agression in two female adult cats

Hello from Australia! This is my first message and I hope that someone will be able to help me. I have three beautiful cats - Abby, Katie and Jermima. Abby (a boy) and Katie have grown up with each other, and Jermima (a highly strung but beautiful tortoiseshell) is the newcomer. We began to introduce the cats at the beginning of the year. Abby and Jermima made friends immediately, but Katie and Jermima hate each other. I followed the formal introduction process (giving them separate parts of the house and introducing slowly) but things have not worked out. There has been no fighting, but Katie has assumed the position of the aggressor and chases Jermima whenever she moves anywhere in the house. (From what I have read, a classic case of territorial aggression) Consequently, Jermima won't move from the kitchen rug, and we have had to separate them again because I was worried about her stress levels getting too high. She hisses and growls whenever Katie approaches!
After consulting this website and many others, we began a reintroduction/counter-conditioning process two weeks ago. We have separated the girls, and they only meet at mealtimes when they can associate each other with something positive. I have them eating about a foot apart from one another without growling or hissing. Pleased with our progress, yesterday we decided to leave them after mealtime to see how they went - but when Jermima walked off, Katie chased her. I am so disappointed, and would love to hear from anyone who can offer me some advice on how to combat the problem. They are my babies, and while I know they may never be best friends, I would like them to be able to co-exist in the house. Thanks for your help!
Sally.

First of all, welcome to TCS!
I own 3 girls, all of them adopted at different times, they are not related and they are years apart in age. Two of them (Skinny and QT) took months before they even tolerated each other. Like you, feeding time was the icebreaker. However, Joji, who is the oldest doesn't like either of them. There has been fights and several trips to the vet to mend wounds.
Anyway, there are a few tips on the 'stickies' posted above. I suggest the vanilla dubbing approach. In my case it helped a little. I also made my girls realize that I was the alpha cat and won't tolerate misbehaving which helps stop potential fights. One "psst" from me and QT(the youngest) and Joji part ways.
It really takes a lot of patience! I hope I helped! Good luck!

Originally Posted by yayi

First of all, welcome to TCS!

I own 3 girls, all of them adopted at different times, they are not related and they are years apart in age. Two of them (Skinny and QT) took months before they even tolerated each other. Like you, feeding time was the icebreaker. However, Joji, who is the oldest doesn't like either of them. There has been fights and several trips to the vet to mend wounds.

Anyway, there are a few tips on the 'stickies' posted above. I suggest the vanilla dubbing approach. In my case it helped a little. I also made my girls realize that I was the alpha cat and won't tolerate misbehaving which helps stop potential fights. One "psst" from me and QT(the youngest) and Joji part ways.

It really takes a lot of patience! I hope I helped! Good luck!

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Thanks so much for the advice - your cats look beautiful! Did you have the chasing problem? Any suggestions on how to prevent this would be much appreciated! My husband and I have spent many hours chasing the chasing cats around the house and I would love to know how to stop it!!

Actually, I don't chase my chasing cats. I've developed a good arm throwing a pillow/newspaper at the "chaser" which stuns her into stopping and allowing the chasee to get away. Then I get hold of the chaser, stare her in the eyes, say a firm NO and blow in her face. I can't say if this stops her really because when I am not home, they're probably at it. But at least the bullying is minimized when I am around.