Hi there,
Here is how we do the rotation....
At 8:30 in the morning Clementine(scaredy) who is diabetic gets fed in our bedroom(where we have a litter box,food,water in the bathroom) and then her insulin shot. Then we take her out and put Kasey(meanie) in the room.
At 5 pm we change and Clem goes in the room for the night as she likes to sleep with us. The cats cannot share food as Clem is on Science Diet pres. food. We have tried leaving them out but Clem starts growling at Kasey and then he goes for her and the fur starts flying, Clem pees and sometimes poops and its game over. Then back to the bedroom for Kasey. I have tried the baby gate and Kasey somehow gets over it and gets her. I have not tried the Feliway yet,, but as soon as I have some cash I will get some(its $50.00 here in Canada) it sounds like our last glimmer of hope.
Kasey is a no remorse kind of cat.. he doesnt mind the stern "NO" or water spray.. nothing seems to bother him. He weighs approx 25 pounds and is a bruiser! Clem is only about 9 pounds. I dont want to stress her out due to her diabetes(wouldnt want to stress her out anyway!)
My story is so similar to Susans except mine have never gotten along. Its so frustrating!
Mean cat & Scaredy Cat
Re: Mean cat & Scaredy Cat
that seems like a long time to me, have you tried shorter periods for this rotation so that it can be repeated in one day? im thinking the forced and relaxed movement from one living area to another might help, but the length of your resident (i guess at this point it seems they are all resident) Kasey being confined might be causing her to be more annoyed with the rotation than its helping Clem.Kendra wrote:Here is how we do the rotation....
At 8:30 in the morning [snip] we take her out and put Kasey(meanie) in the room.
At 5 pm we change and Clem goes in the room for the night as she likes to sleep with us.
sigh, i sing that song here too.Kendra wrote:The cats cannot share food as Clem is on Science Diet pres. food.
interesting, Clem (scaredy) is the one that starts the confrontations?Kendra wrote:We have tried leaving them out but Clem starts growling at Kasey and then he goes for her and the fur starts flying, Clem pees and sometimes poops and its game over. Then back to the bedroom for Kasey.
yeah, i wouldnt recommend that...they need their phsyical and visual space right now.Kendra wrote:I have tried the baby gate and Kasey somehow gets over it and gets her.
ok...when Clem first came home, did you start with your current routine or did you try the "here she is boys" approach...im just wondering if their first greeting has perhaps set the tone requiring you to probably just keep Clem in a room of her own with no rotation for a while.
another question...does your other cat follow suit with Kasey or just ignore the whole ordeal?
Re: Mean cat & Scaredy Cat
THank you for your reply Jason.
I have had Clementine for 5 years(shes 10) and she lived with me by herself. Dave(my now husband) had Jabronie, a male cat. While I was moving Clem stayed with Dave and Jabroni for about amonth and the kitties got along fine. Clem licks Jabronis head, plays with him etc.
Just before Dave and I bought a house and were moving in together, we found Kasey, a cat that someone dropped off at my dads acreage in the country. We think hes 1 or 2 years old. He was in bad shape.... a HUGE abcess on his tummy, very malnourished, tapeworm not neutered etc. As Dad wouldnt let him in the house Kasey lived for about a month in a heated cat house and by Kaseyes choice, the horse trailer. Clem and Kasey only had visual contact thru the patio door. Kasey would ignore Clem's growls and hisses thru the door.We got Kasey all fixed up and Dave and I bought our house. When we moved Clem was fine.. stomping around the new house. Kasey stayed in a room for about a day then came out and then the problems began.
Clem would be laying on the back of the couch and he would sneak up on her and attack her. Wherever she was he would seek her out and get her.
His eyes go all crazy and then the attack. So now.. whenever Clem sees him she growls, hisses etc.
The room that we switch them off in is our bedroom so both of their smells are in there. If Kasey has been laying on a blanket and I put Clem on that blanket, even though he's not even in the room she hisses at the blanket.
I dont know that shorter periods in the room would help.. Clem gets irritated when we pick her up to put her in the room(she hates being picked up) and more "pick ups" in a day may stress her out. They do have a kingsize bed to lay on in there.. theres also a huge window where the sun comes in so they can "suntan" etc. I also go in and visit each of them when they are in the room. I feel terrible about all of this but I dont feel that I can give up Kasey.
I have had Clementine for 5 years(shes 10) and she lived with me by herself. Dave(my now husband) had Jabronie, a male cat. While I was moving Clem stayed with Dave and Jabroni for about amonth and the kitties got along fine. Clem licks Jabronis head, plays with him etc.
Just before Dave and I bought a house and were moving in together, we found Kasey, a cat that someone dropped off at my dads acreage in the country. We think hes 1 or 2 years old. He was in bad shape.... a HUGE abcess on his tummy, very malnourished, tapeworm not neutered etc. As Dad wouldnt let him in the house Kasey lived for about a month in a heated cat house and by Kaseyes choice, the horse trailer. Clem and Kasey only had visual contact thru the patio door. Kasey would ignore Clem's growls and hisses thru the door.We got Kasey all fixed up and Dave and I bought our house. When we moved Clem was fine.. stomping around the new house. Kasey stayed in a room for about a day then came out and then the problems began.
Clem would be laying on the back of the couch and he would sneak up on her and attack her. Wherever she was he would seek her out and get her.
His eyes go all crazy and then the attack. So now.. whenever Clem sees him she growls, hisses etc.
The room that we switch them off in is our bedroom so both of their smells are in there. If Kasey has been laying on a blanket and I put Clem on that blanket, even though he's not even in the room she hisses at the blanket.
I dont know that shorter periods in the room would help.. Clem gets irritated when we pick her up to put her in the room(she hates being picked up) and more "pick ups" in a day may stress her out. They do have a kingsize bed to lay on in there.. theres also a huge window where the sun comes in so they can "suntan" etc. I also go in and visit each of them when they are in the room. I feel terrible about all of this but I dont feel that I can give up Kasey.
Re: Mean cat & Scaredy Cat
P.S This has been going on since Nov of last year.
Re: Mean cat & Scaredy Cat
ah, for some reason i thought Clem was the new kid on the block...so its Kasey who is the newest....ok.
given the amount of time you have been through all of this, im sure you've tried alot of things and your quite frustrated...i have another suggestion:
perhaps every other day or so, get some (dont do this alot since its not a good diet) tuna in water and place a couple chunks on two small paper plates (something flat) and set them down in a room about 8-10 feet apart. when you have set it up, get some help and take them both in there to have a treat together (let them growl and hiss, they have to shut up eventually to enjoy the sweet treat) and set them up facing each other. if one eats like a pig, try to give a tad more to that one and maybe a tad less to the other so they finish near the same. i would stay in there with them (just to be sure they actually eat) till they are finished...and when the old antics start up, then its time to return to the rotation areas.
keep the same distance about 2-3 times and begin to slowly (a foot or so) move the plates closer. i did this routine as a last ditch effort (in addition to a few other odd things) with my two cats as i was worried about leaving them alone together when i leave for a few days. it took about 2-3 weeks of this before it had some serious results. i was careful with the amounts of tuna as to not upset their stomachs.
hoping for some good results in the future, just remember everything that you try will always take time before you will notice any benifit so its good to keep trying it. i think you will have more time than typically since they have such a history of being at odds with each other.
if you cant tell, im optimistic about this.
given the amount of time you have been through all of this, im sure you've tried alot of things and your quite frustrated...i have another suggestion:
perhaps every other day or so, get some (dont do this alot since its not a good diet) tuna in water and place a couple chunks on two small paper plates (something flat) and set them down in a room about 8-10 feet apart. when you have set it up, get some help and take them both in there to have a treat together (let them growl and hiss, they have to shut up eventually to enjoy the sweet treat) and set them up facing each other. if one eats like a pig, try to give a tad more to that one and maybe a tad less to the other so they finish near the same. i would stay in there with them (just to be sure they actually eat) till they are finished...and when the old antics start up, then its time to return to the rotation areas.
keep the same distance about 2-3 times and begin to slowly (a foot or so) move the plates closer. i did this routine as a last ditch effort (in addition to a few other odd things) with my two cats as i was worried about leaving them alone together when i leave for a few days. it took about 2-3 weeks of this before it had some serious results. i was careful with the amounts of tuna as to not upset their stomachs.
hoping for some good results in the future, just remember everything that you try will always take time before you will notice any benifit so its good to keep trying it. i think you will have more time than typically since they have such a history of being at odds with each other.
if you cant tell, im optimistic about this.
Re: Mean cat & Scaredy Cat
Thanks Jason.
I'll try this on Wednesday and post the results.
Kendra
I'll try this on Wednesday and post the results.
Kendra