Cat won't stop pouncing other cat

[hayley23]

So, my boyfriend and I decided to adopt a new cat almost 2 months ago. Her name is Willa, and she is about 2 years old. We already have another cat, Rakki, who is 15 years old (she is very healthy). Now, Rakki is a very skiddish cat, but she has lived with other female cats before and did fine. When we adopted Willa, the shelter said she was good with other cats and she seemed very laid back like she wouldn't bother Rakki too much.

We introduced them very slowly, having them separated, etc. At first Rakki was very mad at Willa. She would hiss and growl all the time, but gradually got a little used to Willa. Then one day, Rakki went into WIlla's room and started eating her food. Willa had been following her out of curiosity, and when she saw Rakki eating her food, she pounced her and chased her!! We gave them a few days of separation after that. During their next time together, Rakki was actually doing really great, as if she had completely forgotten that Willa had chased her. But then...Willa chased her AGAIN. And now, every time we let them be together, Willa will just stare and stalk and chase Rakki like some kind of mouse. But Rakki is not a mouse. She is the same size as Willa! Rakki is becoming very stressed from all this. She is now afraid of Willa. 

During this whole introduction phase, Willa has never ONCE hissed or growled or shown ANY signs of aggression. She has been completely oblivious to Rakki's hisses and growls. She would just sit there and pretty much ignore Rakki. Sometimes she would seem pretty curious about her though.

Willa is actually as we have learned, a very playful cat. She LOVES chasing her string toy and the laser pointer. She will pick up the string with her mouth everytime she gets it and take it with her somewhere. So, I'm wondering, does Willa just think Rakki is some kind of prey for her to chase and play with? Or is Willa actually being aggressive with Rakki? I just can't imagine it because Willa is so sweet and I've never heard her hiss or growl before. We have tried wearing Willa out with toys and playing before they come in to contact. But that does not work. We have been spraying Willa with water immediately and separating them after she chases Rakki. That is not working either. Part of me thinks that if Rakki weren't such a scaredy cat, and would fight back instead of running away from Willa, then Willa would stop. Please, if anyone has any similar experiences or any advice at all, I would be so grateful. It's getting so tiresome keeping them separated all the time. I wish they could just get along! They don't even have to be friends, I just want them to ignore each other! 

the black and white cat is Willa:

2016-03-05 10.55.48.jpg

• hayley23
• Apr 15, 2016

2016-03-06 11.07.17.jpg

• hayley23
• Apr 15, 2016

 

[my2rexs]

We had the exact same situation with our now three-year-old Phoenix and a 16-year-old Astro. It was really intense for a while but it is getting better. Here's what we did: every time Phoenix would chase or pounce on Astro we would firmly but gently pick him up and put him in another room away from all of us. We have been consistent about this for the past few years. It is finally basically stopped. You just have to be persistent and as I said gentle and firm. Good luck!

 

[hayley23]

We had the exact same situation with our now three-year-old Phoenix and a 16-year-old Astro. It was really intense for a while but it is getting better. Here's what we did: every time Phoenix would chase or pounce on Astro we would firmly but gently pick him up and put him in another room away from all of us. We have been consistent about this for the past few years. It is finally basically stopped. You just have to be persistent and as I said gentle and firm. Good luck!

Thanks for the reply! How long did you keep them separated from each other? Do you think if we let them be together more that she would learn faster?

 

[my2rexs]

So, my boyfriend and I decided to adopt a new cat almost 2 months ago. Her name is Willa, and she is about 2 years old. We already have another cat, Rakki, who is 15 years old (she is very healthy). Now, Rakki is a very skiddish cat, but she has lived with other female cats before and did fine. When we adopted Willa, the shelter said she was good with other cats and she seemed very laid back like she wouldn't bother Rakki too much.

We introduced them very slowly, having them separated, etc. At first Rakki was very mad at Willa. She would hiss and growl all the time, but gradually got a little used to Willa. Then one day, Rakki went into WIlla's room and started eating her food. Willa had been following her out of curiosity, and when she saw Rakki eating her food, she pounced her and chased her!! We gave them a few days of separation after that. During their next time together, Rakki was actually doing really great, as if she had completely forgotten that Willa had chased her. But then...Willa chased her AGAIN. And now, every time we let them be together, Willa will just stare and stalk and chase Rakki like some kind of mouse. But Rakki is not a mouse. She is the same size as Willa! Rakki is becoming very stressed from all this. She is now afraid of Willa. 

During this whole introduction phase, Willa has never ONCE hissed or growled or shown ANY signs of aggression. She has been completely oblivious to Rakki's hisses and growls. She would just sit there and pretty much ignore Rakki. Sometimes she would seem pretty curious about her though.

Willa is actually as we have learned, a very playful cat. She LOVES chasing her string toy and the laser pointer. She will pick up the string with her mouth everytime she gets it and take it with her somewhere. So, I'm wondering, does Willa just think Rakki is some kind of prey for her to chase and play with? Or is Willa actually being aggressive with Rakki? I just can't imagine it because Willa is so sweet and I've never heard her hiss or growl before. We have tried wearing Willa out with toys and playing before they come in to contact. But that does not work. We have been spraying Willa with water immediately and separating them after she chases Rakki. That is not working either. Part of me thinks that if Rakki weren't such a scaredy cat, and would fight back instead of running away from Willa, then Willa would stop. Please, if anyone has any similar experiences or any advice at all, I would be so grateful. It's getting so tiresome keeping them separated all the time. I wish they could just get along! They don't even have to be friends, I just want them to ignore each other! 


the black and white cat is Willa:

2016-03-05 10.55.48.jpg

• hayley23
• Apr 15, 2016

2016-03-06 11.07.17.jpg

• hayley23
• Apr 15, 2016

 

[hayley23]

Did you mean to leave a response to that?

 

[my2rexs]

Soooo, what we would do is instantly remove Phoenix from the room where we all were for at least 5 minutes I would say. If it happened again then the same amount of time. As I said it took a couple of years but during that time it did get better gradually. Now Phoenix is 3 and it happens rarely if at all.

 

[hayley23]

Ugh 2 years is so long lol. I feel bad for my old cat. so to clarify, you let them just be together all the time? And then just separate Phoenix when he tries to chase the other cat? I hope it works

 

[my2rexs]

Yes, however...separate them when you cannot watch them. We did that also. I know it's a pain but you'll get sort of used to it. Look at the separation times like little kids "time outs".

 

[my2rexs]

image.jpeg

• my2rexs
• Apr 15, 2016

 

[hayley23]

Awww! How precious!! That's my boyfriends favorite cat breed. Well, you have given me hope. We'll give it a try and hopefully things will get better

 

[metonymforlove]

We had the exact same situation with our now three-year-old Phoenix and a 16-year-old Astro. It was really intense for a while but it is getting better. Here's what we did: every time Phoenix would chase or pounce on Astro we would firmly but gently pick him up and put him in another room away from all of us. We have been consistent about this for the past few years. It is finally basically stopped. You just have to be persistent and as I said gentle and firm. Good luck!

Can I ask how long you had Phoenix for before he finally stopped pouncing on Astro? I have a very similar situation and am wondering how often I should be using the whole separating-into-another-room method for.

 

[jen]

It is normal for the older resident cat to not want the new one around. Nothing really seems too bad here. Rakki is confident enough to eat the new ones food and she chases her away. That's fine. Growling and hissing are all normal and it makes sense that Rakki is doing that to the younger cat. That is just how they communicate and you should be happy they are communicating. Eventually Rakki will be fed up and put her in her place. There could also be some dominance going on for alpha cat. This is fine too and has to happen. I would scold them and I would definitely not squirt anyone with water. Let them be unless one of them hides all the time in fear not eating or using the box, or there is bloodshed.

 

[cheeseburger]

We are going through a similar introduction. My read on your situation is that Willa just wants to play. Chasing and pouncing used to alarm me as well but since we stopped trying to contain it and just let the two cats play out those games, things have gotten somewhat better. If Rakki wants to avoid Willa, Rakki can (and will) hide. But as long as Rakki keeps coming out, things are okay.

Rakki is older and the idea of rough play might be feeling sort of foreign to her right now. What I would suggest is that if you can get Rakki to play with you guys a little -- slightly rough play if you can manage it. That rough play, and the endorphins that come with it, will raise her confidence. Use a bird on a string or tiger tail or something and let Rakki act our her frustrations and hone her instincts. This helped our resident cat feel more comfortable with all of the new physical contact.

The other advice that I got from people on this forum that was SO valuable was to do *longer* periods of time with them together to avoid the "christmas morning phenomenon". Basically right now, Willa sees Rakki and gets super excited about her playmate being here and just goes beserk. The long separations cause this. When you let them play it out and then they both settle into a nap and get some quiet time together, the entire dynamic shifts and they both calm down a little.

Try two days where you let them spend more time together. Maybe over the weekend so they are both home. If you have a spouse or roommate perhaps you can divide and conquer, play with them, then swap over the course of the day. The goal is for Willa to get bored of the chase/pounce game and move onto other calmer activities. Which means you've got to let the chasing happen. But it's just for two days.

 

[Hellenww]

You've received good advise. I'd add, don't spray anymore. It can make Willa worse.

You're probably right that Willa sees Rakki as a big living toy. She will learn the lesson "you play too rough, nobody will play with you, and you get a time out"