Introduced new cat to current cat

Hey guys, 

So me and my roommate have only adopted our current cat exactly 3 months ago, her name is Olive and she is the most perfect cat I could have ever had. A few days ago, my roommate and her boyfriend went to the shelter and just adopted a new cat out of the blue without even asking me or telling me about it til the moment they brought him into our place. He is a male cat, shelter told us he was about 1+ years old and neutered. 

At this point, I was really upset because our place is a only a studio and barely has enough space for two humans to even live in, so bringing in ANOTHER cat into a household that really didn't need another pet wasn't my idea of responsibility, however, I just thought it was too cruel to have him sent back to the shelter so I just kept my feelings aside. (His name is Leo by the way)

My feelings about Olive however is something else. It's almost a week since he became part of the family, and Olive has gone through the entire process of slapping him, growling and hissing at him, and seems to be sort of okay with his presence in the house by now, with the occasional hiss. Before bringing Leo in, Olive was the sweetest cat and would always jump up on the bed to wake me up, purring in my face and just sitting in front of me til I was out of bed. She was always ready to play, always sprung her tail up whenever I see her or call her name. I would always pat the couch and call her name and she would jump up and sit or sleep beside me. She was the perfect cat. After Leo was introduced, she stopped doing any of that. She doesn't jump up on the bed purring anymore, her tail isn't up when I see her and she seems like she isn't even interested being around me or my roommate anymore. Leo is a HUGE attention seeker and is always meowing and trying to get all the attention. It just upsets me hugely that Olive isn't being herself.

They have been chasing each other playfully the past two days and she's seemingly getting over the phase, but I just wanted to ask, have any of you guys been through a similar situation like this? It might be still too early to know, but I just hate to see my favorite and most perfect cat become detached or unaffectionate with me because of a new cat that was introduced into the household based off of my roommate's reckless decision. Of course I will care for him like I do with any pet, and he is a really beautiful and sweet cat but I just haven't found that bond with him that I have with Olive. I just want my Olive to be herself again. 

Any advice or feedback? Thanks guys

Hi, and welcome to TCH

Yes, I think it's a phase she's going through.  When we adopted our second cat, our resident Casper, managed to get through the introductions fairly well, with a few grumbles here and there.  However, without going into all the boring details, he did develop behavioral changes with my BF and I as well.  He too, like your Olive, was the model of the perfect kitty before Cocoa came to live with us.  

One of the things most noticeable was he refused to come to bed with us, and play his bedtime ritual which consists of head bunting us on the bed in circles, until he gets tired and flops down to sleep.  It's very cute and we always looked forward to this little end of day time sharing.  Instead, if we put him in the bed, he'd growl at us and leave.

We were very upset by this obviously.  But, in the end, after a month or so, his annoyance started to calm down at us for bringing this little ragamuffin home to him lol.  I think it took a good 2-3 months before he was totally himself again, but we were patient with him.  We've had Cocoa for 6 months now, and you'd never know there had ever been an issue with him at all and they are good friends with each other now also.

It's a lot to deal with when a cat has been "top cat" for a while.  She'll come around.  Just make sure to give her lots of love and attention, and don't change her routines as much as possible.  Let us know how things progress, we love hearing updates.

Hey there, thanks for the response it was really helpful, so glad to know that your kitty overcame those behavioral changes, gives me relief to know that Olive will eventually come around as well. Like you said, I will just have to be patient with her in the meantime. It's just that I miss her little quirks already.

Though I've read somewhere that some cats just never come around and constantly stay detached in situations like this, or is that just in unusual cases?

I think for the majority of cases, the cats do come around.  You can probably sift through posts here and read a lot of similar stories to yours.  I do remember that I was encouraged from what I found out when I was having trouble.

She will come around. Just be patient and give her lots of attention. My female stayed away from sleeping with me for awhile after my newest cat arrived. She had to first accept him, then decide when I was back in her good graces again after upsetting her realm with this intruder .

Yeah she has kind of accepted him and she doesn't hiss or growl at him anymore. Did your cat completely get back to normal after a while? Does she do all the things she used to do before introducing your new cat? My cat has been sleeping all day for the past few days and only plays with me for a while when Leo isn't around in the room, that's normal I assume as well?

Yes, this is normal. It has only been a few days you said? So actually, things are going great for such a short period. Cats really hate change. Not only did she have to accept him, but they now have to establish a relationship of sorts in their cat world. You just have to make sure she knows she's still #1 with you. Once things settle into a routine, she should also settle back into her old routine. It could take days, weeks, or even months for all her "quirks" to return, but I'm sure they will.

She's slowly getting better now, she's been very active and playful today and yesterday so I'm happier. Thanks so much for the feedback, I feel way more comfortable with things now

I think you are extremely lucky to have your cats act as they do in just a few short days! I had to keep mine separated for 9 months and they still tore each other up. I finally had to re-home the aggressor, and it hurt deeply. Her kitten, who was just under a year did eventually come around, but it took at least 6 months before he became 'normal' again. If your cats are acting like they do in just a few days, I'm sure Olive will return to her loving ways as soon as she accepts the 'intruder' fully.Maybe you are lucky in a way, it would have become harder for her to accept a new cat the longer she was a one and only!

Yeah I see what you mean! We've only adopted her 3 and a half months ago so that may have helped with the process of introducing another cat. I'm just curious about one more thing. Leo is a very attention-loving cat and always jumps up on the bed to sit with us while Olive goes to the living room to sit or sleep alone sometimes. She hasn't always been the huge attention seeker herself before but she did jump up on the bed at times to purr at us and be cute. Am I supposed to not Leo do these things while Olive "recovers" from this intrusion, or should I leave things as they are and it will play itself out?

I'm just having some trouble knowing how to make her feel like she's still #1 when Leo is always invading my play time with her and trying to steal the attention. Anyone have some tips?

Just give it time and they'll work it out. I have a new addition also. He has now been here 2 months and he's still a kitten at 11 months old. Though my cats have accepted him, things are still not all back to "normal". The first week he was officially "out", after the 2 weeks of introductions, my female would not even come into my bedroom if he was there. She comes in now and has returned to sleeping with me sometimes. lol. They all get snuggles and praise everytime I pass by any one of them. I have to use 2 arms for playtime. Making sure the new guy doesn't hog all the fun. Your doing great. Think of the years they have in front of them yet. They'll be just fine with each other and you. Be patient and stop worrying!

I just can't stop thinking about what I should do, but yeah I should stop worrying haha. Cats do things their own way in the their cat world I guess. However today they had a sweet and civil moment together where she decided to nap beside Leo.

Leo on the left, Olive on the right. As you can see, they have made my luggage bag their bed haha

That, is excellent progress!  I remember the first time our two were found on a couch sitting near each other, it was a really heartwarming moment, and one of great relief as well 

It's funny to see for me also, because Leo the newcomer looks more comfortable than Olive. Her body language looks a bit more guarded to me, but not too much. I remember the same thing here.  Cocoa would be much more relaxed than Casper.  

She'll get over it with time.  Wait until you see them curled up with each other.  ZOMG your heart is going to explode lol.

Yeah Leo has gotten reaaaally comfortable with us and everything around him and isn't acting like a newcomer at all haha, Olive still has that guard up when he's around, but like you said, it's a relief seeing them being okay with each other's presence. They always sniff each other's noses when one is passing by the other, so that's a good sign to me as well.

I'm looking forward very much to the time when they curl up together and groom each other my heart will most probably explode yes!

Hello, I have a similar problem with introducing my cats, although, I didn't think it would be a problem. About 2 weeks ago I got my kitten, Cheshire, from a friend and then yesterday I took the last from the same litter as Cheshire, her name is Hatter. My sister took the other two kittens from the litter and I didn't want the last cat to be lonely and I figured it would be nice for Cheshire to have one of her sisters with her. Well, when I brought Hatter hom, I didn't introdunce them slowly because I figurd they'd remember eachother. However, Cheshire has been kind of abully and has been attacking/playing with Hatter, but won't leave her alone. Sometimes Hatter will growl and hiss so I try to distract Cheshire with a toy but that works for about 30 seconds before she's on Hatter again. But then they'll eat together and sometimes sleep together fine. Are they just playing or is Cheshire fighting for dominance? Should I be worried and intervene or let them 'hash' it out? Also, in the picture, Cheshire is the left and Hatter is on the right. They're about 10~101/2 weeks old.

Also, thank you for any and all of your advice.

They are kittens and playing as kittens do. They seem fine in that picture. Let em hash it out, they'll learn each others boundries. Very cute kittens! Wishing you good luck with them.

Thanks so much for your advice. They seem to be a little better today. They're still fighting but not as rough

Hey there

From what I've seen with my two cats, your kittens seem way more comfortable sitting next to each other. And if you say they already eat and sleep together, then everything is just fine my cats still don't actually sleep together or groom each other, so your kittens are definitely fine, just a little bit of rough play which is expected from kittens of that age. they're adorable as well! Good luck with them!

I am going through something similar, but my cats get along great but my original cat is now a lot less cuddly. My new kitten and original cat love playing but he won't cuddle with me if she is around. It has only been a few weeks so I hope he starts wanting to sit with me again (at least the new kitten loves cuddling). I am thinking he may be jealous though he is very happy with his new playmate.