About two months ago we adopted a sweet loving Snow Tiger Siamese Kimmee Bree who appears to be just a few months older then 1 year.
I’ve had cats since I was 5. 46 years later I have come across a problem I haven’t been able to resolve. I welcome your suggestions or stories of similar experiences.
We have 2 other cats: a neutered male age 7 (Duffy) part brown tabby and part ocicat. He is normally an affectionate and sensitive guy who takes pride in watching over “his family”. The other is a spayed approx age 8 female very mixed breed (Ashleigh) who is very friendly with other people and animals. Extremely playful. Throws her weight around here and I do mean that in just about every sense of the word. She has asthma so her medication keeps her on the hefty side despite her high energy level.
The problem: both Duffy and Ashleigh hate, yeah I do mean hate, Kimmee. They attack her any chance they get. You think of the situation, it’s probably happened.
NO taking Kimmee Bree back to the Rescue Center is not an option. All of my cats and dogs have come from Animal Shelters with some sort of special needs background or another. I’ve never given up on one and I’ve been successful even with the one where they agreed to not interact with the other cat.
We have tried Feliaway. It worked on Kimmee and Duffy but had no effect on Ashleigh. That is initially anyway. It’s only been a couple of weeks we’ve been using it and it’s not doing any good now… or if it is, I’d hate to see the cat wars.
We have had to separate Kimmee’s food, water, and litter box so I have an eye on them and can supervise to make sure she is allowed by the other two to do what she needs to do.
I’m coming to you all because I am just short of feeling like I REALLY am not in charge of my home - the cats have taken over.
PS: Yes, I am still around. It’s been ages since I last posted, but I’m still here
Not to sound like a dork but I’m feeling like one. I neglected to include we have also contacted our vet and the animal shelter for suggestions. They both suggested Feliway. And I keep a spray bottle of water within reach at all times.
A couple of weeks may not be long enough.
I have a new kitten, it’s been 10 days, and the other 2 cats are just beginning to tolerate it. It’ll probably be another week or two before they accept each other. And it took quite a bit longer when a grown cat was added to the household.
Get used to the feeling – it will be there as long as your cats allow you to provide food, water, grooming, toys, and other services to them.
Move. Once we moved all the cats started acting mellow to one another. They were all strangers to the house together. I know, I know, that’s not really an option.
Time will mellow them somewhat, but it will take awhile. It was almost a year before the newest addition was mildly accepted. The move finally made it official.
I hadn’t thought of it, but when they decided to leave Pearl alone and just let her be a lap cat, it was when we moved.
I like it…Wish it was as easy as it sounds.
A cheaper alternative to moving – move the furniture around and perhaps add some. I found this trick out accidentally when I added a new cat tower. It works (if it works!) because the cats have to renegotiate for the good spots.
If it’s possible (and I know sometimes it simply isn’t), put food and water and litter boxes down in multiple locations, allowing the cats to interact only when they choose to instead of having to be on top of one another all the time. Our cats like to establish personal spaces and multiple areas of access to places they need to be really helps that.
Give huge amounts of attention to the aggressor when she’s not being aggressive. Cats can be extremely jealous of one another when it comes to people, and new kitty probably gets a little more attention than established cats. I like to establish particular places for interaction with specific cats. So (in my house) Albert gets the TV room, Bertram gets the kitchen, Halley gets the upstairs bathroom, etc. If a cat gravitates toward a specific room or area already, emphasize that to give security. If one cat always sits in a particular window or the like, go to them to pet and praise. This lets them know they can still get attention by being good and in a comfortable spot.
There’s the kind of things I was hoping someone would say. Thank you very much everyone but especially Springtime for Spacers and **
jsgoddess**
These are all ideas I can do to try to speed up their adjustment period.
Oh, and thank you very much. We think she is a precious kitty. Her good looks on the inside though somewhat still buried from the inhumane treatment she experienced before, we got her run deep deep inside and when she relaxes on my shoulder or against my leg or I look into those beautiflul eyes her sweet spirit is as clear as can be.
Any braging on your kitty or more ideas are more then welcomed!
It sounds like you’re trying to have all the patience you can muster, and for that you get applause from me.
Territory is usually a huge issue for cats, which is why moving works, and sometimes rearranging furniture works.
At my shelter, we always recommend introducing a new cat very slowly to the home by giving the new cat a room to herself to start. If you want to try that, it’s not too late. If you’re willing to put the time into it, it’s totally worth it. So:
New cat gets her own bedroom, food water and litterbox. 2 weeks is the best length of time to start, it can definitely take longer. Use baby food or other favorite toys and treats around the door (on each side individually) to give positive reinforcement around the other cats’ scent.
Once being near the door (for the resident cats) doesn’t generate territorial behavior, start switching territories. Starting with 10 minutes and working up to several hours, whatever works with your cats. I think you know cats well enough to tell when they’ve had enough. This territory switch is important because the resident cats will get stuck in the room with the new cat’s scent, and the new cat will have a chance to explore and become comfortable in the rest of the house unmolested by the other two. When switched back, the two residents will have to start getting used to the new cat’s scent around the house.
Face-to-face confrontations and fights can really set things back, so the longer you take the better chance you have of things working out amicably!
It’s worth a try. It usually works with our adopters and is the method recommended by our behaviorist. You can PM me if you want her information, I don’t know her fees but she does do phone consultations - I can get more info for you if you’re interested.
What if it’s a one-bedroom (albeit spacious) apartment? Bart loves sleeping with me, and I think cutting off access to me at night time would bend him out of shape, big time.
I’d love to get my big guy a friend, but I honestly don’t know how he’d react. The only exposure he’s had to other cats has been my old next door neighbor’s cats through the window. (I used to rent a house with my former SO.) He slipped outside one day (he’s strictly indoor) and the neighbor’s tom was in my back yard, and they attacked each other. It happened so fast. But…the neighbor’s female cat could be held up with only a screen separating them and while HUGELY curious, he didn’t seem upset at all.
It can be tough to make a decision like that, but most likely the outside incident was a turf issue if the other cat was used to going outside and your guy was “invading”. I have a 1-bedroom and it wasn’t a cakewalk but successfully did two integrations with new cats. I did feel guilty about the closed bedroom door and I did sleep on the couch frequently. The territory-switching after 2 weeks alleviated some of that. And inside a month it wasn’t an issue once everyone was integrated.
You also never know. If there’s a lot of interest in the beginning or after just a few days, your introduction could go quicker. Maybe a female would work better for your guy, maybe a young male, as long as everyone’s neutered it should be OK. If there’s a lot of non-aggressive sniffing and paw-playing under the door you could do the territory switch after just a couple of days, but I do recommend giving the new cat a chance to get comfortable in new territory without the resident guy around to worry about for a few days.
Most cats, unless they’re hyper-territorial, seem to do better with another one around, even if they never become best buddies they still seem to keep each other company when their person’s away.
