TheCatSite.com › Forums › Our Feline Companions › Behavior › Problems getting along HELP!
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Problems getting along HELP!

post #1 of 4
Thread Starter 
Hi!,
My boyfriend and I moved in together a year ago, he had a grumpy, ~9yr old black and white male cat (that was spayed a little late...at ~2-3 years old and I had a loving and spoiled ~6 month old female kitten (a polydactyl calico).
Old guy doesn't want to cuddle with her, or play with her but she seems to adore him (she was fixed after her first heat, during which she pursued him desperately). After her initial period of being either bullied or ignored she progressed to trying to get attention. She always wants to know where he is, chases him around, bats at him if he is nearby, always with no claws, gently, but playful and wanting attention. His reaction is to bat at her, hiss, sometimes claw, she usually acts submissive to this, then tries for attention again, then the old guy will take off, claiming a high spot. He has been having bladder problems recently, a UTI and some crystals (which he is prone to), I believe its partially due to stress. The kitten (now about a year and a half old), follows him and bugs him when he eats, when he goes to the litter box, when he tries to drink water....always.
I tried to modify the kitten's behavior to harass him less, but she will not be deterred, and keeping them apart is not an option...they are indoor/outdoor cats with a cat flap, so always keeping an eye on them isn't possible either.
I'm looking for a way to decrease the stress on the old guy without having to be too hard on the kitten. We do have one theory....another kitten, really little, young enough to "learn her place" with the old guy, and also energetic enough to keep up with the calico kitten and hopefully distract her from the old guy. I'm just worried about the added stress of another cat on him. On the upside I'm off of work for a while so I'll be around to monitor the situation for the first couple weeks if we do go for another kitten. I'd love to hear opinions on this, or any advice about the entire situation would be hugely appreciated.
post #2 of 4
She's alpha, she's playing, she is insistent. You can redirect her attention with a little bit of time and patience and clicker train her. They love the challenge when they are faced with clicker training, and she sounds smart so she will catch on quick. There is a new book out by Marilyn Krieger called Naughty No More and it is an excellent guide to training cats out of unwanted behavior.

If the old man is prone to UTI more stress (an added kitten) probably isn't the answer. The two kittens will play together for sure, but they will also beat up on the old guy- and if you get another alpha kitty, then you will have problems with your resident kitty besides. I would strongly recommend clicker training, I think you will be pleased with the results.


Good luck!
post #3 of 4
Lynxx was 9 years old and an only cat, until we rescued Luna and brought her home. He had no interest in other cats, and none in her. He didn't want to play with her, cuddle with her, or be her friend. Luna loved him, and wanted to be with him. We did get Midnight for her, thinking the 2 of them would play and leave Lynxx alone. Midnight was to young for her (at the time 3 weeks old, her 12 weeks old), and had to be seperated, until he got bigger. Of course he took forever growing. He stayed the same size until he was 8 weeks old! Now that Luna and Midnight can be together, do play together, it doesn't matter anymore because Lynxx died. So if you do get another cat for your cat, make sure their close in age, so they can occupy each other from the start.
post #4 of 4
Thread Starter 
She (Hemi) is only sort of alpla....if he (Ollie) walks towards her she flops down on her side, completely deferring to him....if he wants food first, he gets it. Of course she usually gets food first if she goes anywhere near him because he takes off, she'll have a bite or two then try to follow him. She used to follow me around like crazy too until Ollie came into her life. She treats him like he's the alpha, but she gets the alpha status because he gives it to her in his efforts to ignore her.
As for a kitten...I'm worried that it would be more stress with a third one in the mix, and that they would gang up on him. The age is a concern too....catch 22....if its closer to her age (at least a year), then it might not be young enough for him to accept it, Hemi was barely 6 months when they met. If its too young she might beat it up (altho I think she'd just lick it to death like she does me!). If I just wanted to stop her from harassing him, and his stress levels weren't possibly affecting his health a kitten (one consciously trained to leave him alone) might fix it, but that added variable scares me.
I might look into the clicker training, but I'm not sure it'll work, Hemi is plenty smart but also really easily distracted. I'll check out that book and hopefully get some good insight.
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Behavior
TheCatSite.com › Forums › Our Feline Companions › Behavior › Problems getting along HELP!