Resident keeps chasing newcomer

alexisontofu

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Hi everyone!
I would love some input regarding how to handle my resident cat chasing the newcomer. On 6/1 my husband and I took in a semi-feral cat (Oskar) that has been living in our backyard for a year (also took in her baby Catsby a year ago when he was about 4 weeks old). We went through the appropriate way of introducing all of them (scent swapping, site visits, mutual feeding sessions etc). They've been together without gates since middle of July. The problem we are having is that our 1.5 year old resident cat Uszka chases the newcomer multiple times a day. I would say 1/3 of the time is playful (butt wiggle-pounce), 1/3 of the time it's curiosity (she just wants to get a good whiff of Oskar's butt) and 1/3 of the time it's semi-aggressive (cornering and swatting). While Oskar stands up to her son's attempts to play by hissing and swatting at him, she is terribly fearful of Uszka and either runs away or lays down in a defensive manner. We have feliway (regular and multi-cat) plugged everywhere, use Spirit essences Peacemaker in their water, and Composure Liquid max in the AM and PM. There are no hot spots in the house. It happens anywhere. However, Uszka just needs to LOOK at Oskar and Oskar runs away squeaking. Often Uszka really just approaches her in a very calm fashion and Oskar flips out.

The thing is Oskar and Uszka eat right next to each other without any problems, they play across from each other without without problems, and often Oskar can walk past Uszka without getting chased. This is why we decided to not go back to having gates up. Whenever I see Uszka having that look in her eyes I re-direct her attention with play and food, and for serious offenses she has to cool down in the bathroom for 5-30min (depending on frequency of offenses in a given day).

Also, we have no clear top cat (Catsby dominates Uszka, Uszka dominates Oskar, and Oskar dominates Catsby).

Maybe I shouldn't but I generally intervene when chases of any nature happen, and Oskar seems to have become sort of dependent on my rescues. Oskar needs to learn to stand up for herself but it hurts me to see her so scared :(

What is this all about and how should I handle the situation? I'm at a loss.
 

betsygee

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Oh, boy, I wish I had some answers for you.  It sounds like you're doing everything you can.  I'm bumping this up in hopes someone sees it who can give you some suggestions.
 
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alexisontofu

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Oh, boy, I wish I had some answers for you.  It sounds like you're doing everything you can.  I'm bumping this up in hopes someone sees it who can give you some suggestions.
Oh thank you!! And thank you for saying that it seems like I'm doing everything right. I know positive associations are key, and mind you, it been home with them 24/7 since July 1 and have done nothing else but work on positive associations without success :(
 

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It's hard to say without seeing them both together but generally speaking, I believe that unless the fur is literally flying, we humans should stay out of their skirmishes.

They need to be able to sort things out for themselves. It's possible that by intervening you're preventing them from carrying through with a needed change to the hierarchy. Also, depending on how you intervene, you could potentially be injecting more stress into an already-tense situation.

I would try letting them do their thing for a while. Make sure they have enough space and never have to compete over resources. Enough litterboxes, food dishes etc. If either one shows signs of hostility towards the other, just ignore that. Ignoring means not as much as looking at them when it happens (it's hard, I know, but staring adds to the tension!)
 
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alexisontofu

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It's hard to say without seeing them both together but generally speaking, I believe that unless the fur is literally flying, we humans should stay out of their skirmishes.

They need to be able to sort things out for themselves. It's possible that by intervening you're preventing them from carrying through with a needed change to the hierarchy. Also, depending on how you intervene, you could potentially be injecting more stress into an already-tense situation.

I would try letting them do their thing for a while. Make sure they have enough space and never have to compete over resources. Enough litterboxes, food dishes etc. If either one shows signs of hostility towards the other, just ignore that. Ignoring means not as much as looking at them when it happens (it's hard, I know, but staring adds to the tension!)
I was just saying the exact same thing to my husband. I need to stop intervening. Oskar needs to start standing up to Uszka or get comfortable with escape routes. I don't even know how far Uzska would take it (maybe swatting is all she would do anyways, which is not concerning) and we need to figure his out since I'll be moving away for a year next week and the cats will be alone from 7.30am-6pm during the week. There's no competition over food (we don't free feed and they respect each other during feedings) or litter boxes (4 litter boxes for 3 cats). Thank you for your input and support! I really appreciate it!
 

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I agree with everything said so far, and hope you see things settle some more if you are able to hold back and see if they can work things out between themselves without any serious skirmishes.  


One question I have is if they all have places they can run to / hide if they want, and plenty of high and low places to choose from if they want time alone?
 

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We're having this a bit in our home, too, where Elvis joined us a week and a half ago -- this big muscular 9-year-old boy is intimidated by four ladies aged 11-18!  But time can improve relations, just as it can among people.  Jackson Galaxy, famous cat behaviorist (he has a couple of books out, and I really love his first one, CAT DADDY; he also hosts the hit Animal Planet TV show, MY CAT FROM HELL, and has a lot of videos up on YouTube), is an advocate of interactive play to foster friendliness among cats.  You might check out his YouTube videos for some quick tutorials on all things Cat! and good luck.  Patience, love, and time go a long way toward smoothing relations between cats, I've found after a lifetime among felines. 
 

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I've got the same thing going on here, too. Mingo, the resident cat, started out wanting to play with the newcomer, Lily, but she was having none of it. Now he's gotten downright mean about it, although she makes him keep his distance by growling and hissing. I haven't been interfering but wondering if that's for the best, so it's reassuring to hear that that is what I should do. 

I don't know if they will ever be friends. They have completely opposite personalities. Mingo is all-boy, rambunctious and fun-loving. Lily is a quiet little lady who hops in my lap the minute I sit down. But it would be nice if they would make peace with each other.
 
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alexisontofu

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I agree with everything said so far, and hope you see things settle some more if you are able to hold back and see if they can work things out between themselves without any serious skirmishes.  :vibes:

One question I have is if they all have places they can run to / hide if they want, and plenty of high and low places to choose from if they want time alone?
We do have enough hiding spaces and vertical space but both ladies are bush dwellers and only our boy likes vertical space. The thing about hiding spots that I don't like is that Usz follows Oskar to her hiding spots after a chase and just continues with her confrontation. HOWEVER, I started yesterday with ignoring them when they were having a stare off and things were pretty harmonious overall. Couple chases but nothing serious. So far so good! I've just been going by Jackson Galaxy who always uses redirection when there's tension between cats, and letting them work things out was just never on my mind.
 
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tarasgirl06

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Never give up hope.  It took the best part of a year for Sammi, our late beloved Mainey man, to fully acclimate to his new home and family after being an "only cat" for his first 14 years.
 

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Never give up hope.  It took the best part of a year for Sammi, our late beloved Mainey man, to fully acclimate to his new home and family after being an "only cat" for his first 14 years.
I agree, it can take a lot of time, and a lot of patience, but as long as you 'listen' to your cats and support them through to finding a way to living peacefully together there is usually a way.  
 
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alexisontofu

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Here's an interesting turn of events. Uszka started peeing blood today and it's not clear yet whether it's a UTI (no WB cells in urine but PH was moderately elevated). She has never strained to urinate and even when I watched her today to collect samples she didn't make any sounds and did not look uncomfortable. We use Swheat Scoop and the beige color makes it hard to see blood (we scoop 2x/day and I've never seen anything!). Vet gave long acting antibiotic injection to rule out infection. IF it is in fact a UTI, she's probably had it for a while. Given that pain can increase irritability, this may have contributed to her disposition toward Oskar. If it is not a UTI, we're looking at FIC. Uszka is the textbook definition of a scardy cat. She's been anxiety ridden since we got her, and Oskar coming inside the house may have just been the final tipping point. My vet has mentioned (pre-Oskar) that we should consider Prozac, and today emphasized it again if it's FIC. She said that Uszka most likely acts in terms of "the best defense is a good offense" and that Prozac would not just help her overall pre-Oskar anxiety but also her difficulty with Oskar. Not sure how I feel about that but I've done everything in my power to decrease her generalized anxiety (I'm 1 year away from my doctorates in clinical psych and have treated mostly anxiety over the past 5 years. I have used all of my tools with only little success). Ohhh.. My heart is aching :(
 

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Another member here recently had some behaviour issues when introducing a new cat to their household, then it was picked up that the newcomer had some health issues - almost instantly when that was treated the behaviours settled and now the cats look to be getting on great.  If she does have a UTI or inflamed bladder she has probably been feeling rotten plus in a lot of pain.  Her behaviour will hopefully change quickly as she starts to feel better.  


One of my cats had a chronic bladder inflamation after years of UTIs, and when she didn't feel well she could be really mean to her sister (she was always mean to her but it would be much more obvious when she felt sore and grumpy).
 
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alexisontofu

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Another member here recently had some behaviour issues when introducing a new cat to their household, then it was picked up that the newcomer had some health issues - almost instantly when that was treated the behaviours settled and now the cats look to be getting on great.  If she does have a UTI or inflamed bladder she has probably been feeling rotten plus in a lot of pain.  Her behaviour will hopefully change quickly as she starts to feel better.  :vibes:

One of my cats had a chronic bladder inflamation after years of UTIs, and when she didn't feel well she could be really mean to her sister (she was always mean to her but it would be much more obvious when she felt sore and grumpy).
Honestly, since we got back from the vet yesterday, the behavior has almost stopped. There was one instance of chasing today but nothing serious and Uszka walked away satisfied after she got Oskar to hide. We still had blood this morning but her most recent pee seemed clear (took it out and pressed it into a paper towel and it looked like a light yellow color). Usz also seems to be feeling better overall. This seems to have been a UTI that's resolving and her overall demenour towards Oskar is so different. She pretty much just watches or ignores her and that's it. Keeping my fingers crossed that it will stay this way!
 
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