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I moved 2 new cats in on my old cat and dog the dog was fine but the cat it took her about 5 months before she was ok with it and would let them near her. Keep trying to encourage communication show them its ok it more territoral issues im sure then plain hate.
Buy some cat pheromone spray, it will help them calm down. Spray it everywhere and spray it daily til they chill out. Then take your original cat in a separate room and give him oodles of attention. Do this often!!
I adopted my 3 year old rescue, Holly, when I was 17 and living with my parents who would not allow her, so FMIL let me keep Holly at her house for a year, where they had two other cats. I then moved to my first apt, with my roommate, who has two kittens. Over the summer I stayed at my parents' and Holly came with, and now we are in a new apt with roommate's two boy kittens, and FI brought Zoey, one of the cats from the house. So I have a lot of experience with kitty socialization!
Give them time. When an animal is used to being the "only" it will take 1-2 months a lot of times for them to fully get used to the newbie. There are things you can do to help - feed them when they are in the same room, make sure they have their own safe places to go to, and when each cat is happy and purring, take a towel and rub it in the "scenty" spot behind their ear, and then rub that on the other cat. (And flip that.)
Since they are about the same age, I think they should warm up to each other. Just be patient and give them lots of love!
Give them time, your old cat is just trying to get used to what he thought was just a visitor has obviously now become a permanent guest. Just give both kitties lots and lots of attention so they realize that you still love them and then let 'em duke it out for rule of the roost. If it doesn't become too violent ie: bloodshed then leave 'em be, my kitties love eachother and they'll still hiss and nip at eachother, I've learned it's just their way of playing kinda like sibling rivalry.
Thanks! It's definitly scary to all of a sudden in the middle of the night hear 2 cats going at it! The towel idea is awesome! I never would have thought of it. They're both cuddlers, so I give them each as much attention as I can. There are times they try to sniff the other one and then it goes wrong. lol. Hopefully things will get easier.
@lilyfaith-why feed them in the same room? This sounds interesting. lol.
Never underestimate the power of food-motivated cats, haha! They love to eat, and so being together becomes a positive experience that they associate with each other.
3 weeks is still not enough. Sambi was 2 months old when i got Sushi. They were over the crazy flipping out stage after a week or two, but would still hiss and jump on each other a couple times a week for the next month or so. Once i started catching them sleeping together, it got much better. I think they acted like this when I was around (for my attention??) but all seemed well while i was gone all day. They still do this sometimes. But i've learned it's play now. Even when Sushi squeals like a stuck pig b/c Sambi's gnawing on his neck. Next thing I know, the tables are switched. They're cats--they still have that instinct in them to attack.
My vet said to rub each cat with a towel. Then, rub THAT towel on the OTHER cat. The scent will stop seeming "weird" and they won't associate the scent of the other with fear or strangeness.
Mine fought pretty viciously for awhile. One was underweight and one is a sizeable persian who seriously dominated. They got over it and are now buddies.
check out this product http://www.feliway.com/us I've heard really great things about it. Click on "How do I use Feliway". It discusses it's benefits for when new pets are introduced into the household. good luck.
@EJS-I was just worried because it had gotten so much worse! I'm glad to hear success stories!
@Lilyfaith-I'll give it a try. We had her food in the bedroom because she stayed under the bed 24/7 the first few days. Now that she's venturing into the kitchen I can move it there...and hope the dog doesn't eat it. lol. We keep Francis' on the table, but I don't think I want them THAT close at first.
Meowkers- We tried Feliway last year when we moved here. The vet said it would calm Francis down and help him get happy so he could adjust (it was that or kitty anti-depressants..wth?). He got worse and started tearing everything up...so we returned it. lol.
Yah, Feliway is excellent and really helped with our two cats!
What is your litter situation... are they sharing a litter box? Do they have a history of going outside of the box, or spraying in territory disputes? Also: are they neutered?
There are some awesome books on how to get two cats to get used to each other... maybe worth swinging by a bookstore to flip through a few of 'em?
@ Mr. Bee - Can't believe I didn't think of the litter boxes! I've always heard that you should have one per cat, especially at first. That can make a big difference. I must admit, we can't quite adhere to that - we have 3 boxes, 4 cats, and a tiny apartment. ;)
@Mr.Bee-We have 2 litter boxes. The previous owner of our new cat brought everything that belonged to her to help her adjust (litter box, treats, food, and a couple toys). Our Male is neutered, and the cat is not (she's going to be asap, though). Neither have gone outside the litter box, and neither have sprayed in any sort of dispute. They sure love knocking over the water bowl, though!
There are no two cats on the planet, that were not born and raised together, that will get along right away. Give it time. Some cats don't want anyone else around but will tolerate them and others will surprise you and make friends.
@lilyfaith-yeah. Our place is only 480 sq ft. We are moving to a bigger apartment in March! We'll probably have to do the stress thing all over again! lol.
I'm glad you said you're getting her fixed ASAP, that's SUPER SUPER important, and probably contributing to the behavior problems. I cannot believe that the other person let her get to be 2 YEARS OLD without having her fixed, that's so irresponsible.
@His Barista:
Just don't do what we did when we moved our two in to this apt - we got a sedative from the vet for Holly because she has, er, digestion issues when she travels. It made her seem drunk - not kidding, she stumbled around with her eyes half closed, poor thing - and so she literally woke up close to Zoey the next morning, gave a huge yowl, and ran under the bed.
Sometimes males and females take longer to get used to each other, too, but they should come around.
Ugh, I have the same problem! I got a new kitten when I found him abandoned really young, so he hadn't been socialized properly. And I already had a really timid shy cat at home. Well the new one is a year old now and he's CRAZY, always trying to mess with the older one who isn't having it. I'm not sure what will work because we've tried all the stuff online. But we're also too attached to just get rid of one :(
@Lillyfaith-I'm not sure how Annabelle travels, but I do know she hates being in the kennel! If you're walking around while she in it she cries and cries. I hate having to ignore it, but I don't want her rewarded for "bad" behavior. Francis and our dog, Pennie, both do fine traveling. = )
@Nexus-6-I know. It totally annoys me that people do that! Our dog is a rescue from a puppy mill (sense a pattern?), so we're getting her fixed as well. The owner claimed that she never tried to get outside since she is a house cat, but I doubt it. It took Francis all of 3 weeks to figure out where we were going when we opend the door!
The thing is, make sure they're not actually hurting each other - with claws - when they fight. If they're not, it's not as bad - it's the equivalent of arguing!
My cats fought and hated each other for several weeks too, but eventually died down to the point where they might just randomly smack at each other as they walk by. (This is a normal cat thing!)
They did it on their own... but I will say this: try to keep them away from catnip! With our cats, catnip makes them craaaaazy, and in this craziness, they fight over the catnip toys. (Or, it might do the opposite and make them friendlier - maybe it depends on the cat!). Most toys with catnip inside them already are not a big deal, but the stronger dried stuff, catnip sprays, or catnip plants are what I'm referring to.
@Heidi-definitly no blood drawn! They sound so horrible when they fight we have been seperating them to check immediatly to make sure no one is hurt.
Did you try the feliway spray or the room diffuser? You might have better results with the room diffuser. It took our two cats a year+ to just tolerate each other, and they still get into the occasional spat. They will never be friends.
Is Francis the dominant cat? It's important that he has the highest perch in the apartment. The dominant cat always gets the highest spot. Cats like hierarchy.
Read this book -- it has lots of great tips.
Good luck!
Oh and feeding them near each other makes them associate a positive experience (eating) with each other. Our cats actually like to eat near each other.
my fiance had his (large) cat for about 8 months when i found 2 teeny kittens (itty bitty). the large cat hissed and ran and sometimes even tried to fight the little ones. right about the 1 month mark, OUT OF THE BLUE, the were inseperable!! best friends!! the large cat constantly stayed by their side, always looked for them and played with them. sadly, we had to adopt out the 2 smaller ones and the cat misses them i think!
moral of the story, i was distraught at first b/c i just knew she'd never find peace w/them, and then just like that (although it took a while) she decided she liked them.
@Mrs.Bee-Feliway makes Francis nuts! haha. We had it last year when we moved here per the vets advice. He does better without it. I think Francis is dominant. Annabelle really hasn't gotten high up as far as I've seen. He's several pounds bigger than her as well. I'll check out the link, now!
@Nurseamanda-that's so sad that you had to adopt them out! It's great to hear success stories!
We introduced two adult cats to each other in August. I hear ya sister, it's NOT fun.
So technically when you introduce two new cats you are supposed to keep the new cat in a seperate room for a week and slowly introduce them. Blah blah blah...that was not working out for us, so we just let them go for it.
My only suggestion is to give them both lots of attention, and let them figure out the boundary issues (it will take time). Also make sure that they have separate feeding bowls and their own litter box. For us if the cats fight we either spray them with water (keep a spray bottle handy) or more often these days we distract them with the laser toy.
I have noticed things getting better over two months. They are still not best friends, but the do coexist at this point. Oh and they still have their moments where they get pissy and fight! Three weeks is still really early and they will get more comfortable with each other.
When my husband and I first moved in together, our pets were obviously also forced into a new living arrangement. It honestly took almost 6 months for them to finally get along and stop the hissing/growling. Hang in there! They will eventually adjust.
Agreed, getting her fixed is a BIG thing that will help.
Also, they have a spray stuff that actually plugs into the wall. It constantly releases it and helps the kitties stay calm. I just can't remember who makes it!!! (I don't think it's Feliway).
My kitty must have kitty esp, because she just came and got into my lap. :p
awwww look at the kitty stories.
Just for some visual "hope" if you will...photos of mine swatting each other and then being "lovers" later. Sometimes they look like a giant black and orange tumbleweed, though.
They now have an alternative lifestyle and I'm totally ok with it !["Laughing"]("../my-plugins/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-laughing.gif" "\"Laughing\"")
They fought much less once they had their manly boy cat parts chopped off, so maybe that helps once you get your new one spayed. Seriously how do you let a cat go 2 years and deal with her in heat?! Eesh
DSC03598.JPG (74.8 KB, 35 downloads) 2 years old DSC03137.JPG (35.5 KB, 32 downloads) 2 years old DSC02890.JPG (63.2 KB, 37 downloads) 2 years old
@ejs- OMG SO CUTE! Want to touch the faces. Smoosh smoosh smoosh smoosh. My kitten right now is nomming on her sissy food.
Everyone has given great advice...I'll just chime in with an addition to the towel/eating thing. Try rubbing each of them with a towel and then putting it under the others' food bowl and feeding them together. They'll associate each others' smells with yummy delicious food. This worked like a charm for my two cats who were having a hard time adjusting to each other.
ejs, your cats are so cute! Mine are definately not friends like that yet!
The funny thing is that my original kitty, Lola is a rather little lady weighing in at 10 pounds. The new Kitty, Stitch is big boned and weighs 16 pounds. The size difference doesn't stop Lola, she enjoys backing Stitch into a corner and batting at him. Stitch is a pretty laid back dude so it's taken him awhile to stick up for himself.
Mrs. Bee--- I think I am going to buy that book! It may help everyone in the house get along better!
We rescued a kitten recently too. She was maybe 7 weeks when we got her and had our baby (dog) for 2 years and he was pretty spoiled. I was afraid he'd get mad or pout. He immediately began following her around. She quickly became dominant and I worried for awhile at our old place that he was getting bullied. She smacked him out of the way to eat and drink his food (she will not eat cat food) he'd go lay down to leave her alone and she'd follow and pounce on him there too. When we moved recently she had a very hard time adjusting (she hid under FI's bed for 3 days & would howl & claw if we picked her up). Now that she's adjusted things seem a little more fair, they share food and water the dog pushes her out of the way sometimes too. They run around the apartment like crazy and even cuddle together. I think it was an establishing dominance thing at the old place and they've settled into each having space now. But that's just my animal interpretation. I think it'll work out just give them time to figure out who's in charge and maybe once you move and furniture and space is rearranged they'll figure it out. Right now it was all your old kitty's space and this new one came in and wants his own.
Oh, good luck! Feliway is good. We just had to take in a cat last spring and just two weeks ago finally gave up because she and our first cat never did get over their differences. We gave it a long time--numerous months. She's been adopted out now to a good family without any other pets, so hopefully it works out. Adoption is a possibility if things don't work out. Some pets are just really sensitive and need a lot of behavior modification that takes a lot of time. If you don't have that time, it may be better to find a new home for her.
@50-your cat is so funny. = )
@EJS-They're so cute! I just wanna cuddle them!
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Almost 3 weeks ago one of my FI's co-workers asked us to take in her cat because she was moving to a place that doesn't allow pets. my FI and I discussed it and decided to take Annabelle (the new kitty).
I got Francis when he was four months old. My sister found him on the street. Both cats are about 2 now, and I thought Francis would like a friend. Google said hissing and growling would be normal as they established boundries and such.
Annabelle and our little dog just ignore each other with just the occasional "whatever" glance toward the other. Well, like I said now that we're about to that 3 wekk mark things have totally flipped! They're always growling and hissing at each other and almost always trying to fight if they are in the same room. Our apt is small and it's not like we can constantly seperate them!
I know Francis is dealing with not being the only cat anymore, but I just don't know what to do. We can't just give Annabelle back. That wouldn't be fair to her or the owner. And We don't want her getting confused. But I'm not sure Francis is taking to her...HELP! Any adiive for helping the get along, or does the new kitty have to go?