older and new

Hi everyone,

I hope I'm posting this in the right area, please forgive me if I'm wrong, I'm new to the site. I have a bit of a problem and I was hoping someone here could give me a hand. I did read the other posts and I almost didn't write this, but there are a few problems here, so I thought I would try at any rate.

We have just had my grandmother come down to stay with us for a unknown time (her health is going down hill and we're not sure how long it will take before she feels up to going back home or even if she will). Now my grandmother has a pet cat, and as we really didn't wanted to give this cat away (she truly loves her cat and it seems to help her to have her around) we took the cat down with us when we brought her here. It was a 4 hour ride and as you can guess, it wasn't a fun trip, but at last we made it.
This cat was one that was raised by a recuse place, by a women who had a good 20-30 cats. She was adopted about 5-6 years ago and is now fairly old. We're not sure how old, but if I was to guess I would guess about 8 years old. Since moving in with my grandmother this cat has had the whole house to herself.
Now we have two cats, one of them was brought in from the pound (I was old he was 6 months old, and was brought in because the family had to many cats, but later I found out that he was closer to a year or two. so I dont know how true the later is.) and the other one is a kitten that had been left behind that had followed our other cat in. This cat was only about 6 weeks old when we got him and is very afraid of just about everything. (While its not the point of the post, if anyone has any tips on how to help this cat be less afraid I would be grateful.) Oliver (the first cat from the pound) is very much the one in charge and Yoda (the one who followed him in) has never tried to take control of the household, as it is.
Now I had hoped to put the new cat (Tessie) into the room that my grandmother would be staying in when we first got home, I had water and food and a litter box ready for her. But as she had been in the car for 4 to 5 hours, someone left her out of her cage as soon as she was in the door. And of course our cats saw her, started to hiss and growl and everyone ran off to different corners.
We had hoped that the cats would learn to get along, but if anything they are worse. And on top of that, our cats are having problems using the litter box and the new cat refuses to use hers. Tessie then attacked both Oliver and our dog, and then last week we found urine on the counter and since then we have been keeping her locked in my grandmother's room. I tried to take all three cats into a large bathroom so they would have to see and smell each other but while after awhile they stopped hissing and growling if everyone held still, it doesn't seem to have helped much.
This cat means so much to my grandmother I would really hate to have to get rid of her, but it doesn't seem fair to keep her locked in a single room. When they first brought home the cat I was in the middle of my final two weeks of the college term and couldn't do much aside from keeping up with my studies. I now have three weeks I can use to help these cats get along, does anyone have any ideas? I'm not to worried about the dog, while she is a fairly big dog, she loves our cats and has been nothing but sweet with them. But I can't be afraid that the new cat is going to attack every animal she sees. And we really can't have her urining all over the house. Since we have had her in the room both the old cats have been better and we haven't had a problem with them using the litter box.

I am rather at a lose as to what to do, I'm sorry for the long post. I just wanted to give you as many details as I could about what was going on. Thank you for any help you can give.

well i am really not an expert but have read about these things. some suggestions i have read have been to lock the new cat up in the room, and keep her there for a while, maybe a week or two until she gets used to the new place, and the smell of new animals. moving is very stressful for a cat, and they have to get used to the new smells and the new environment. another suggestion is to get a feliway diffuser, which from what i have read will produce pherimones (SP?) and will calm all the cats down. its supposed to be good for when you bring an new cat into your home. it is going to take time for your cats, and the new cats to get used to each other. thats usually how it is with most cats. it is very sweet of you to want to keep this cat because it means so much to your grandmother. just give it some time, everyone will get used to each other.

Hi, introducing a new cat to a house takes some time and patience. You should remove the new kitty from the house in general and keep her isolated in your grandma's room for awhile. Please look at the thread posted at the top of this forum by Hissy, titled "Have a Behavior Problem - Look Here" There are a few threads that will give you ideas on how best to procede with a new cat introduction. Welcome to TCS and good luck!

thanks guys, do you think the ideas there will still work even though I messed up the meeting part? the cat has been in the house for over two weeks now

I would give all cats (especially the new one) a chance to roam the house freely and in peace (though block any nooks etc., and check bsmt for hidey holes) alone to have their scent spread around and pick up others, to establish their own right to the territory every day - I presume it's possible to keep the 'old' cats in a separate room when the new one's out - as well as giving them all supervised meeting times. Check with your grandmother that the litter you've offered her cat is the one it's used to as well. BTW, 8 yrs isn't 'old' for a cat at all - many live 15-20 yrs on average. Try dabbing vanilla extract near the base of all of their tails and between their shoulder blades so they smell more alike, which should also help.