new cathe fighting with old cats

Hi can anyone please give me some advice I have 2 older cats sundae 16 & morph 12 they have lived happily together for 12yrs about 6 months a young male roughly about a year old was found straying in our garden we tried our hardest to find his owners with no success at the beginning he got along with our cats great so we decided to keep him but in the last 8 weeks or so he has been terrorising my other cats my oldest has moved into our bedroom will not come out & my other 1 has stopped using his litter tray,I have been using feliway with no success feeding them all separately & they all have their own litter tray can anyone please help? Thanks lana

The cats needed to be introduced properly to each other.  Cats are very territorial and when you brought in the new cat, the territory was disrupted.  Now there is a battle for territory and your resident cats feel very threatened.  Even though the cat has been living inside with you for awhile, you need to do introductions.  I will post some links and a video to help.

Also did you be sure and get the newcomer to a vet for a check up?  He/she could have parasites from living outside that will easily transfer to your other cats.  Also did you check to see if the cat had a micro chip?  Lastly is the cat spayed/neutered?

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/the-ultimate-yet-simplified-guide-to-introducing-cats

http://www.catbehaviorassociates.com/a-simple-little-trick-to-use-during-new-cat-introductions/

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/cat-behavior/introducing-your-cat-new-cat

http://jacksongalaxy.com/2010/10/01/cat-to-cat-introductions/

Thank you so much for your reply that video was really interesting I'm going to start on that straight away. Yeah I took the new cat who I've named jax to my vets straight away to check for a chip & general health check up he was a little under weight at the time but in great health apart from that as soon as we decided to keep him we got him chipped neuter, wormed& all his jags I've even had my other cats at the vets to rule out any health problems relatirelating to their behaviour & she says they are in great health for their age she did say that my oldest cat sundae maybe going a senile & that's why she's hiding all the time but I think it's more to do with Jax thanks again

The process takes time and patience.  I brought a feral/stray into my home almost 2 years ago.  I had another cat and a large dog.  The newcomer had a room of his own for one solid year.  The introduction process took a long time.  It started off well, but then I rushed the last steps.  Most people do.  So I had to start over.  Starting over took forever.  At times I would move forward only to move back again.  I just had to persevere.  I was certain they would learn to tolerate each other, but never imagined their great relationship now.  They really enjoy each other.  They play, groom each other and hang out together.  I never would have thought it possible.  It just didn't come easy though.

I find that feliway sometimes helps and sometimes doesn't.  One of the things I learned about feliway is that placement is key.  If you have an open floor plan home or a large spacious home, you need lots of feliways.  They are limited to working in small enclosed spaces.  I found in my home, I needed a lot of them.  I also could tell when one was empty.   I also found that the Comfort Zone phermone spray was helpful in areas where an outlet wasn't available. 

Another product I found useful was Composure liquid Max calming supplement.  I used it on the newcomer who was aggressive to help calm him down and  also used it on my resident cat who was petrified.  It really helped them both.  Composure comes in treat form too.  Yet some cats don't like the treats.  It also takes a lot of treats to get results.  The liquid was so easy to mix into wet food and even though it seemed expensive.  A bottle lasted me 6 months giving it to two cats 2x daily. 

Just have patience and remember to watch your emotions too.  I found that when I was upset the cats picked up on it and they were much more hostile towards each other.  When I was calm, they were calm!!

We have quite a big house so I got four of the feliway plug ins & put them in the rooms most used by our cats. I've never heard of that composure liquid but I'll give it's try. So would you suggest that I keep the new cat separate from mine for about a year? & is it still ok to let him out as he's loves playing in the garden & climbing trees

lana2210 said:

We have quite a big house so I got four of the feliway plug ins & put them in the rooms most used by our cats. I've never heard of that composure liquid but I'll give it's try. So would you suggest that I keep the new cat separate from mine for about a year? & is it still ok to let him out as he's loves playing in the garden & climbing trees

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Oh you don't have to keep them separate for a year.  That is just what happened in my circumstance.  THe new cat would come out during the day and I would try to keep the cats in separate areas of the house.  Yet at night, the new cat was in his own room.  He was there also when no one was home.  I ended up getting a cheap screen door that I rested against the door frame.  I secured it with tension rods.  It allowed the new cat to see and hear and smell the sounds of the house, but be somewhat secure.  I did put a baby gate in the door way for a bit of extra protection.  I needed to be home when I did this set up as it wasn't totally cat proofed if they really wanted to get to each other.  I have a picture if you'd like to see.

Just take the reintroductions slowly.  Play alot with each cat and reward with yummy treats.  I also used a large dog crate later on.  I placed one cat inside and covered it on 3 sides with a blanket.  THe cats could sniff and see each other safely.  I used a shoe string to play with them and had lots of treats to reward good behavior.  I only did this for just a few minutes, but I did it multiple times each day.  They associated each other with play time and yummy treats.