Newly Adopted Cat Dominant

Hello, I am new here - and very in need of advice. About a month ago, we adopted a three year old maine coon male, who at first was meek and sweet, but who has now taken over the house. He is casual and unafraid of our two large dogs, leads us around with very loud meowing when he wants food, wakes us up before dawn by kneading our pillow, turning up the purr volume, licking our faces and meowing - is adorable and angelic acting - but if our sweet little female cat even enters a room, he CHASES her away. He lies in wait for her, and will do anything he can to get around an obstacle to take off and chase her. She now hides in the basement or outside every day. She is so scared, that even if you carry her to one of the bedrooms and shut the door, she keeps watching, with a defensive growl, just in case he might come in. It's so sad. I know it's similar to another post. I'll be following advice from that, too. We just want her to be able to walk through her own house again and act like herself. How do we get her over her fear? Thanks!

I am assuming that the new cat is neutered. If not, once he is neutered the behavior will decrease.

It may be necessary to do a reintroduction process in which you lock new cat in a room for 2 weeks so that he "forgets" about the shy cat. Then with careful reintroductions, the aggression may lessen.

In the meantime, try using Comfort Zone diffusers. They tend to calm stressed cats.

Try putting the male in time-out (in the bathroom for example) any time he is aggressive with her.

Give her treats and lots of attention whenever she is able to stay in the room with him without looking scared.

Give him treats and lots of attention whenever he is around her and is not aggressive.

Make sure there are plenty of perches for the cats to sit on. Believe it or not, having elevated perches for the cats to use tends to decrease aggression!

Play very active games with the male. Have him burn off his energy with you rather than with her. Tossing and chasing balls or toy mice or playing with a cat dancer or feathers on a stick are wonderful fun for cats. I've noticed that in my house, the bully leaves the others alone whenever I have a good 10 minute wild play session with him.

Good luck! I hope these suggestions help.

I think that Maine Coon cats are very dominant beings naturally. I adopted a 15+ neutered male Maine Coon and he does the same thing to my other cat. They are better than they were at first, but Lucky (mc)
still chases Morgan from the room. He is deaf too, so I have to squirt him with water when he is aggressive. I also put him in his bathroom and shut him in when he's bad.
I did do the baby gate thing for a while and it did help them get used to seeing each other.
He is very "mouthy" and domineering. He is really old so he sleeps
alot. His health is a bit questionable too, but he still manages to
strike terror in Morgan's heart!!

It will get better, but make him know he can't push your little girl around--you are still the boss!!

Good Luck,
Mary Fran

Also purchasing a sturdy and high cat post will help. He will take up the top post and she will be underneath him, both will be content in their positions and the problem of chasing will soon cease. But neutering will definitely help.

Thank you so much for your responses. If only I could get them to the point where Zoe ( our girl) and Mr. Cuddles (yikes!) could even stay in a room together, the cat post would be great. This is interesting that it is a Maine Coon male personality. I was told he is neutered and I had him checked by our vet. Surely they wouldn't have overlooked that during the checkup. I was mainly concerned about his weight at the time. He was so meek for a few days, and then the usurping began. Wow. He also makes sure he is with us every minute, walking along strategically, jumping up on our laps, no matter where we are.
He has been banned from our bedroom because of the early morning (wee hours) licking and purring. He seems to have a perfect internal alarm clock and meows at our door at that hour every morning. He now seems to have set his clock more to the time we want to get up - 6:20, but doesn't adjust for weekends - (!!),so the sleep deprivation is making us resent him even more.
Last night, my daughter had Zoe locked in her room, so she could enjoy being on a soft bed in our house for once, and left the door to the room open ajar, at one point. Zoe had sensed he was out in the hall and had gone under the bed. He bombed in there and chased her out from under the bed, down the stairs, down the basement stairs and out the doggie door - which is where he wants her. Do you all think putting him in a room to himself for a prolonged time and trying to reintroduce them is the answer? He would be totally outraged and not understand at this point. But that is what I would like to try first. Any suggestions for the vocalizing in the morning? This is awful to think that even a 15 year old cat still chooses to terrorize a housemate. That's no life for the other cat to have to endure. What do you mean, that it gets better? What kind of improvement is possible? Sorry to sound so distressed - but I feel like I made a huge mistake bringing him home and I have to defend him from remarks from other family members, even though he is so obnoxious! I'll make the time to try your suggestions, and really appreciate your help.

The usurping behaviors you are describing (the walking along strategicially, jumping in your laps, internal alarm clock) are all Maine Coon behaviors. Maine coons are normally very social with their owners and will follow you around making sure they know exactly where you are. They're very protective of their people and homes.

My coon used to wake me in the morning with kisses and purrs too. She did eventually learn not to bother me if the alarm didn't go off.

Thanks for linking these behaviors to Maine coon personalities. Since we are so frustrated with him bossing ur other cat around, it's easy to confuse these with his just wanting to be dominant. He is a very demontrative sweetheart. It's hard to be mad at him and I'm glad to know some of his assertion is just part of his Coon nature. I wish I could just let him be himself and not have to limit his run of the house at all, while he learns to be nicer to our other cat. He is so happy being the only one.

How long had you had Morgan before you introduced your 15 year old Maine Coon? Does she walk around her house more like she did before he arrived, now? Or has her personality remained timid, since he arrived? Our tabby always had been sociable and enjoyed touring from bed to bed. We hardly see her now. Can your Morgan basically be herself, now that things have improved abit? Just wondering. Thanks.

pinkerton,

I sense your frustration in your posts towards this maine coon. We have a wonderful Maine Coon mix and when he is in the house, Kabota is really the Main cat! He hisses and swats at the other cats, and he has been living among them for many years. 6 to be exact. When I come close, he reaches for me, snags my shirt and climbs up my chest and wraps his paws around my neck and purrs and growls! LOL It was quite unerving at first. He doesn't chase the other cats anymore, he used to, but we started giving him a Bach's flower essence long ago Vervain 5 drops in his food, and he soon relaxed and stopped chasing. But when he is in the house- usually at night, he is very clearly in charge, though not the alpha cat. That distinction belongs to Noddy my new arrival. She is the only one who will not back down from him.

Believe it or not, the cat post will help, so will the Feliway Comfort Zone room diffuser, and placing vanilla extract on your cats, under their chin and between their shoulders, on the base of their tail, to help them smell the same. Also investigate the Bach's Flower Remedies, if you go to your local health food store, ask them for a list of the essences and what they do- most stores will have this.

Also, as frustrated as you appear to be in your posts, please don't discipline this cat (if you are) Don't scream at him, spray him, or do anything that will make him act aggressivly. They really are beautiful and wonderful cats, even in the early morning hours when they are on full prey alert.

Dear Pinkerton,

My bengal, Curzon, regularly beats up on another cat of mine, Judd. I catch him immediantly while he is at it and put him in my room for about 10 to 15 minutes. That seems to help. Curzon still lapses, but he just has way too much energy. Hope this helps.

Annette