Cat Introduction not going well for over 5 months now

[Wishes13]

Hi there!

At first we had 2 cats Bradley(M) 2 yrs old & Sabrina(F) 2 yrs old . Our 3rd cat joined the group later on and his name is Frankie(M) 1 1/2 yrs. Bradley & Sabrina are super close. We had them both as kittens and they are bonded well.

We tried introducing Frankie slowly to them 5 months ago . We would sometimes take him out into the house where the other 2 are and Frankie would jump and seem to want to hunt them.

We have gone through the stages, he's in our bedroom separate from them - has his own litter - his own toys and play area - we have done the scent swapping between them. We played with them each separately, giving as much attention to everyone as we possibly could. We have done the room swapping too for 5 months. We have fed them by the bedroom door for them to be close to each other

They seem to fight each other from under the bedroom door. It hasn't been happening as much lately. I am guessing Sabrina got bored. Sadly the two cats were friendly with him at the start until he started doing random pounces and odd low tone meows which scared them.

Frankie & Sabrina eat churu treats every morning together on the dining table (without me having to restrain Frankie). Bradley will join them sometimes but he is a scardey cat naturally so coming close to Frankie is hard for him.

We have had some accidental incidents where Frankie ran out of a room or jumped out of arms and he ran after the cats. One encounter was him and Bradley which resulted in him running after Bradley and them both getting hurt. Frankie had a broken nail and needed surgery and Bradley had a cut that healed pretty fast.

Other incidents were with Sabrina, he's always the hunter who runs after them and attacks them. The last time this happened Sabrina was very scared and traumatized and it took her a while to let go which is still going on right now but she is trying from her side but he just seems to always pounce.

I sometimes put him in a closed playpen so he could be in the same room as I am because he hates being left alone, so anytime Bradley or Sabrina come close (They are just curious or walking by) and he pounces and scares them.

We have tried prozac for a while and it did not help much, just calmed him down to sleep better at night pretty much. We tried the plug in scent tools and no luck there too. Have tried cat hemp added in his food and no luck there too.

We want to understand the underlying reason for him hunting them. And how we can help ease him into the family. we will do whatever it takes to make it work for them, we consider him a part of the family and we have intention of rehoming ever.

Any insights would be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance

 

[Alldara]

Is everyone spayed/neutered?


What's happening when they are fighting? Does it start with hissing and growling or they get straight to scrapping?

Pouncing is a normal part of play, but since there's been a true fight, the other cats are, understandably, scared.

 

[Wishes13]

Sabrina & Bradley were spayed early but Frankie was spayed late. He was around a year old when we rescued him and spayed him.

Frankie instantly runs after them and starts attacking/rolling in circles. If they go under a bed or a sofa he sits nearby ready to hunt them as soon they move.

And his pouncing is an attack pounce for sure not the play pounce.

They all growl and Bradley and Sabrina hiss at him. They run away from him and he attacks them.

Bradley & Sabrina are very curious about him and I see that they do try to befriend him at times but his response is always to attack. At most they hiss at him but they don't instigate the fight.

 

[Alldara]

Okay. And you've had him for 5 months so I'm guessing he is more than 6 weeks post neuter?

Is there any activity that really tires him out that you can do before say feeding them together and then putting him back in his room? Just getting some short, positive interactions in there.

I'll share some video resources too.

 

[Alldara]

 

[Wishes13]

Ye Frankie was neutered over 8 months ago, before we brought him to our home. he was with another family member at the time as he rescued him and then brought him to us after he was fixed and treated for malnutrition and ear mites.

He likes the outdoors and he trots like a dog, we do take him daily at least once other than his daily inhouse play(he is a handful) but we love that about him.

we did follow galaxy's introduction guide to the letter and we are taking our time, and we keep repeating steps on the basis of how the cats react to new attempts of introductions.

The major problem we are facing now, is Frankie still just wants to attack anytime he sees the other cats, he waits for an opportunity and the moment any of the others look away he tries to jump on them. It looks like it’s his hunting mode and he thinks the others are his prey. we are not sure if that is the behavior we are facing or not.

now on a daily basis, the first thing the cats do when we wake up is we put them on our kitchen table and feed them treats together, they all expect it and they all do it gracefully. The moment that is done, they go back to the same behavior. Frankie waits for one of them to look away for him to try to jump on them. he doesn't do that when he is feeding though.

while he is waiting to jump/pounce his tail goes right and left slowly like he is cautious while looking at his potential prey.

we appreciate the videos you have posted, and we have already gone through them and applied all of the suggestions on them, I also follow a lot of cat redditors and we tried some other suggestions and will still keep trying till we get it right.

I think the key is knowing what this behavior is and what it stems from, and then try to find solutions. We do not think its food related as they are all well fed with mostly a wet food diet with plenty of treats for positive reinforcement. Each one has his own plate and litter, we have a big home, and they are fully separated so we also don't think it’s territorial (might be wrong on this one).

When Frankie is inside his room and he feels any of the cats are behind his door, he tries to put his paw from under the door, we think this is him being playful, and the other cats interact with it by hissing and hitting, so we know they don't like him after him attacking them multiple times.

For the last 3 months or so, we made sure they only meet in a positive way, treats, Frankie on a leach, or in a pen while they play around each other. not sure if this is alright or not. but we are getting positive reactions from all the cats expect Frankie. the others tolerate him around them and are willing to sniff his nose and behind. but he is not allowing it. it seems he is the most anxious in the lot even though he is the one attacking.

Would appreciate any suggestions, or guidance to behaviorists that can help us with this.

Thank you again for your help and support

 

[Alldara]

Did you ask your vet for a behaviouralist recommendation? You're likely going to need someone "on the ground" to witness what is going on.

Other than food, is there any other distractions that keep him focused off the other cats? If so, what and how long?

How are the gated introductions going? What happens then? How often do you do gated introductions and for how long (per session)?

 

[Alldara]

Also, I'll recommend taking a short one of the humans in the home has worn for the day, then pet your other two cats with it, then pet him with it.

Then, rub it around the baseboards to start building the family scent. Someone in the home isn't confident, but that should help to establish confidence in each of their territory.

Someone else suggested before getting a package of inexpensive washcloths and rubbing it on each cat and using them in the introductions area.

 

[Wishes13]

The vet did give a behavioralist recommendation unfortunately, but we did a Prozac prescription, and we have been on it for 3 months now.

for distractions, nothing works right now expect treats and food, and that is usually momentary (10-15 min), then he goes back into hunting mode where he keeps an eye on them. We tried playing and petting but they didn’t distract him. The only other thing that works is opening the front door if he sees that he will directly run outside to trot. He loves the outdoors, and he could stay out for hours without any problems. If he sees other cats outdoors, he does the same, rabbits he directly runs after them. Dogs he stays still.

We used to have our resident cats on an open feeding schedule, so feeding them behind doors was not consistent. We started with giving treats behind a closed door, then by feeding behind closed doors. That went fine, then we started seeing Frankie extending his hands under the door. We thought this is him wanting to play with the other cats. So, we brought a transparent gate, and we started feeding them behind it. The moment he sees one of the cats on the other side he runs and lunges on the door wanting to attack. The other cats would directly run away. When we saw that we went back to the closed doors again and we are still doing it. The feeding sessions are a simple 10-15 min, he will eat first then he will try to hunt/play. But food is definitely his weak point.

We also now feed them all together treats in the morning, Our Cats being Fed treats, this is a link to a feeding session on our tiktok account. you will notice that mostly their behavior is normal at least to our eyes. the moment we are done from this, Frankie starts becoming wary and want to move away from them. when they look away he starts hunting.. ( I apologize if posting a tiktok link is against the rules, i can send an attachment of the same vod if needed)

For scent swapping, we swap their sleeping blankets regularly, we did some rubbing in the beginning, but we are not doing that any more. What we do now is fully swap rooms twice daily. Frankie would sleep with us in the master bedroom as that is the place we set up for him, his litter is in our toilet (It’s a big space), when we are up, we get the other cats in, and we send him freely out of the bedroom in the rest of the house. We have a playground for cats, he spends most of his time there and in the Lanai area by the swimming pool. We do that exchange every 5-6 hours. We assumed by doing this they are checking each other’s scents all the time as they are using the same utilities, toys, trees and sleeping cushions.