2 cats, one house

Well, I think you are doing everything right. I don't know if I would block the kitty from using a litter box. Mine share a box with no problems.

Other than that, it probably will take longer for your situation to settle down...if it does. Frankly, as long as there are no out right fights, you are ahead of the game. Some cats will never get along and will hiss and walk away. A friend of mine has two like that who have shared a house for many years, and will not sleep or play with eachother.

You could get a Feliway plug in that emmits a calming odor and may diffuse the hissing a bit.

I'd keep an eye on the old gal. Sometimes a new arrival can cause stress and lead to health problems. Give both kitties plenty of love.

But 2 months sometimes is not long enough. Cats are wonderful but weird sometimes!! And maybe come to realize that they may never get to be buds, but as long as it does not escalate....that may be the reality.

Welcome to TheCatSite kittypolice.
After reading your post, I understand why you chose your username.

You have an interesting situation ...
two mature cats, who were probably well established in their old territories, coming together in a new environment.

Figaro is probably the most stressed of the two.
It might be a good idea to have a vet check Figaro to be sure all is well physically.
I would recommend, if it has not been done in a year, a senior blood panel a UA too.

I am glad that you came to our site for help with this challenge...
farleyv offered some excellent feedback, I am sure other members will offer their take on this too.

Please make yourself at home and be sure to keep us updated.

I hope things work out well for the two cats.

I'm more on the diversion side of things during introduction - with my two, II tried to always have toys at hand so when I noticed any staring or hissing going on, I could toss a toy and distract them. I had pockets full of fuzzy mice for a while!

I also tried to give them treats or feed them when they were at least in the same room calmly together - that whole 'good things happen when you're good' deal.

With yours, I'd suggest adding at least another litter box or two to the home, if you can. Also, if you can add places where one cat can go to get away from the other (such as cat trees, etc), that'd be great - adding height is like adding more square footage.

And, this may sound silly, but while I would make sure both cats gets lots of loving from everyone, I'd especially go out of my way to reassure Figaro that she's her guy's one and only (yes, your boyfriend) and that everyone else was brought in for her benefit and her benefit only. Poor old girl - just happy as clams and then one day two strange hussies come in to stay!

Thanks for trying to understand both your cats - and it's got to be hard for both of them, having their worlds basically turned upside down.

That is a really good point.

Our girls are much hissier about new introductions. Spooky, the oldest, takes a full six months to stop hating a new (female) intro (hissing and swatting) and a full year to accept a newbie (short bursts of actual grooming). She hisses and growls - often bats at the new one. We just let them work it out unless there's a full on battle, which thankfully we've never had.

Have you used Feliway? If not, if you can afford it, I would recommend several Feliway diffusers - maybe one for the living room and one for the bedroom.

I'd also HIGHLY recommend Bach's Rescue Remedy for pets. In the water dishes, add a few drops every day when you wash and refill them with clean water. This has really helped our Spooky de-stress. For the first week, we'd dab it under her chin - after that, she didn't really need that (dab it under the chin and it wafts up into the nose).

The most important thing, as pointed out by darlili - esp BF should lavish attention on Figaro and basically ignore Ryoko. You give attention to both. But beyond that - I would stop policing the litter boxes. If you don't have three litter boxes, get a third - and just let them use whatever box they want to. I've never gotten the concept of a cat having an "assigned" litter box - I'm not sure the cats care. And maybe peeing and pooping over Ryoko's scent will help Figaro feel better.

Last thought - just adding to what darlili said - it's not just that having the two new females living in the house with her (one human, one cat) are for her benefit - having them around means more attention for her, more treats for her - more of whatever it is she loves - and it is a total PARTY. Any time she's in a room and Ryoko comes in, she should get played with, or given a new catnip toy, or loved on, or praised to high heaven for being such a beautiful, wonderful girl..... The idea is to get her thinking having Ryoko around is a good thing, and highlight the positives rather than the "no's."

Sounds like you've really done well - and, quite frankly - given our experience with female-female intros, things are going great! Keep up the good work!

Bottom line: Cats are all about "what's in it for me?" So in general, when it comes to behavior modification, diversion and redirection from bad behavior rather than emphasizing that it's bad, and HEAPS of praise for good behavior (which, right now, could just be not tracking down Ryoko to hiss at her) go much farther, faster. So forget the squirt gun altogether, keep an empty can with coins in it to shake and startle them out of a full on ball of fur fight if one happens - and basically let them sort it out in light of all the advice on how to help Figaro feel secure and special.

Maude hissed and growled and batted at Attitude and Nuts and we let them work it out on their own since there were never any fights. Besides her taking both Attitude and Nuts' heads in her mouth at different times(their entire heads fit in her mouth) to get a point across(she did it softly so no one was hurt and they got the point) it was mainly just hissing growling and swatting. We never intervened they were working it out on their own and they never liked each other but they tolerated each other(Attitude and Nuts are litter mates so they play with each other they have no issues.)

If Attitude and Nuts are having a disagreement or when Nuts was biting Attitude so hard she cried(he wasn't breaking the skin, just biting hard) we let them work it out. No amount of anything was going to get Nuts to quit(he has always done it and did it with his other litter mates, from 4 weeks old, when he was outside so it's just who he is, he also used to puff up and hiss at a Siamese all the cats hated, a tiny 4 week old kitten arched and puffed and hissing at a full grown cat was pretty funny) and eventually Attitude got sick of it and started standing up for herself. Now Nuts only bites her after she has a bath(I guess he doesn't like how she smells after a bath.)

When Maude had the chance she 'christened' the other litter box that Attitude and Nuts used while separated in the bathroom and Attitude and Nuts did the one in the kitchen after they finally realized #1- they were allowed in the living room and #2- the 'big kitty'(Maude was 14 lbs, I think they were both at most 3-4 lbs) wasn't that scary, she just liked to talk a lot of smack.

Just give them a chance, let them use all the litterboxes and work it out on their own. I wouldn't interfere with them when they are hissing and growling because that is how they are working out who stands where(the pecking order) in the household and they will eventually chill or at least tolerate each other(even if it's just them ignoring each other or an occasional hiss) over time. The only timer Maude really let Nuts near her was near then end when she was sick(her liver failed) she let Nuts come into the bathroom to check on her and groom her. Nuts seemed to know she was sick and he wanted to make sure she was ok and try to make her feel better(and Maude honestly despised him and his existence, she still hissed at him if she felt like it until she got really sick.) It will all work out since they aren't trying to tear each other to bits, it's all just talk. Good luck and hopefully they work out where tey stand quickly.

Taryn