Thoughts please.

just1more

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I will try to make a long story short. A stray cat showed up. I've had her for about 6 weeks now. Very friendly, lovable. I had her fixed, shots and what not. Dd fell in love with her and posted her pic on face book. One of her friends that moved to another town told her it was their cat. That she was let outside and just disappeared. I saw her mom and asked her if she wanted her back, she didn't have to reimburse me, "No" was the answer. The story I got from the prior "owner" was that her daughter found her and wanted to keep her. They took her in when they found out she was pregnant. They found homes for all the kittens, let her out and she got pregnant again. It was getting cold out so they keep her and the 2nd litter of kittens in the house in a crawl space off a bed room up stairs. They found homes for the kittens tried to find a home for the mother cat but she doesn't get along with other cats so they were going to bring her to the Human Society. A friend of the family feels that mother cat was dumped and now I have her. I believe the prior owner had a resident cat and mother cat was kept in the crawl space for both litters.

I have two cats, they are about 10 or 11 months, they are indoor only cats. The stray, we named her Minnie. Attacks them when she sees them or "hunts" them getting ready to pounce. I understand it takes more time then six weeks. I have a separate room for Minnie. Sometimes I will let Minnie out into the house to wander and put the other cats in our room with the door shut. I do let Minnie outside but it seems that she doesn't like it. She will hang very close to the house and cry running back and forth to the doors to be let in. I'm a worried mommy when it comes to my fur baby's. I guess what I'm trying to do is get reassurance that I'm doing the right thing for Minnie. When she is in the house she paces but when I let her out she would like to come back in. 

Any thoughts or advice. I feel Minnie would do better as an outside cat and come in at night and during bad weather.
 

StefanZ

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Do you have still issues with the former owners? It would be good if they signed a paper they are happy she is with you, they do not have any demands any longer.

Minnie apparently prefers to be inside cat. At least, at this moment. I think it is good!

The real problem she isnt not friendly with your inside only residents.

ARE you sure is is attacking them for real, not just some sort of hard playing?  They wrestling matches do often seem to be real fights!

When she swats them, does she uses soft paw or claw out?

Is the fur flowing a masse when she attacks them, or just very few now and then?

With a little luck it may be "just" hard playing.

Otherwise, you should do a scientific approach with letting them know each other. There are masses of good treads esp in the behaviour forum.

In worst case, if you dont succeed, they can surely manage to live togehter, sharing the house, although not being friends.

Have their litters and food places separated, their sleeping places separated.  Perhaps even separate them in time somewhat.

They will surely manage to coexist in some way.  They usually do if they dont need to fight for food.

Even if they dont always become pals.

Dont forget to cuddle with your residents. They must see they are still the most important for you.

Good luck!
 

feralvr

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I can absolutely reassure you that you are doing everything by the book. Very good job, in fact. For now, I would continue on with what you are doing except for one thing. Do not let her outside. She is getting confused by this. You let her out - she wants in. You let her in - then she thinks she wants out. Make the decision for her! Keep her indoors only just like your other two. For the time being - I would keep them separated like you are. It could potentially take a very long time for her to accept your other two cats. Maybe, maybe not. But it is too soon to tell. Minnie is still adjusting and has been through a lot due to her past treatment. No one has really cared properly for her until now. :hugs: You can still allow interaction with your other two cats - but when you see her getting in that pounce stance - startle her abruptly! This might startle the other two - but in the long run the other two will realize that it was directed at Minnie. My Wendall has an issue with my Perla. He likes to stalk her, tease her and chase her. I have had great success with redirecting his attention this way. Now he thinks twice about going after Perla when I am around. I do worry when I am not though. But it is getting better. It has taken almost a year to get to this point. It is absolutely workable - it just takes TONS of time. Each situation is different. Mega vibes and keep up the great work. I am glad she is yours and I wound not contact the other people again. They don't deserve her and she is rightly yours. I don't think she was well cared for or loved by those other "owners".... :sigh: :vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes:

OH :lol3: and Welcome to TCS!!!!!!! :bigthumb: :clap::clap:
 
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just1more

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Stefan, Minnie is using open paw and the fur is flying. I pick up tuffs of fur after I separate them.
 
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just1more

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Feralvr, I was wondering about the in out, in out issue. Also, we tried squrting her with water when she was ready to pounce. It worked about 4 times. The last time nothing stopped her from getting my boy. Poor guy stayed in our bedroom for two days before he came out, now he's jumpy. Right now they are taking turns roaming the house alone. Minnie alone, Sophie and Gus together.
 

feralvr

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Feralvr, I was wondering about the in out, in out issue. Also, we tried squrting her with water when she was ready to pounce. It worked about 4 times. The last time nothing stopped her from getting my boy. Poor guy stayed in our bedroom for two days before he came out, now he's jumpy. Right now they are taking turns roaming the house alone. Minnie alone, Sophie and Gus together.
It is really tough when you have a cat just determined to taunt another cat. There are many people here who actually have cats living in separate parts of their house because of this particular bullying. My problem is not that bad as Wendall doesn't hate Perla - he just likes to tease/chase her when he is playful - mostly in the evenings. But he has been easy to train and easily redirected to something else. I really hope that in time Minnie will become less and less focused on the "hunt" of the other two. The only way to really know if this will happen, though, is to try to have them live together, at least during the day, and separate at night. I have had to do that with cats over the years as well. I think in some cases, it just takes time for the bully to realize that the other two cats don't care about his antics. But when you have a cat that does get upset by the prowling, then that just fuels the fire for the bully. That is what I am dealing with. Perla reacts so dramatically to Wendall that it makes him confident to keep up the game. :sigh: I wish I could just tell Perla - to stand her ground or even try to play with him. But of course she doesn't listen. :lol3: I honestly think that if she did - he would get bored with her and forget about stalking her.

I do hope others come along with some more suggestions - I wish I had more to tell you then "it just takes time" because there are times when some kitties personalities just don't mesh with another one. :slant: I wish you much luck!!!! :vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes:
 
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