I'll try to keep this concise...about 2 weeks ago I brought a new cat into my house. Now I do not expect him to get along with my other 3 cats right away; I know there will be major hostilities between them for a long time, but I worry because the newcomer, Kip, is violent. When he saw my cat Mollie sitting on the floor not making any moves or sounds, Kip attacked him and began biting him on the neck and scratching him...and Mollie has no claws. So now he has to stay in a cage.
Kip now stays in the garage with my other two cats; he remains in the cage, but the other two roam freely. When they see him or hear him, they hiss and growl. Today when I was carrying Kip around, my Caspurr growled and hissed at both of us and made a motion as if she was going to dive on me to attack Kip. But Kip is a tough cat, and he could take both Caspurr and Rolly on at the same time.
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Is there any way I can help my cats?
I really feel guilty because I fear my poor Kip will be forced to remain in a cage all the time. I would let him out with my other cats, but I'm afraid he will seriously hurt them.
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Advice?
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LinZ - cats even hiss at her
Will my cats ever get along? (help please)
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LinZ
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Will my cats ever get along? (help please)
"There's three ways to a man's heart - through his stomach, through his crotch, and through his rib cage." - Squeak
Re: Will my cats ever get along? (help please)
Don't keep him in a cage all of the time.
If you are gone it might be a good idea.
But it took my cat about 3-4 weeks to stop trying to "kill" my newer cat.
But you have to let them interact. If you keep the new cat penned up, the others won't accept him. They may think there is something wrong with him.
Unfortunately, new cats must take their lumps. It's alot like the new guy on the football team. The other cats WILL do what they feel is necessary to make him understand his place in the heirarchy.
So just trim ALL of the cats' claws and sit back and watch...unless it gets too ridiculous.
If you are gone it might be a good idea.
But it took my cat about 3-4 weeks to stop trying to "kill" my newer cat.
But you have to let them interact. If you keep the new cat penned up, the others won't accept him. They may think there is something wrong with him.
Unfortunately, new cats must take their lumps. It's alot like the new guy on the football team. The other cats WILL do what they feel is necessary to make him understand his place in the heirarchy.
So just trim ALL of the cats' claws and sit back and watch...unless it gets too ridiculous.
Re: Will my cats ever get along? (help please)
I used the introduction guidelines here when I had to introduce one to one then five to two and vice versa. There may never be total peace and harmony but is there ever in any home? Follow these tips and you should have some success.
Feline Introduction
Feline Introduction
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LinZ
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Re: Will my cats ever get along? (help please)
I will give those tactics a shot, Cleo. Thanks...I completely forgot there was that topic in this forum...oops.
Anyway, my current introduction tactic is this: I keep Kip on a leash and walk him around to each of my cats. They hiss and growl, and after staring each other down, Kip will lunge at or try to chase the cats, but the leash holds him back. He's a very frieldny cat to humans, but to other cats, Kip is very hostile. I suppose I just fear one of my cats will be badly hurt if I allow them to be alone with Kip.
But I'll try the plate thing. My cats already share a room, with Kip in a cage and the other two younger ones with free control of the rest of the room. They never approach the cage, and they always are hissing and growling at Kip. And of course, Kip likes to stick his feet through the bars of his kennel and try to smack one of them.
I know introductions are never easy, but I only worry because my three cats are pansies...they've been house cats all their lives, while Kip has had experience in hunting, attacking, etc. from his previous life of being a stray in the countryside.
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But thanks again for your help ^-^
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LinZ
Anyway, my current introduction tactic is this: I keep Kip on a leash and walk him around to each of my cats. They hiss and growl, and after staring each other down, Kip will lunge at or try to chase the cats, but the leash holds him back. He's a very frieldny cat to humans, but to other cats, Kip is very hostile. I suppose I just fear one of my cats will be badly hurt if I allow them to be alone with Kip.
But I'll try the plate thing. My cats already share a room, with Kip in a cage and the other two younger ones with free control of the rest of the room. They never approach the cage, and they always are hissing and growling at Kip. And of course, Kip likes to stick his feet through the bars of his kennel and try to smack one of them.
I know introductions are never easy, but I only worry because my three cats are pansies...they've been house cats all their lives, while Kip has had experience in hunting, attacking, etc. from his previous life of being a stray in the countryside.
................
But thanks again for your help ^-^
..........
LinZ
"There's three ways to a man's heart - through his stomach, through his crotch, and through his rib cage." - Squeak
Re: Will my cats ever get along? (help please)
If he isn't neutered, that could be part of the problem.
..........Traci
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LinZ
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Re: Will my cats ever get along? (help please)
Yes, Traci, Kip has been neutered.
Earlier this evening, after trimming Kip's claws, I put him in the same room as my Caspurr, and then growled, hissed, screeched, and smacked each other. No injuries on either side, which is good.
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But thank you all for the advice.
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LinZ
Earlier this evening, after trimming Kip's claws, I put him in the same room as my Caspurr, and then growled, hissed, screeched, and smacked each other. No injuries on either side, which is good.
........................
But thank you all for the advice.
...........
LinZ
"There's three ways to a man's heart - through his stomach, through his crotch, and through his rib cage." - Squeak
LinZ-
We've been facing a similar situation with trying to integrate a 3 year old female into our crowd of 5 cats- 4 boys, 1 girl. 4 are 1 1/2 years old, 1 is 9 years old. All are spayed or neutered (as appropriate, or course!). The first few times we introduced them, everyone did great, but after a couple days Trixie - the newbie - got startled by something and holy cow did she show some "muscle!" She hissed and screamed and attacked the nearest cat. It was a major setback. We gave everyone a few days off from seeing eachother, then tried again. Same thing happened, a few days of peaceful (but brief and supervised) encounters, then another major hissy fit. We were at a loss - never had trouble with integration before.
Then, on another discussion board I belong to, some of the cat experts there suggest we actually do exactly what you have done - use a large crate to introduce Trixie to the others. When we had the hissy fits, she was in a spare bedroom by herself; she couldn't see anyone nor read their faces and feel their reactions. At first we really did not like the thought of having her in a cage at all, but when we thought about it, it really made sense; this way she could be part of the household yet still feel safe. She could learn the sights, sounds, and smells of everyone (and everyday life in the house) while not having actual physical contact. I have to say it has been working beautifully with her! Here's what we did:
We bought the largest dog crate we could find (48") and set it up in our family room; she has a litter box, food, water, toys, and 2 beds in there (we built a little shelf so she has a "loft). During the first week, we let her out of the cage twice a day for about an hour each time while all the other cats where confined; this allowed her to learn the layout of the house and gain confidence in where everything was without having to worry about having other cats constantly on her tail.
The second week, we started letting her out with one other cat at a time for short visitations. We spent the entire time supervising and playing with them; this way they were both a little distracted from the other AND associated being together as fun. These all went super-smoothly.
Then we started having her out with various permutations of 2 cats at a time. Same process as above - supervised playing. This, too, went well.
Now we are able to let her out with all the other cats, but it's still only for set amounts of time, which we are slowly increasing.
One other thing we did was inch the other cats' food dishes towards the crate - we moved them a little closer to the crate with every meal until they were right next to the crate, so in essence now all of them are eating together and sharing another pleasurable activity.
We are so pleased with how well this process is working for us. We still have a ways to go before she is fully integrated, but we don't want to rush her and cause a set back. Our objective is long-term peacefulness and happiness - we'd like them all to actually like eachother, not just tolerate eachother, and I think this is making that happen. We've had a few "fat tail" moments and a few "get out of my personal space" swats, but we have not had a single hiss, growl, spat, or scream since we started this process.
I hope this information is helpful to you!
~Amy
PS - the "cat experts" on the other board said to not let her out of the crate with other cats until her behavior was ideal (ie, no growling, hissing, etc), and even after it was ideal STILL wait a little longer. In her case, she only hissed once while in the crate and that was the day after we put her in, so that's why we were able to start letting her out with other cats after only a week. They told me this process COULD take much longer, and it may with your Kip given the way he sounds like he's reacting. But one of them even had success integrating ferals using this method - it took quite a while, but she was successful.
We've been facing a similar situation with trying to integrate a 3 year old female into our crowd of 5 cats- 4 boys, 1 girl. 4 are 1 1/2 years old, 1 is 9 years old. All are spayed or neutered (as appropriate, or course!). The first few times we introduced them, everyone did great, but after a couple days Trixie - the newbie - got startled by something and holy cow did she show some "muscle!" She hissed and screamed and attacked the nearest cat. It was a major setback. We gave everyone a few days off from seeing eachother, then tried again. Same thing happened, a few days of peaceful (but brief and supervised) encounters, then another major hissy fit. We were at a loss - never had trouble with integration before.
Then, on another discussion board I belong to, some of the cat experts there suggest we actually do exactly what you have done - use a large crate to introduce Trixie to the others. When we had the hissy fits, she was in a spare bedroom by herself; she couldn't see anyone nor read their faces and feel their reactions. At first we really did not like the thought of having her in a cage at all, but when we thought about it, it really made sense; this way she could be part of the household yet still feel safe. She could learn the sights, sounds, and smells of everyone (and everyday life in the house) while not having actual physical contact. I have to say it has been working beautifully with her! Here's what we did:
We bought the largest dog crate we could find (48") and set it up in our family room; she has a litter box, food, water, toys, and 2 beds in there (we built a little shelf so she has a "loft). During the first week, we let her out of the cage twice a day for about an hour each time while all the other cats where confined; this allowed her to learn the layout of the house and gain confidence in where everything was without having to worry about having other cats constantly on her tail.
The second week, we started letting her out with one other cat at a time for short visitations. We spent the entire time supervising and playing with them; this way they were both a little distracted from the other AND associated being together as fun. These all went super-smoothly.
Then we started having her out with various permutations of 2 cats at a time. Same process as above - supervised playing. This, too, went well.
Now we are able to let her out with all the other cats, but it's still only for set amounts of time, which we are slowly increasing.
One other thing we did was inch the other cats' food dishes towards the crate - we moved them a little closer to the crate with every meal until they were right next to the crate, so in essence now all of them are eating together and sharing another pleasurable activity.
We are so pleased with how well this process is working for us. We still have a ways to go before she is fully integrated, but we don't want to rush her and cause a set back. Our objective is long-term peacefulness and happiness - we'd like them all to actually like eachother, not just tolerate eachother, and I think this is making that happen. We've had a few "fat tail" moments and a few "get out of my personal space" swats, but we have not had a single hiss, growl, spat, or scream since we started this process.
I hope this information is helpful to you!
~Amy
PS - the "cat experts" on the other board said to not let her out of the crate with other cats until her behavior was ideal (ie, no growling, hissing, etc), and even after it was ideal STILL wait a little longer. In her case, she only hissed once while in the crate and that was the day after we put her in, so that's why we were able to start letting her out with other cats after only a week. They told me this process COULD take much longer, and it may with your Kip given the way he sounds like he's reacting. But one of them even had success integrating ferals using this method - it took quite a while, but she was successful.