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Written by Wendy Christensen
Q: I brought a new kitten home about a month ago and did most of what you and so many others recommend in introducing them. My adult cat, Willow, seems quite comfortable with kitten, Oz, in her house. And seemed more than ready to meet him after only 2 1/2 weeks. They now eat together, often switching and sharing bowls, no litter box problems...I have four available in the house, but they mostly use the same one. He'll plop down less than a foot away from her to sleep and she'll sneak a few sniffs of him and seem content to stay put relatively close to him. She enjoys watching him play with us and his toys - as long as his attention is not on her and she can just watch. He even zips by her very close without her so much as twitching.
The problem is she just has a hissy fit any time he tries to touch her. She hisses, growls, swats and even makes feints as if to bite him. If he would just learn not to "go for her" we would have a happy house. But no! He LOVES her. He wants to rub up against her to say "hi", he wants to attack her tail and get her to play with him. He's always putting out a paw to touch or even trying to "hug" her. Most recently I've tried rubbing the kitten all over with a damp towel and then rubbing that towel all over Willow so she gets used to his scent on her. She just purrs and purrs at the towel rubbing, but still...no kitty touching. What do I do? We are having many incidents every day of "touching".
A: Every cat is an individual, and it seems that your Willow just doesn't like being touched by this kitten. She could keep this preference forever -- or change her mind at any time. In groups of cats, litters of kittens, etc., much of inter-cat communication is carried out by scent and touch. But it's possible that Willow, having been an only cat, is simply not accustomed to the "grammar" of inter-cat touch language.
She probably understands "people touch" just fine -- but hasn't learned, or hasn't practiced, enough "cat touch" to become fluent and comfortable in it. She may be unwilling to betray her lack of knowledge to this younger cat. She may be embarrassed that he "speaks cat" better than she does. Be patient and give her time to learn -- a month isn't really very long for a cat to learn a whole new communication style.
The kitten will soon figure this out. Kittens are naturally exuberant and when they want to play, they REALLY want to play! But he'll soon figure out that she doesn’t like being paw-handled so much. And since they get along splendidly in other ways, they'll probably come to a satisfactory accommodation about touching, too.
Meanwhile, you might consider getting another kitten companion for your youngster -- a kitten about the same age. They'll play together and amuse each other, and get in PLENTY of touching (and wrestling and pouncing and chasing, etc.) and Willow can happily watch the action from the sidelines, where she's most comfortable.
Q: I have a horrible problem. I have 9 cats, a lovely home, and no previous problems with my cat family. Grazia, my female calico (about 4 years old) entered my home last year during an icy winter storm - freezing, frail, starving, dirty. I wouldn't have even known this beautiful little cat was in the cold had I not gone out to dispose of trash. I took her in and took her to the vet. All was well but she seemed to have a wee problem. She was wetting accidentally on various surfaces as well as using the litter box. Grazia was fine; only an accident now and then. About 8 weeks ago, another darling tiger cat, Tegra, entered my home. I had been feeding her all winter outside and she appeared to have a home as she would appear only infrequently and I would feed her. Then she disappeared until 8 weeks ago: starved, broken leg and weak. I took her in to become part of the cat family and suddenly a "Blessed Event of two Kittens" appeared. All was fine and the kittens are now in a wonderful home but now Grazia is wetting "big time" all over pillows, sheets, sweaters, everywhere.. I was planning to put her to sleep as I won't have anyone hurting her, as I know they will if I were to give her away. I love Grazia and she appears to be fine and healthy except, she's destroying my house.
A: Ah, calicos! I have two calicos myself, and they are always… interesting…
Before your do ANYTHING else, take Grazia to the veterinarian for a checkup. It's very likely that she has a UTI (urinary tract infection), or a bout of recurrent cystitis (bladder inflammation), that's causing her to urinate in places other than her litter box.
A cat with cystitis (which is often brought about, or made worse, by stress or changes in the household) has an almost constant, uncontrollable urge to urinate. The cat simply can’t get to the litter box in time. Also, she can "dribble" without even realizing it when she's excited, frightened, or stressed for any reason. It's a very uncomfortable and even painful condition for the cat, as is a UTI (urinary tract infection). Both conditions require diagnosis by a veterinarian, and can be fixed in most cases by a course of antibiotics.
Since Grazia had a similar problem earlier, she may have had a previous UTI or bout of cystitis, which cleared up (or just receded a bit) on its own as she became settled into your home. Then, perhaps due to the stress and changes of the new cat, the new cat becoming injured, new kittens, etc., she may have had a recurrence. Some cats are just more susceptible to such infections and similar problems than others are. Whenever there's stress or upset in the home, for any reason, they are likely to have a recurrence. I have a cat like that (Yes, she's a calico.)
Please make an appointment to take Grazia to her veterinarian as soon as possible. In my view, this would be an emergency -- because if Grazia has a UTI or cystitis, she's in pain and very unhappy. Because cats are so clean naturally, Grazia probably feels worse about the situation than you do.
Meanwhile, right away, confine Grazia to a small, easily cleanable room (such as a bathroom, laundry room, etc.) with a litter box, comfy bed, food and water bowls, etc., -- everything she needs to be comfortable until she can see the vet. While Grazia is confined, you can start your task of cleaning up the areas the she peed on (carpets, etc.).
If you need tips on cleaning carpets and laundering washable items to remove the cat urine scent, please ask. (I have lots of info.) You could also consult a copy of my book, "The HSUS Complete Guide to Cat Care" (now in paperback), which has lots of info on cleanups. My forthcoming book, "Outwitting Cats," has even more info on cat cleanups.
It's VERY important that you clean up all the spots Grazia has peed on, ASAP. Once an item or area smells like cat urine, other cats see it as an "OK place to pee." So, either remove wetted items to a cat-free area for cleaning, or clean them in place immediately. With such a large group of cats, this is particularly important -- you don’t want any other of your cats to develop bad habits.
Confining Grazia is NOT punishment (cats don’t understand punishment, anyway), but simply a way to limit the scope of the damage until you can determine the cause of her behavior and fix the problem. I strongly suspect that you'll find that Grazia has a UTI or cystitis, and that she is susceptible to recurrences during stressful situations (VERY typical of calicos). So you'll have to keep an eye on her in the future, and be ready to confine her, and get her to the vet, whenever she has a recurrence of the problem.
Also, remember that 9 cats is a fairly large group. The more cats you have, the more likely there is that inter-cat conflicts -- just day-to-day, ordinary conflicts -- will cause stress in some of the cats. No matter how much you love cats, don’t make the mistake of adopting more than is good for the cats, you, or your home's space and situation.
Herding Cats At Home - October 2004 1
Herding Cats At Home - October 2004 3
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