Stray Cat with Other House Cats

Hello. I have just taken in a cat, about a year old, which was left when the family next door moved. She is great with us, kids and adults, but is very aggressive with the other cats in the house. I hate to lock her ina room, but I have becasue she is attacking the 2 older cats in the house, also about a year old. She literally attacks them and we have to brak them up. She also hisses and growls at the 2 baby kittens in the house, about 6 weeks old. She has such an excellent temperment with people, and I really do not know what to do. Should I keep her closed ina bedroom by herself or should I take her to the local shelter? Like I said, she is so sweet to us, I would love to keep her, but not at the expense of my other cats health. We did have her checked at the vet and got her shots. But she just attacks the others and we are unsure of what to do. Please help! Steve

Originally Posted by lynns622

Hello. I have just taken in a cat, about a year old, which was left when the family next door moved. She is great with us, kids and adults, but is very aggressive with the other cats in the house. I hate to lock her ina room, but I have becasue she is attacking the 2 older cats in the house, also about a year old. She literally attacks them and we have to brak them up. She also hisses and growls at the 2 baby kittens in the house, about 6 weeks old. She has such an excellent temperment with people, and I really do not know what to do. Should I keep her closed ina bedroom by herself or should I take her to the local shelter? Like I said, she is so sweet to us, I would love to keep her, but not at the expense of my other cats health. We did have her checked at the vet and got her shots. But she just attacks the others and we are unsure of what to do. Please help! Steve

Click to expand...

I would not take her to the shelter. It sounds like you have to start the introductions again....oftentimes when cats are not introduced over time, it does cause issues.

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67321

Start with her in a seperate room from the rest of your cats..hopefully with time they can adjust to her and her to them.

Katie

Thank you for the link. So, I will keep her in the bedroom for now and will start the introduction process. My other 4 cats and kittens do not have a problem with her at all, no hissing or growling on their part. She has been outside for over a week now. I sure do hope she adjusts to the other cats becasue she is so beautiful and pleasant to the family. I will keep you posted on how she is progressing. Thanks again!

I would not consider taking her to a shelter because there is no guarantee she will be adopted. She deserves a chance and you are in a better position than anyone else to give her that chance.

I suspect that wherever she lived before she was (most likely) abandoned, she had lived as an only cat, and probably from the time she was very young - probably just 6 weeks old or so. So she is missing critical socialization with other cats. Sometimes this can be overcome and sometimes the cat never learns to accept other cats, but the only way to know is to give it a try.

The advice about doing a full introduction is definitely excellent. Give that process several weeks and see how it goes.

Also, take her to the vet to make sure she is spayed and have her spayed if need be. Hormonal influences can affect the way cats relate to one another. It won't cure things right away but it should at least make the process easier. (She obviously needs to be spayed for her own purposes anyway.)

Worst case scenario, you can find a good home for her where there are no other cats. It sounds like she will definitely do well in a situation like that. But hopefully she will learn to at least accept other cats, even if she never becomes best buddies with any of them.

I just want to thank everyone for their great help and ideas. The cat we took in has adjusted so well. She is doing great and is wonderful with us and now tolerates the other cats as well. Also, we went by the house where she was left because we knew they had kittens before they moved and we found 2 of her kittens. Yay! One has no tail and the other has a half a tail but they are healthy and doing great too! They are about 4 weeks. Thanks to all of you for your advice. We now have a great new addition to our famil;y. I do not know if we can keep the kittens, but now we will be able to be sure they have good homes, instead of being outside in the cold. Thank you!!!!!

so your neighbours dumped all their cats when they moved?

what awful people

People are idiots.
Pets are not disposable

Wow, thank you Lynn for saving this kitty and her tiny babies. Once she is done weaning them (about 8 weeks), she can be spayed so she won't have another litter.

Also, be sure the people who adopt the kittens agree to have them spayed or neutered, too. Check the pregnant cat board for great ideas, like keeping them with Mom til they are 12 weeks old.

I'm glad all the cats are getting along well now.