only 6 months you shouldn't have a problem keeping him in a room by himself.

 

[JdFoX187]

That sounds like what I'll do. He's in my bedroom right now that I never go into, so I don't think that'll be a problem. He's just so scared to death I don't think he wants to move, let alone explore. The one time he tried looking around, he jumped on a skillet that fell off in the floor and made a loud noise that sent him flying. He's a good cat, I've been around him before. I just have to give them time to get used to each other. Thankfully she gave me a litter box and separate feeding dishes.

 

[notworksafe]

A cat thread without any kitty pics?

Also the separate room advice is very good.

 

[Ryaaan14]

Separate the cats and give one a blanket to lay on, then move the blanket out with the other cats. Rinse and repeat and eventually give them a few mins to see each other, put them back, and slowly increase the time they get to be around each other.

 

[hokahey]

I have 3 cats. As each one was introduced to their new home they freaked the fuck out and the other cat(s) acted like assholes. Its going to happen. I'd let them all do their thing so long as they're not hurting each other, keeping in mind cats love to wrestle. After a week they'll be peas in a pod.

 

[Stinkles]

Keep it confined in a separate room that it can't leave and the other cats can't enter, so they can get used to the smells of each other. Then you introduce it slowly to the household. If he's only 6 months you shouldn't have a problem keeping him in a room by himself.

This. Although it only took an hour for us because our first cat had a ridiculous maternal instinct.

 

[DoctorButt]

have them bond over pizza

 

[2th]

have them bond over pizza

why did it take so long to have this meme come up? GAF you are starting to disappoint.

 

[Ryaaan14]

why did it take so long to have this meme come up? GAF you are starting to disappoint.

Because people are aware that it's probably a use or two away from becoming bannable.

 

[Harry Potter]

Do the secluding thing. When we got our second cat we had them separated to two areas but kept the door cracked so they could check each other out but not hurt each other. I also took a blanket that my first cat would lay on all the time and put it in the room with the new cat so she could get accustomed to his smell. Don't worry, they'll come around.

Now a cat pic!

 

[JdFoX187]

Do the secluding thing. When we got our second cat we had them separated to two areas but kept the door cracked so they could check each other out but not hurt each other. I also took a blanket that my first cat would lay on all the time and put it in the room with the new cat so she could get accustomed to his smell. Don't worry, they'll come around.

Now a cat pic!

Your cats are cute. I'll have to update some decent pics of mine tonight. But why is the one look like it's crying blood?

 

[Harry Potter]

Your cats are cute. I'll have to update some decent pics of mine tonight. But why is the one look like it's crying blood?

He has bad allergies. It's the same kind of discharge you see on poodles. His fur is just so white so it's very noticeable.

 

[purg3]

Do the secluding thing. When we got our second cat we had them separated to two areas but kept the door cracked so they could check each other out but not hurt each other. I also took a blanket that my first cat would lay on all the time and put it in the room with the new cat so she could get accustomed to his smell. Don't worry, they'll come around.

Now a cat pic!

is that a snowshoe cat?

 

[Harry Potter]

is that a snowshoe cat?

Nah, Siamese mutt. She does look like one though.

 

[Ryaaan14]

OKAY TWIST MY ARM.

Pixel & Venom

 

[JdFoX187]

Update: Came home from work and wanted to switch out the cats' living arrangements so Chester is in the small bedroom and my two cats have the run of the apartment like always. Big mistake. Luke (yes, his sister is named Leia) is hiding under my bed. I coax him out with some food and pick him up gently to carry him into the bathroom where I can keep the two long enough to get Chester's food and water bowls and litter box set up in the bedroom. Chester is hiding under my recliner, scared witless still.

But while I'm carrying Luke into the bathroom, he starts majorly hissing at me. He's never done that before. So I go to put him down and he starts clawing madly. My hands and arms look like I've stuck them in barbed wire. Though I manage to get him in the bathroom and shut the door. Leia also hisses at me, which she's never done. I figure okay, they smell Chester on me, are jelly, they'll get used to it. But when I put her down in the bathroom, she starts hissing at her brother and they start fighting. What the fuck?

So I lock Leia in my walk-in closet, just long enough to get Chester into the bedroom. As soon as I walk over and raise the recliner, he looks at me, meows and bolts for the only open room, which is the bedroom. Great, he's in there where the other cats have been, phase one complete.

I open the doors to let the others out and they just hiss at me and walk away. Is this normal?

 

[Cousteau]

you have to ease the pussy in nice and slow with the other pussy. It can be dangerous at first and only someone with experience in the art of pussy handling need attempt it.

 

[InertiaXr]

I figure okay, they smell Chester on me, are jelly, they'll get used to it. But when I put her down in the bathroom, she starts hissing at her brother and they start fighting. What the fuck?

This is because of exactly what you described on yourself. She smells him who smells like the new cat Chester, and she obviously does not like that and starts a fight.

As others have said, you mostly just need to flip them back and forth between isolated areas so they can smell each other over time, and get use to it. It may take a week or more, but nearly all cats can eventually settle down enough to accept another cat in the house. The new cat may be actively ignored by your 2 current cats, or it could eventually become a small friendship. Either way, that should be enough for you, especially since you are just fostering this new cat for a small amount of time apparently.

 

[JdFoX187]

This is because of exactly what you described on yourself. She smells him who smells like the new cat Chester, and she obviously does not like that and starts a fight.

As others have said, you mostly just need to flip them back and forth between isolated areas so they can smell each other over time, and get use to it. It may take a week or more, but nearly all cats can eventually settle down enough to accept another cat in the house. The new cat may be actively ignored by your 2 current cats, or it could eventually become a small friendship. Either way, that should be enough for you, especially since you are just fostering this new cat for a small amount of time apparently.

Yeah, I'm not expecting them to be best friends. I just want them to be able to co-exist and me to avoid getting clawed to death by one or the other. The way they look at me right now, it's like they're stalking me to slit my throat when I go to sleep. Need that "ways to know your cat is trying to kill you" picture. Meanwhile, poor Chester is so scared of his own shadow that he'll dart from anything.

I'm planning on switching them out probably daily, I just need to figure a more efficient way of making sure I don't get hurt in the process.

 

[RyanDG]

I open the doors to let the others out and they just hiss at me and walk away. Is this normal?

We had only one cat for about 5 years. One of my wife's friends took in a stray from the highway and ended up realizing that she wasn't a cat person. My wife, being the animal lover she was, refused to let her friend abandon the animal and we agreed to take it in. The new cat was probably about 6 months old at the time.

We did everything we read online... We kept the animals separated, switched out toys between the two, and tried to intermingle the smells. We kept this in place for several months, trying to bring them together slowly. Each time we did, the two animals would fight. People said we should expect this and keep something handy to distract them when this happened. Unfortunately, it never got better. No matter what we did, the two cats went straight at each other every single time to the point that they were trying to hurt each other. People told us that they weren't going to actually hurt each other though and sometimes you just have to let their aggressions out.

But seeing their behavior made us realize that this wasn't a situation where it was 'play' fighting. They were going for blood.

Unfortunately, our normally docile and loving female cat began to have a change of behavior about the whole situation. She started to become withdrawn and introverted and didn't interact with us as much she normally did (after 5 years, we knew her behavior pretty well). It tore us up with her being like this, but since we took on the obligation of the stray we had to come up with a solution.

We were forced to basically divide our house into two (the front half for the new male and the second half for the female). Both cats would still hiss at each other under the door and the female never really 'behaved' her normal self.

The only thing that made the situation better was when we finally had to move 10 hours away. Taking them out of their environments was the only solution for us, as in the new house, since the cats didn't have territorial claims, being thrown into the same home together they staked them out without the doorways. They were so terrified of being out of their old elements that whatever 'issues' between them were now a secondary concern.

It's been 3 years since we've moved (the male is now about 5 years old so we kept the house divided for 2), and they have reached a sort of armistice.


I know this is a long story, but ultimately, the behavior that you are seeing is definitely something that we witnessed, and unfortunately it wasn't something that was able to be fixed on our old environment. It took an entire move to get the cats together/back to normal. Hopefully the new room mate fits in.

 

[Ryaaan14]

I'm telling you OP, do the blanket thing.

 

[InertiaXr]

Story

Was your female neutered? How about the new male? I've never had a cat that wasn't neutered, but I've read that that can be a large determining factor in how new cats behave around each other, especially them being opposite sexes. Over time I've had 2 cats, then 1, then introduced a 2nd, then introduced a 3rd, now have 2, and they have all been able to coexist over time. Some cats just can't live with each other like yours, which is sad.

 

[RyanDG]

Was your female neutered? How about the new male? I've never had a cat that wasn't neutered, but I've read that that can be a large determining factor in how new cats behave around each other, especially them being opposite sexes. Over time I've had 2 cats, then 1, then introduced a 2nd, then introduced a 3rd, now have 2, and they have all been able to coexist over time. Some cats just can't live with each other like yours, which is sad.

Both of them were fixed.

Fortunately, the move did finally put them together - once they got pushed out of their 'territories'. They now live with the full run of the house together, but try to avoid each other as much as possible.

 

[InertiaXr]

Both of them were fixed.

Fortunately, the move did finally put them together - once they got pushed out of their 'territories'. They now live with the full run of the house together, but try to avoid each other as much as possible.

Lol, mine do sort of the same thing. My 11 year old pretty much avoids the other 2 cats, who both became good friends when the 3rd came into the house, but soon their friendship had a 1 way falling out of sorts I guess, one of them still tries to play with the other but he has none of it and displays it clearly. At least your new home neutralized it all, I can't imagine trying to keep 2 cats from each other for very long in the same house. :/

 

[suzu]

You're going to have to introduce them slowly. Separate them and swap smells/toys. Hissing at each other is ok. It's only bad if they draw blood.

A feliway plugin may or may not work.

 

[JdFoX187]

Update: Now I'm getting worried.

Couldn't find Chester for several hours yesterday. I have a small apartment, so he had to be around somewhere. Finally found him hiding behind some DVD movies in one of my shelves. He had been there so long that he pissed all over himself. I was able to get him into the bathroom and put his litter box, his food and his water in there. I made sure to put plenty of distance between the food/water and litter box just to ensure. He crawled behind the toilet and just sort of sat there. If I made any movement to pick him up or pet him, he would just crawl away. He was also shaking, so I'm sure he's scared.

More than 24 hours later, he's still back there. He hasn't touched his food, hasn't touched his litter box and hasn't touched his water, and he's been here since Saturday evening. All he does is pick a spot and hide until I coax him out in some way. And even then, he runs away from me the first chance he gets.

The other cats have seemingly ignored his presence. But I don't want this cat upping and dying on me or getting sick. I figured he would take some time for adjustment, but I get worried when he doesn't even move enough to piss off himself.

 

[Kammie]

I just found this thread, and was wondering if you had any updates on poor Chester?

 

[JdFoX187]

Kammie asked me to bump this with an update on Chester. After about a week, he started venturing out of the bathroom and into the rest of the apartment. He still would hide behind the television and not come out at all. The other cats seemed to ignore him for the most part. But over the last while they have accepted him. They play with each other, sleep together and roll around on the couch. All are eating and using the same litter box now. So happy ending for the most part, even if Chester is still a little shy.

 

[Kammie]

A happier ending than was expected! Glad to hear then. I was fearing the worst, considering the last post. Cats can be weird animals...

I'm going to hijack this thread with a question of my own to see if anyone has experience. Next week I'm going to introduce a 1.5 month-old kitten to one that's a little over a year old. I'll be keeping them separated/etc for a while, but I wanted to know... how can I keep the older cat from eating the kitten food? I feed the older cat twice a day (she starts gaining weight otherwise), but will need to leave the kitten food out all day long for the kitten to feed at whatever random intervals suit him. Is there any way to control this? Or perhaps a different feeding routine? If anyone knows, any help is appreciated.