Daisy won't accept new kitten - tried everything but the attacks continue

[njg1225]

I've read numerous threads here about this and tried lots of different things but I am still at square one.

Daisy is six years old and in the past I have introduced 2 new adult male cats to the household without a problem.  In September I rescued a little female kitten called Minnie who was 12 weeks old.  For the first three days there was no problem.   Minnie jumped and ran and played in front of Daisy and Daisy just watched.

On day 4 the problems began.  When Minnie was playing Daisy launched at her and attacked viciously. We separated them and since that moment they cannot be together.  The Moment Daisy sees Minnie she flies at her without hesitation and attacks.  Mini does nothing except cower and hide and wait for the attack to finish. I am always covered in scratches and bites because I intervene to separate them.

Mini now lives in our spare bedroom where she has her food and toilet and I let her out for half an hour in the morning before work and a couple of hours in the evening. Daisy has to be locked away during this time. Mini is basically imprisoned most of the day.

I picked up a few techniques for introducing new cats on this forum.I have tried introducing them on either side of a glass door. Daisy attacks the door.  Sometimes I put Minnie inside her transporter case so Daisy can smell her but not harm her.  But Daisy just attacks the transporter case.  We have a routine of bedtime treats and I am able to put them together whilst I am giving the treats but as soon as the final treat has been given Daisy looks at Minnie, squints her eyes and launches an attack.  No matter how many bedtime treat sessions they have together Daisy still attacks Minnie when its over.  

I am running out of ideas of ways to introduce them. It has been five months now since Minnie arrived and is no progress has been made. When mini is not around Daisy is a happy, bubbly, perky little cat who is always in a good mood. As soon as Minnie is in sight Daisy changes into a vicious bad tempered monster.

Now I am starting to wonder if daisy will never accept mini no matter what. And if this is the case what does that mean for the future of Minnie?

Sometimes do you just have to accept defeat or is that always a solution?

 

[Animal Freak]

Unfortunately, there's not always a solution. Some cats aren't meant to be around other cats. I've had two cats that were cat aggressively, but loving with people. Heck, one of them even got along with my dog. She was territorial though and stayed outside so she attacked cats that came into our yard.

My second cat was even worse. She would attack my other two cats given half the chance. As a matter of fact, she managed to get into my room when the door was shut and a shelf was in front of it. Boxes on the other side. I jumped in the middle of a fight a couple of times. But she only went after one of my cats. Completely ignored the other. Even when she went in heat, she would go to the door where the boys were acting like... Well, a cat in heat. But the second she saw them, she'd attack. We couldn't keep her.

The fact that this behavior did not occur right off the bat makes me think it might be able to be fixed. Of course, you have to take their happiness in consideration. If nothing works, you might have to face the fact that it's just not happening. Distracting them from one another is a great thing to do. I was able to give Midnight treats with the boys as long as there was a door between them, but it didn't help. Someone said they had a cat who attacked their other cat and they just sprayed the cat when it attacked. Apparently they're best friend now, but I don't know how that would work. Reinforcing good behavior is the best thing you can do.

There was probably something that triggered this behavior though. Minnie might have startled Daisy or did something to trigger the aggression.

 

[dc1346]

If I understand you correctly, you had a 3 cat household (1 female and 2 males) and are now introducing a 4th?

What can you tell us about the social hierarchy of your cats? Is Daisy the alpha cat or does she have a lower social status? And was the attack really vicious (was there blood?) or did it simply look vicious? 

In the past, when I have introduced a kitten, any beatings which may have occurred have been instigated by the junior cat as part of asserting his place in the social hierarchy. 

The junior cat in my house used to be Bob's brother, Jasper Baby who sadly passed away last year. When I introduced Princess Tabitha to my other cats some six years ago, she was a very small kitten, I built a ramp of floor pillows so that she could climb to the top of the bed. 

The first time she ever made this climb, Bob hissed at her and JB raised his paw and swatted her. The poor little kitten went tumbling down the ramp, nose over tail. I held my breath and waited, ready to intervene if the violence escalated. I did not want to intervene unless I had to because I knew the cats had to be given the opportunity to work this out. 

Tabitha picked herself up without a whimper of complaint and again made her way up the ramp of pillows. JB seemed to grin and he again raised his paw. Before he could hit Tabitha, Bob shoved his face into this brother's and HISSED. JB looked him ... blinked ... lowered his paw, and the brothers then began to socially groom the little kitten. Tabitha had been accepted!

Here are some pictures of Tabitha. She was a very tiny kitten and as you can see in this picture, she fit on my shoulder. 

Caption.8.jpg

• dc1346
• Mar 20, 2016

Here is Tabitha sitting in the corner of an old vintage overstuffed chair. 

Caption.18.jpg

• dc1346
• Mar 20, 2016

Here is Bob with Tabitha. They soon became the best of friends.

Bob's acceptance of Tabitha went a long way into calming the other two cats down. 

Bob and Tabitha.JPG

• dc1346
• Mar 20, 2016

Here is Tabitha playing pouncy pounce on a much aggrieved Scraps who was trying to take a nap.

Despite his size, Scraps has never been a very assertive cat.  I once saw him nose to nose with a mouse

and he REFUSED to attack the mouse. Bob had no such problems. 

Cat Calls.page.22.png

• dc1346
• Mar 20, 2016

Jasper Baby eventually befriended Tabitha. It took a while. 

This picture was taken after she had grown up and was no longer so small and defenseless.

IMG_4006.JPG

• dc1346
• Mar 20, 2016

 

[njg1225]

Thank you both for the replies.

i am hoping that someone can give me a glimmer of hope or suggest something new, but frankly I'm feeling quite bleak about the situation.   Daisy (the aggressor) has her place secured in the house as she has been with me 6 years, but Minnie (the victim) is the newcomer and it is her place in the house that is in peril.  It's a shame because she is a dear little thing with no character defects at all.  I'm also worried about rehoming her because I live in Spain and it isn't exactly an animal friendly country.  No nice comfy no-kill shelters like we have in the UK.

DC1346 - Daisy (the aggressor) is the alpha cat in the house of 4 cats.  Minnie makes no attempt to assert her position in the hierarchy as she just runs away from Daisy or cowers into a ball until the attack has finished.  Daisy certainly seems to mean business when she attacks - I never allow it to happen but I think she would cause real damage if I allowed to attack to run its course.   

I hope I can find a way to keep Minnie, but at the moment I just don't know how   

 

[njg1225]

Animal Freak - If there is a way forward I suspect it could be the reinforcing good behavior technique.   As i said before, whilst the cats are being given treats Daisy doesn't attack Minnie.   But I have to find a way of making this continue once all the treats have gone.  

 

[magister]

There was a My Cat from Hell ep (Series 3, Episode 2: My Cat or My Family) that dealt with something that seems very close to your situation. Gigi was an established female who was absolutely determined new kitten Suki wasn't going to stay, to the point where their owners (Nick and Julie) were extremely concerned she was trying outright to kill the kitten. It may or may not be a help, but I'd say it's worth a look. You should be able to find it on Youtube. Of course, they keep getting Take-Down requests, but invariably the eps pop up again.