kitten troubles new house

spywell

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Firstly my gf started with three kittens all together as kittens. One was hers, and the other two were her parents. They are all 1 year old now. A few months ago another cat had a litter and she decieded to get another runt from that litter. Well just like the last runt it died around 4-5months she was devastated so she got another kitten from that litter. This particular kittens health is top notch and spent 3-4 months in the house with four other cats.

Anyways, we purchased a new home (reason for getting another kitten) and the problem is that after the first four days we noticed strange behavior from our 1yo cat that is Declawed and spayed. We decided the problem was with this kitten and sent her back to the house so we could get the 1yo cat more comfortable with the new house.
Suddenly our cat was back to normal, loves to play sleeps in bed, follows us around the house everywhere but gets bored alone. After a week we brought the kitten back and we have more time to view what is going on since we had to cancel vacation but still got the time off.

We noticed that the kitten (too young to be declawed says vet) is attacking our cat. After hissing and screaming our cat runs off (fight or run behavior) so this little kitten thinks it is dominate. It wont let our older cat play, come in the bedroom, or have alone time. Yesterday the kitten attacked the older cat while she was using the litter box.
Is there any advice or will this possibly correct itself after this kitten gets declawed?
What to do until it gets declawed?
 

carolina

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I personally hate this kitten and always have. I wish I could just get rid of it country stye but my gf loves it too much. Trust me I hate it that much for many more reasons not mentioned!
Is there any advice or will this possibly correct itself after this dumb kitten gets declawed?
What to do until it gets declawed?
First off, declawing is mutilation, amputation - how would you like to have your fingers amputated on the first joint?
Second, this is a CAT LOVERS site - we will not appreciate or tolerate someone saying things like above.
So, I advise you reviewing your post if you want any help. IMO the kitten is not them dumb one in this situation.
 
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spywell

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Originally Posted by carolinalima

First off, declawing is mutilation, amputation - how would you like to have your fingers amputated on the first joint?
Second, this is a CAT LOVERS site - we will not appreciate or tolerate someone saying things like above.
So, I advise you reviewing your post if you want any help. IMO the kitten is not them dumb one in this situation.
I agree with you, sorry. All the cats I have ever raised respected me and I have never had any issues with them. I would never declaw any of my cats because it takes away their primary defences. My gf being a city person has already declawed her cat and I think that is what is primarily the problem.

I have edited my post, if anyone was wondering I called the kitten dumb and said I hated it. - sorry, just stressed and seeking advice.
 

carolina

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Thanks for editing your post... much better!
Did you guys do a slow introduction with the kitten, or just brought him in?
A slow/formal introduction consists in keeping the kitten in a separate room, with no contact with the resident cat, all the while doing scent exchange, for them to have the time to get used to each other... Little by little the new kitten is introduced (under supervision) to the resident cats and household, reducing the chances of problems in between them.
Cats are very territorial, and some of them, when not introduced properly, will never adjust to each other...
 
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spywell

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Originally Posted by carolinalima

Thanks for editing your post... much better!
Did you guys do a slow introduction with the kitten, or just brought him in?
A slow/formal introduction consists in keeping the kitten in a separate room, with no contact with the resident cat, all the while doing scent exchange, for them to have the time to get used to each other... Little by little the new kitten is introduced (under supervision) to the resident cats and household, reducing the chances of problems in between them.
Cats are very territorial, and some of them, when not introduced properly, will never adjust to each other...
Well the reason I talked about the previous house is that they both lived there problem free for four months together. The older cat lived there 1 year.
The new house is next door (40 feet away) and they were both brought over together. In the other house her parents had a male cat that was not surprisingly declawed/nuetered who played with the kitten like his own child.

Also some of the furniture that they rub up on with their face was brought over.

Thank you for taking the time to respond again sorry for the misunderstanding earlier. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me even though we did not get off to a good start.
 

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There are probably new smells in the new house and as cats go very much by smell, that may be causing the anxiety in your cats. I would keep them separated for a few days, swap their sleeping blankets to get them used to the smell of each other, perhaps have supervised together time and if one or the other starts to fight, separate immediately again.

Just because the older cat is declawed is no reason to declaw the kitten. Get the kitten used to having it's claws clipped and it will be fine with a declawed cat. It would be a shame to have 2 mutilated cats.


You also really need to have at least 2 litter boxes. The general rules is one litter box per cat plus an extra.

You said the kitten attacked the older cat while she was using the litter box - that could actually cause the older cat to stop using her litter box and then you have a whole other problem.


Re-introduce them slowly would be my recommendation.
 
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spywell

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Thanks a lot for the advice. I think I might try that. Just have to run it by the boss first.

So correct me if I am wrong, you can clip/trim a cats claws like you trim a dogs?
I have never heard of trimming, not only would that save money (declaw is very expensive) but I would feel a lot better having a cat that can protect itself if it ever requires it.
My gf was actually a veterinary tech for 3 years for a large pet store. Don't know why she didn't know of it.
 

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Hey, no problem.... pleasure

There is a couple of possibilities going on - 1: Adjustment to the new house, in which case I would recommend keeping the kitten in a small room for a few days or a week, with supervised exploring times, until he gets comfortable in the new place... (following the slow introduction method, with scent exchange)
and 2: The older cat is sick, and you should probably take her to the vet for a check up. Often cats will attack sick cats, so take that into consideration. Since they lived together peacefully, and this just changed recently, this is a real possibility.

There is a product called Feliway, that you can plug it into the wall, and can be very helpful in calming kitties nerves, reducing stress. Keep the Feliway plugged on the room the kitten spends the most amount of time. You can also add a few drops of rescue remedy into his water or wet food - it also helps in calming him down.
Cats are creatures of habit, and any change in their lives can be very stressful, resulting in erratic behavior.
Whatever happens, always remember - the kitten is not doing this because he is mean... he is stressed out about something.
 

carolina

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Originally Posted by spywell

Thanks a lot for the advice. I think I might try that. Just have to run it by the boss first.

So correct me if I am wrong, you can clip/trim a cats claws like you trim a dogs?
I have never heard of trimming, not only would that save money (declaw is very expensive) but I would feel a lot better having a cat that can protect itself if it ever requires it.
My gf was actually a veterinary tech for 3 years for a large pet store. Don't know why she didn't know of it.
Yes, you need to trim their nails, actually
. There is also a product called soft paws that can solve "claw issues" - it is a glue-on nail cap...
There are many videos on youtube teaching how to trim your kitties nails safely, protecting the quick and avoiding bleeding. You can also ask your girlfriend to teach you how to do it
 
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spywell

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I might as well schedule a vet appointment.
The first night of the new house the older cat threw up everywhere and had a temperature of 105, she was taken to the vet immediately and they kept her overnight.
The vet gave her a fever reducer and said she had liquid in her ears and gave us medication for that.
It has been nearly two months now and just the other day Tabi said that Marie(the older cat) is having a problem with her ears and we may be taking her to the vet. The cats ears are very dirty and Tabi says that after she cleans them they are dirty again by the next day.
I guess with that last bit of information it may be safe to just get her into the vet again.
Only problem is that Marie gets highly stressed when she goes to the vet. She has been that way ever since her operation (spay,claw) When I took her in for the fever she would tuck her head into my arm pit. Then she got up and hid/forced herself inbetween me and the bench and hid behind me.

Should I give her more stress by having her checked out?
 
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spywell

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I just got off the phone with her and relayed the information.
She says:
Marie is not sick but we need to have her ears looked at.
She has clipped a lot of cats claws and it is unpleasand and their claws are brittle. She still wants the kitten declawed ( i even recomended the glue on claws..)
She also said a lot of times the kitten is trying to "Mount" Marie. and that Marie use to be the dominant one and do that to the other cats while she was at that stage.


I agree as have always about the declaw issue and arguing with her only brings an unpleasant conversation. She will still declaw HER cat. I think this is more of an issue with how she was raised since her parents declawed their cats.

Any more advice is certainly welcomed.
 

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I just have to say that for someone who was a vet tech she seemed uninformed to say the least. All that aside, yes it is very easy to trim their nails and not at all unpleasant. Bijou is so used to having his nails trimmed that I don't even need to hold him - while he is laying down, I just pick up his paw and clip. I realize not all cats will be this laid back but if you start trimming when they are young they learn to tolerate it. The main thing is to start touching, holding, caressing their paws. Most cats don't like their paws touched but if you start getting them used to you touching their paws, clipping becomes much easier.

As for her ears, again, I'm surprised your GF didn't think of ear mites. That would look like dirt in the kitty's ears and I do believe the younger cat can get them from the older one, so she is right in that the cat's ears need to be seen by a vet.

No cat really likes the vet. Bijou does the same thing as your cat, he pushes his head in under my arm and tries to hide. Fortunately at the last vet we went to he was just fine and seemed quite contented. They removed a lump from his leg just using local anaesthetic. The vet tech just held him and whispered sweet nothings in his ear and he's a sucker for sweet nothings.


I do hope and fervently pray that you can change her mind about declawing. Get her to look at some pictures on the internet of how horrible it is. I always tell folks that when they are willing to let me cut off every one of their fingers to the first joint, then they can let someone else do that to their cat.
 

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One thing for your GF to consider is that declawing the kitten will not solve the current behavior problems. It could actually make it worse. Without claws the kitten is likely to resort to biting.

How old is the kitten now? Has he been neutered?

The older cat still needs to be checked out for health issues. Is there a vet in your area who will make house calls? Some cats who get stressed going to the vet do better in their home environment.
 

carolina

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Originally Posted by GoldyCat

One thing for your GF to consider is that declawing the kitten will not solve the current behavior problems. It could actually make it worse. Without claws the kitten is likely to resort to biting.

How old is the kitten now? Has he been neutered?

The older cat still needs to be checked out for health issues. Is there a vet in your area who will make house calls? Some cats who get stressed going to the vet do better in their home environment.

Also, how can your girlfriend know Marie is not sick? She is not a vet, and IMO she doesn't really know a lot about cats, otherwise she wouldn't be looking at declawing...
I hope you can persuade her to NOT declaw, and to take marie to the vet.
 
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spywell

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Originally Posted by GoldyCat

How old is the kitten now? Has he been neutered?

The older cat still needs to be checked out for health issues. Is there a vet in your area who will make house calls?
The kitten is probably 5-6 months and is Female.

I don't think there is a vet that does house calls in our area. And if there is we are not willing to pay extra for the house call. We just purchased this house and we are broke...


The reason she does not like to clip cats claws is because she use to do it to many many cats and none of them liked it. She also told me she is not comfortable in clipping their nails because she is scarred of messing up.
 

carolina

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Originally Posted by spywell

The kitten is probably 5-6 months and is Female.

I don't think there is a vet that does house calls in our area. And if there is we are not willing to pay extra for the house call. We just purchased this house and we are broke...


The reason she does not like to clip cats claws is because she use to do it to many many cats and none of them liked it. She also told me she is not comfortable in clipping their nails because she is scarred of messing up.
Does she think a cat likes being declawed better? Does she think if she messes up it will hurt more than amputating the kittens fingers?
Sorry, but...I had to say that...
I know it is not your fault though...
 

GoldyCat

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Originally Posted by spywell

The reason she does not like to clip cats claws is because she use to do it to many many cats and none of them liked it. She also told me she is not comfortable in clipping their nails because she is scarred of messing up.
That makes sense in a way. Probably the kitties who didn't mind having their claws trimmed got done at home. The ones who went to the vet for trimming were the problem children.

I can do my four in about 15 minutes without getting scratched or bitten. I clip the nails with a scissor-type clipper, then smooth them off with an emery board. I also trim claws on all the cats at the shelter about once a week. I've never had any problems with any of them except one semi-feral lady. I could only get 2 or 3 claws at a time before she freaked out. I'd just do a couple each day and it worked well.

Would it help if you offer to do the nail trimming?
 
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spywell

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Originally Posted by GoldyCat

Would it help if you offer to do the nail trimming?
I help her trim the dogs nails every few weeks but she wont let me touch her animals unless it was her idea.

If declawing and spaying all her pets is what she has decieded to do then the only person that can change her mind is her father.

And her father is undoubtedly part of the problem. He plays with the kitten rough and with his hands and we have finally gotten the kitten away from clawing/biting hands. Not only that but HIS cat has finally stopped climbing up his leg. It was cute when it was a kitten but after it grew up its painfully humorous to see him scream. (His cat climbed me a few times. It hurts!
)
 
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