Please Help!!!!!! New Cat Owner!

Hi my name is Anthony, and My Girlfriend and I adopted a kitten in April 07 (Ninook) he is approx. 5 month old.He has adapted well to our Home. We have tried to introduce another kitten in June but were unsuccessful due to his behavior to her. He was very aggressive to Her (Skylar). Ninook wanted to play but he was playing very rough and would attack her almost from what i can describe as a Tiger in the jungle stalking the Gazelle. He then would leap to her maine almost in a tiger fashion and do a mixture of licking and Biting. Now my girlfriend and i could not stand seeing the new kitten take what we thought was constant Bullying. Fast foward to today, we had found Skylar a home and still have Ninook. We love him so much that we decided to get another Cat (Male this time,,, Samson)Both are Nuetured. Samson is roughly his size but still new to our home only by a week. We are tying to see how Ninook will interact with him with some brief meeting between the two. We still see the same behavior to the new Cat except the fact that this cat is able to fight back. What are we doing wrong? How should we assimilate them. Do we punish Lightly? HOw can we make Friend of the Two?????????

Hey anthony- introducing new cats can be very frustrating!
Have you tried isolating the 2 cats from each other? If you keep the cats seperate from each other for a few weeks, new cat in it's own area/room, it helps facilitate the introduction.
I will try to find the thread for you...
BRB

here is the article

http://www.thecatsite.com/Behavior/4...cing-Cats.html

One cat willalways be the dominant one, it sounds like that willbe ninook!
You have to remember to give the dominant one lots of attention when the other cat is around, but you alsodon't want to reward aggresive behaviour!
It's tricky but with younger cats it's not as hard as when they get set in their ways and territory.

Originally Posted by lechatnoir

here is the article

http://www.thecatsite.com/Behavior/4...cing-Cats.html

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I've never had to introduce 2 cats b4, only dogs, but this post is what I would suggest you follow.

Cats pounce and 'bite' each other as part of dominance-play, my 2 will do this, one will pin the other down licking the head and then grab the neck. They will then usually wrestle for a couple of minutes, then the 'loser' will submit and walk away. It can look distressing, but as long as there is no blood shed it is not fighting, and is normal behaviour between 2 young cats.

I've just introduced two kittens to my existing two cats, including introducing the kittens to each other and it can work! You need to allow time . My neutered 8 year old male took to the kittens virtually immediately, the kittens to each other took a week and the spayed 6 year old female is still a bit cross a month later.

The behaviour you describe sounds like playing, kittens and young cats do this a lot. It can look scary at times, but kittens have thick fur to protect themselves . Ours roll around wrestling and biting each others ears and bunny kick each other in the head . They usually yelp when the other is too rough and they stop. Its normal as long as the other cat fights back. My 10 week old kitten gives as good as she gets from my older kitten who's 5 months and theres a HUGE size difference!! They have never hurt each other . If I get worried by their behaviour I go over and say 'stop' and they quit it, or use a towel to separate them. If you watch carefully you should notice that sometimes they are actually licking each other and that their claws are not out. If they wind up sleeping together after a fight they are definitely friends not foes.

Keep them in separate rooms so that they have somewhere safe to escape to and keep all visits supervised until you are sure that they get on Never force them to meet, let them do so in their own time by leaving doors ajar or using a pen or carrier for introductions to keep them safe. A feliway diffuser really helps to calm cats down. As cats know each other by scent, stroke each cat with a cloth and leave it out for them to sniff. Also swap their bedding to swap scents. You should also cross stroke them when they are in the same room to swap their scents (stroke one then the other with same hand). This is so that they get used to the smell of each other and realise the other cats not a threat on their territory . Feeding them together at the same time (in separate bowls) helps them bond, as does playing with them both together with a fishing toy type game .

Never punish a cat for any reason. It just creates aggressive cats. If you want them to stop fighting loudly say 'stop' or put a blanket over to separate them.

Good luck

All great advise,,,, we really appreciate it. We actually had a brwak through today. We noticed when we let Ninook into the Bathroom where Samson is residing. Ninook actually licked him for about 5 minutes or so. He then proceed with the National geographic behavior. We will take this behavior as moderate play and continue to introduce them gradually. Thanks for all the advise

Originally Posted by Anthonyd1

All great advise,,,, we really appreciate it. We actually had a brwak through today. We noticed when we let Ninook into the Bathroom where Samson is residing. Ninook actually licked him for about 5 minutes or so. He then proceed with the National geographic behavior. We will take this behavior as moderate play and continue to introduce them gradually. Thanks for all the advise

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Oh my goodness! You should SEE how my 2 play! and they are Mom and son! lol Little bit (Merlin) is about 4 mo old now, and almost as tall as Oreo, but every morning- LOOK OUT! They tear about the house like bats outta you know where! they run up the upholstered chair, across the back of the couch, to the window sill. They fight in the upholstered chair where he usually yelps several times before they go tearing off again through the house! And the "national geographic behavior" happens at LEAST 2 or 3 times a day here! LOL

Since the kids are in school now, though, the cats have become VERY attached to ME! I was used to being woken up about 4 am by Oreo in my face, rubbing her head on my chin, looking for luvvins, motor going the whole time. Well, the last 3 days or so it has been MERLIN luvvin on me! and HIS motor is going! The first day, he walked up my side (I was on my side) and laid down with his head on my shoulder and started purring. As soon as he started purring, Oreo literally launched herself at him, and they took to fighting right at hip level! LOL That went on for about 15 min, then they took it to under the bed. When they got done, Merlin climbed back up on top of me, and she hasn't woken me up since

So, right now ninook may be acting like King of the hill, but the new guy may be on top sooner than you think! LOL They are just playing, if you think they are being to rough, tell them to stop and -funny as it may seem- they will!

Originally Posted by Jennywren93

Since the kids are in school now, though, the cats have become VERY attached to ME! I was used to being woken up about 4 am by Oreo in my face, rubbing her head on my chin, looking for luvvins, motor going the whole time. Well, the last 3 days or so it has been MERLIN luvvin on me! and HIS motor is going! The first day, he walked up my side (I was on my side) and laid down with his head on my shoulder and started purring. As soon as he started purring, Oreo literally launched herself at him, and they took to fighting right at hip level! LOL That went on for about 15 min, then they took it to under the bed. When they got done, Merlin climbed back up on top of me, and she hasn't woken me up since

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That sounds familiar! I have to shut Sonic out of the room to give Radar attention and cuddles, as if Radar gets on my lap Sonic will run over and chase him off me, snapping at his legs. Very jealous little boy! I have had them fight on top of me in bed because Radar dared to leave his designated spot by my feet