Agression from cat to new cat...please help!!!!
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kmacgrady
Agression from cat to new cat...please help!!!!
November 2003 I adopted a 3 year old male neutered Himalayan. He was a sweetie with no problems and a month later I adopted a 2 year old spayed female Persian. Both are front declawed. The Himalayan immediately took a dislike for the Persian (hissing; attacking). Persian is the sweetest gentlest little thing and is now deathly afraid of her Himalayn brother, spending much time living hiding under the bed.. It has been a month and a half now and the Himalayan's behavior is not getting better. He attacks Persian and then runs away and hides because he knows he is bad. I have tried spraying him with water, it does not seem to work. Now I am putting him in bathroom whenever he attacks her as punishment. I've tried two bowls of food, two litter boxes, nothing seems to work...Does anyone have any advice at all? I love them both but it is just not right that she always has to slink around in fear that Himalayan boy will ambush her, pin her in a corner, etc....Please help!!!
Re: Agression from cat to new cat...please help!!!!
have you tried searching this board with the keyword of "agression" yet? also try searching for "introductions". we have good advice about this already spread out on the board 
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post back if nothing applies.
.post back if nothing applies.
Re: Agression from cat to new cat...please help!!!!
Have you heard of Feliway? There are these room plugs that are supposed to reduce the urge your cat is feeling to be agressive... I've never used them but you could give them a try, i hear they can be quite effective. If both of them are declawed, it could be that your male knowing that he's a little less able to defend himself has decided he has to be super aggressive... in any case i think you need to re-introduce them. And now that the initial tone has been set, the re-introduction period could take quite a while...
You might want to try rubbing some vanilla extract under their chins, and also if you have some oil burners you should light them and add to your carrier oil some vanilla essence. We did this when we got our cats and it worked. It is supposed to work on the principle of masking the new cats smell a little, so that your first cat doesn't feel like there is an intruder on his turf so much.
But instead of confining him i thik you need to confine her, and follow the normal procedure for introducing them. Slowly... slowly... slowly... catching monkey.
You might want to try rubbing some vanilla extract under their chins, and also if you have some oil burners you should light them and add to your carrier oil some vanilla essence. We did this when we got our cats and it worked. It is supposed to work on the principle of masking the new cats smell a little, so that your first cat doesn't feel like there is an intruder on his turf so much.
But instead of confining him i thik you need to confine her, and follow the normal procedure for introducing them. Slowly... slowly... slowly... catching monkey.
Re: Agression from cat to new cat...please help!!!!
coincidence at best probably, cats can be distracted but their behavior needs to be adopted....not served a buffet of smells. the smell that they need to deal with is their own, but it should be done in slow moderation...especially if agression is observed.Yzma wrote:You might want to try rubbing some vanilla extract under their chins
It is supposed to work on the principle of masking the new cats smell a little, so that your first cat doesn't feel like there is an intruder on his turf so much.
using a chemical could react on your cats skin.
Re: Agression from cat to new cat...please help!!!!
Actually vanilla essence is a food product and I got that tip from one of the ladies who runs the cat site forums... Hissy/MA. It worked for us...jason wrote:coincidence at best probably, cats can be distracted but their behavior needs to be adopted....not served a buffet of smells. the smell that they need to deal with is their own, but it should be done in slow moderation...especially if agression is observed.
using a chemical could react on your cats skin.
Re: Agression from cat to new cat...please help!!!!
Vanilla is essentially an alcohol...while a dab might not hurt, it is still a strong scent, and a kitty might be sensitive to it.
Along the same thought.....rescue remedy. Since it also is essentially an alcohol, is it appropriate to give to a cat? Since most owners who administer it take it for themselves as well, well you might as well say it's a depressant (which alcohol is), but again, is it appropriate to give alcohol to a cat? Never understood that reasoning, JMO.
Not disagreeing that MA's method works, it has obviously worked for her. But I agree with Jason in this case, scents, smells etc shouldn't be a buffer for true behavioral adjustment problems. With patience, finding out what is causing the behavior and trying methods to correct it will benefit better than a buffer that is only a temporary solution. Time-outs, other safe and harmless methods of reprimanding, making adjustments in the environment to accomodate the cats's sense of security, etc are the keys to success. Time outs, for example, do work, as long as they are done correctly, the timing is critical, the length of time is appropriate, and that kitty is rewarded for good behavior, and as long as the other cat is not excessively given attention (which can be a stress-factor for the agressor)
Along the same thought.....rescue remedy. Since it also is essentially an alcohol, is it appropriate to give to a cat? Since most owners who administer it take it for themselves as well, well you might as well say it's a depressant (which alcohol is), but again, is it appropriate to give alcohol to a cat? Never understood that reasoning, JMO.
Not disagreeing that MA's method works, it has obviously worked for her. But I agree with Jason in this case, scents, smells etc shouldn't be a buffer for true behavioral adjustment problems. With patience, finding out what is causing the behavior and trying methods to correct it will benefit better than a buffer that is only a temporary solution. Time-outs, other safe and harmless methods of reprimanding, making adjustments in the environment to accomodate the cats's sense of security, etc are the keys to success. Time outs, for example, do work, as long as they are done correctly, the timing is critical, the length of time is appropriate, and that kitty is rewarded for good behavior, and as long as the other cat is not excessively given attention (which can be a stress-factor for the agressor)
..........Traci
Re: Agression from cat to new cat...please help!!!!
Well that's true... Especially if there is a behaviour problem. Come to think of it i think it only worked for us as our cats weren't being aggressive towards each other... 
...so then is feliway(another smell thingy) a good thing or a bad thing or does it just depend on the situation?
...so then is feliway(another smell thingy) a good thing or a bad thing or does it just depend on the situation?Re: Agression from cat to new cat...please help!!!!
Feliway......good question, and not one that can be answered as a yes or no.
If you beleive what the site claims, there are flaws to their "research". While some cats may be affected by it, some cats won't be...none of mine ever were. I also don't agree with their research and comments regarding food, cages, etc....in the clinical setting, their research doesn't hold. Cats are stressed when boarding or hospitalized, many are patients requiring treatment, recovering from a procedure or surgery, some are on restricted foods, restricted feeding schedules, or require certain methods of feeding. I don't think it is a fair assumption to say cats eat better, are less stressed, or are more likely to be active or socialize simply because Feliway is placed in their cages, this just does not make sense, there are various factors to consider in that environment, mostly human caretaker attention to their needs. Same applies to spraying/marking behavior and Feliway. It might work for a low percentage of cats, but I wouldn't claim it is a solution.
For a stressed cat, a nervous cat, or one that could benefit from a calming effect of Feliway, providing it works, then there would be no harm in using it. But if the problem is behavioral, such as agressiveness, and no other method were applied to correct the behavior, then the owner assumes that Feliway is the solution, when it in fact may only cover the surface of the problem, and probably temporarily.
Again, only my opinion...some people swear by it, some people have a success story. It won't work for every cat though, and ideally, human intervention when dealing with behavioral matters is usually best, because you're combining a physical element of training with environmental factors.
If you beleive what the site claims, there are flaws to their "research". While some cats may be affected by it, some cats won't be...none of mine ever were. I also don't agree with their research and comments regarding food, cages, etc....in the clinical setting, their research doesn't hold. Cats are stressed when boarding or hospitalized, many are patients requiring treatment, recovering from a procedure or surgery, some are on restricted foods, restricted feeding schedules, or require certain methods of feeding. I don't think it is a fair assumption to say cats eat better, are less stressed, or are more likely to be active or socialize simply because Feliway is placed in their cages, this just does not make sense, there are various factors to consider in that environment, mostly human caretaker attention to their needs. Same applies to spraying/marking behavior and Feliway. It might work for a low percentage of cats, but I wouldn't claim it is a solution.
For a stressed cat, a nervous cat, or one that could benefit from a calming effect of Feliway, providing it works, then there would be no harm in using it. But if the problem is behavioral, such as agressiveness, and no other method were applied to correct the behavior, then the owner assumes that Feliway is the solution, when it in fact may only cover the surface of the problem, and probably temporarily.
Again, only my opinion...some people swear by it, some people have a success story. It won't work for every cat though, and ideally, human intervention when dealing with behavioral matters is usually best, because you're combining a physical element of training with environmental factors.
..........Traci
fwiw, im just over half-way finished with an cat introductions page of our own that describes dealing with this issue using only behavioral techniques...of course, alot of it is already contained within posts on the board.
to second Traci's comments on "MA's success stories", there are plenty of methods for dealing with things that "work for others"...myself, i can only advocate what i believe deals directly with a problem without introducing potential side effects that are unneeded.
there have been occations that i try some rather interesting methods for dealing with my own cats, but just because it may have worked at the time does not, i feel, grant me permission to advocate it. heh, hope im being clear about this. im quite touchy about introductions....ive personally known far too many people who send their new cats to shelters (and then you can guess what next) or let them live in chaos that supports a wide range of health issues because they tried things that didnt deal with the problem in a direct way, they instead get frustrated with various "interesting" methods that people tell them and simply give up....sorry, but that burns me up. applied scents wear off but patient dedication to social acclimation (sorry for the rhyme) of your cats will stick around for a long time...establishing the bonds of friendship that your cats will endure and grow with.
jmho....the only reason for alcohol when dealing with cats are the colorful bottles we save for ourselves
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edit: just a side note, of course vanilla extract flavor does come alcohol free, not that i care...just mentioning for completeness.
to second Traci's comments on "MA's success stories", there are plenty of methods for dealing with things that "work for others"...myself, i can only advocate what i believe deals directly with a problem without introducing potential side effects that are unneeded.
there have been occations that i try some rather interesting methods for dealing with my own cats, but just because it may have worked at the time does not, i feel, grant me permission to advocate it. heh, hope im being clear about this. im quite touchy about introductions....ive personally known far too many people who send their new cats to shelters (and then you can guess what next) or let them live in chaos that supports a wide range of health issues because they tried things that didnt deal with the problem in a direct way, they instead get frustrated with various "interesting" methods that people tell them and simply give up....sorry, but that burns me up. applied scents wear off but patient dedication to social acclimation (sorry for the rhyme) of your cats will stick around for a long time...establishing the bonds of friendship that your cats will endure and grow with.
jmho....the only reason for alcohol when dealing with cats are the colorful bottles we save for ourselves
.edit: just a side note, of course vanilla extract flavor does come alcohol free, not that i care...just mentioning for completeness
.