intolerant tortie

I have a female tortie (Stella Katz) who is almost 4 yrs old. We have recently been adopted by a solid black female (Gladys Schwartz) who is not likely more than 1 year old; she is/was a neighborhood cat and appears to have made our place home.

When we let her in, Stella will often find her and attack. It seems that when she corners Gladys, Stella will start rolling around and stretching, etc. We find this very contradictory to the attacks which are often hissing, spitting, teeth showing, smacking, chasing sort of affairs.

Also, there have been instances where Stella and Gladys will lay on the couch w/ my wife w/ no issues............other times, Stella will leap off the couch before Gladys can even get to it.

Any wisdom on this?

Stella has always had issues w/ any cats showing up after she did. We had two neutered males when we brought her home, and while one didn't mind, the other male never really got along w/ her. They've both gone missing over a year ago, but even while they were still around, Stella would be the one attacking any strays that showed up. In fact, Phil and Albert were very gregarious, having a handful of neighborhood cat pals.

Hmmm.... some cats are just like that... and she may never accept a newcomer...

Did you make "proper" intros with these cats or just let them into the house? Stella feels this other cat is an intruder in her territory.

Usually, when you take a new cat into the home, you need to keep them separated, isolating the newbie in a room... let them smell each other over time, put blankets, etc, underneath each others food bowls so they associate good things with the other cat's smells... there is all kinds of advice here and on the Internet about doing this.

You can try something to "calm" the atmosphere in the house like Feliway... but it sounds like Gladys is cool with things, but the dominant cat is not.

Hopefully someone with more experience in integrating cats when one does NOT like the newb... will come along and help you.

Well, they sort of met when Gladys started hanging around the house, and I guess I'm embarrased to say that we did NOT do a proper intro, but again, they met in the garage, backyard etc, and I didn't think they'd get much more smelling, etc. going on.

Gladys definitely defers to Stella, but the rolling around, stretching, chinning, seems awfully submissive for Stella after she corners Gladys. Wierd......but Stella also stares and likes to chew plastic

Some tortie owners speak of this mystical thing called "Tortitude" (as in attitude, and/or fortitude). While tortie is a color pattern and not a breed, there are often consistent behavioral trends among them.

Pumpkin definitely has tortitude. She talks a lot (we had a full blown conversation just a few minutes ago), tells you what she wants, is a picky eater (fortunately she's picky towards healthy foods), doesn't do laps or holding, loves to be stroked in very specific ways and sometimes speaks with her teeth (gently), to remind you to pet her the way she wants. She's very affectionate, but in her own weird way.

When we got Zero (tuxedo), Pumpkin would treat him mercilessly... chasing, hissing, growling, biting, tackling, cornering, and scratching... we still occasionally find scratches on Zero's nose, and he was always terrified of her. But lately the two have warmed up to one another, and the chasing and pouncing is mutual. It happens at 6am, but it's mutual.

My Meeko has a bad attitude.
The vet cant stand her.
The other cats never act that way.
All my Tortes and Calicos would get a attitude.
All my cats get along.
Meeko whines and slaps Cleo if she plays to rough.

Thanks for the replies.............They've gotten to the point where Stella won't attack every time she sees Gladys, but we do hear intermittent squabbles. Sometimes Stella gets silly afterwards, other times it remains a standoff. I hope it gets to the point where they can co-exist at the very least. Stella was never very good at making friends.
Definitely has a tortie-tude!

Thanks again for the replies!