Can't introduce our female cats without spraying/peeing!

aldebaran

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Aug 12, 2008
Messages
7
Purraise
1
Location
Seattle, WA
Help! I'm at my wit's end. (This is a long story. Scroll down for the short version!)

I have a 10-year-old spayed female calico, Karma, who has been living as an only cat for a little over a year. My boyfriend moved in around 3.5 months ago, bringing his 12-year-old spayed female cat, Kitty, into the house. Our house has a main floor and a large basement that are separated by a door, so we initially set up the basement as Kitty's space, and let Karma have the main floor. We followed all the usual cat introduction steps— feeding time near the closed door, exchanging smells with socks and blankets, gradually letting them see each other through a gate while eating, and investing in multiple Feliway diffusers. There was some hissing and growling on Karma's end, but this was continuing to improve. In time, we transferred Kitty to our second bedroom (so that she could be closer to our main living area), and we continued the steps there.  Eventually, we progressed to having the cats out together with no barrier. 

When they were out together, Kitty showed no aggression, she was just curious and wanted to play. She would playfully stalk and surprise Karma, then when Karma inevitably hissed and swatted at her, she would retreat, looking afraid, but she would keep coming back for more. Karma was happy to ignore Kitty at first, so long as she was left alone. But once she realized that Kitty would react to her with fear, she started to bully her. She wouldn't go out of her way to attack, but if Kitty was within a few feet of her, she would walk directly toward her just to hiss and swat, as if to preemptively say "Don't even think of coming near me!". Eventually, this dynamic seemed to settle down a little—Kitty started learning to leave Karma alone, Karma's aggression became less frequent, and they were cohabiting successfully (or so it seemed) for over a month.

Since the cats were tolerating each other fairly well, we didn't think it would be an issue when we left for a week-long vacation. We had a close friend take care of them daily while we were gone, and he reported no problems. However, when we got back, we noticed that Kitty seemed more afraid of Karma than before, and she didn't seem interested in food if Karma was nearby (this was a big red flag, as she is normally very food-motivated). Not long after this, we started to discover cat pee in multiple places—sometimes on blankets and other objects, but also just in puddles on the floor. It wasn't clear yet which cat was responsible, but we did daily checks, and thoroughly cleaned any spots we found. I suspected it was Kitty, because I had never known Karma to pee outside the litter box before, even when in stressful situations in the past.

In the couple weeks that followed, all hell broke loose. It became clear that Kitty was the culprit when she began doing it right in front of us, multiple times— on cushions on the floor, on rugs, and once even on our bed when we were still in it(!). It wasn't always clear whether this was peeing or spraying... on one hand, it was horizontal rather than vertical, but each time it was preceded by backing up to the object, kneading, and flicking her tail. We didn't notice any aggression between the cats leading up to these events. At this point, she had peed on several of my favorite things, so we decided to separate the cats again until we could figure out what was wrong. We moved Kitty back to the basement. At first, we continued to find pee on the floor, so we considered taking her to the vet to check for a UTI. But after a few days of separation, the inappropriate peeing abruptly stopped. We kept them separated for close to a month (eventually transferring Kitty to the second bedroom once more), and it never started up again.

A few days ago, we finally tried to start re-introducing them. We've been swapping their scents again, and yesterday we tried leaving Kitty's door open for an hour or so with a gate in place. Karma approached the gate and hissed at her briefly, but for the most part left her alone. Unfortunately, it seems like even this small amount of contact was too much for Kitty. This morning we discovered that she had pushed her bedding off of the chair and onto the floor, then peed on it— her first time peeing inappropriately in a month. 

How do I continue introducing them, when it seems like even the slightest contact stresses Kitty out to the point that she pees on things? Since she moved in, she's spent more time confined than not, and I feel terrible about this, but I don't know how to continue integrating her when it means we have to clean up cat pee on a daily basis.

TL; DR:

Started introducing boyfriend's cat (Kitty, 12 yrs) to resident cat (Karma, 10 yrs) almost 4 months ago. We kept them separated at first, then followed usual intro process over several weeks, eventually getting to a place where they tolerated (but avoided) each other. Karma is defensive and swats/hisses at Kitty if she gets close, Kitty is playful but submissive and fearful. After we went on vacation for a week, it appeared that this progress had gone away. Kitty seemed more afraid of Karma than usual, and started spraying and inappropriately peeing on a daily basis, sometimes right in front of us. We separated them again for almost a month, and had no trouble with peeing We just started trying to re-introduce them, but it seems that any contact is causing Kitty to pee on things again. How can I continue introducing them? 
 
Last edited by a moderator:

shadowsrescue

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 27, 2011
Messages
7,022
Purraise
5,083
Location
Ohio
I feel your pain!!  Last year when I was introducing a stray/feral that I brought inside my home to my resident cat, the process was going well.  I rushed a few steps, but still thought it was ok.  We then went away for Thanksgiving.  I had my niece in to check on the cats and feed them.  We thought all was fine, but we noticed more aggression and our resident cat was hiding.  I knew something must have happened.  I thought things would settle down in a few days, but the aggression got worse.  I had to restart introductions.  Here are a few things that helped.

1.  Feliway plug ins or spray in the "hot spot" locations.  My cats had a few areas where there was always tension.  Having more feliway plug ins helped.  I also used the spray.

2.  Composure feline treats or Composure liquid Max.  I used it mostly on the more aggressive cat to help him get a hold of his emotions.  It allowed him to be more calm and less impulsive.  I also gave some to my resident cat as he was so afraid.  I started with the treats, but they took 45 minutes or more to work and my cats starting not liking the taste.  I switched to the liquid and would mix it into morning foo (1/2 t) and evening food (usually 1/4t).  THe aggressive cat was on this daily for at least 6 months.  I bought it on Amazon.  It was recommended by my vet.

3.  I bought a wooden screen door at Lowes for $20 and cheap tension rods to attach it to the door frame.  In the door way, I used a baby gate for extra protection.  THe stray/feral had a room of his own.  He was there at night and when tensions got too high.  I started putting up the screen door.  The cats could safely sniff and he could hear and see the household.  The screen door did not deface my current door.  It was a pain to put up and take down, but well worth the peace of mind.  I only had it up when I was home as I was worried they could claw through it.  Here is a picture of the set up.



I would suggest restarting intros and going slowly.  The cats need some time out to regroup.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

aldebaran

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Aug 12, 2008
Messages
7
Purraise
1
Location
Seattle, WA
These are all great ideas! We have a few diffusers out, but they could definitely be in better locations. Our biggest "hot spot" is a hallway with no electrical outlets, but now I think I'll run an extension cord in there to move the diffuser closer. I'm curious about the Composure stuff—I'll check that out. And the screen door is a possibility too. We've just been using a gate to separate the areas when the door is open, but since that's not enough for when we're sleeping or away from home, the door would make a great in-between step.

Thanks so much! There has been no pee today (yet), so hopefully this re-introduction is just a "two steps forward, one step back" kind of thing. :)
 

shadowsrescue

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Apr 27, 2011
Messages
7,022
Purraise
5,083
Location
Ohio
I had a similar issue with "hot spots" being where there was no outlet.  I used the Feliway or Comfort Zone spray.  I had to spray each day, but it did help.
 
Top