Introduced new cat to current cat

[hala beirouty]

Well we just had him checked out by a vet two weeks ago right after we got him, and he said he's perfectly fine other than his diarrhea and he gave us supplements and vitamin pills for him, and he's finished his rounds and his diarrhea is gone. The litter boxes are pretty big and I don't think he goes over the sides cause I always see him digging on the floor and attempting to do it there but I stop him from doing it. Today though I took the poop from the ground and put it in his box, he sniffed it and tried to cover it; 10 minutes ago he pooped in the box, and I gave him a treat right after. Maybe this'll fix it, I'll keep updating!

 

[dejolane]

I have a question,

If Leo is challenging Olive for dominance in our house, will it affect OIive's behavior with me? I'm worried about that. For the past few days he's been pooping right outside his box and I can tell he's not sick, and I've read online that a cat will do that to mark his territory or dominance of some sorts among the area. Does anyone know for how long that will go on as well? It's getting quite annoying to find a large poop in the bathroom every time I go in to brush my teeth or shower. He also never even covered his poop when he did do it in the litter box before; Olive had her OCD and would cover it for him on her own after he was done. Anybody have any tips on this?

Just make sure you have paper under the box so it won't be on the floor.

 

[tammat]

How is everything going now with Olive and Leo? Have they settled in together?

 

[msbedelia]

Good to see people here are making process. Hala, I would be sure  to talk to the roommate and be sure that she will not bring home an additional surprises in the future! It seems like common sense that you guys are at maximum cat capacity, but then it also seems like common sense to ask your roommate before bringing home an additional cat! And your acceptance of Leo doesn't have to mean you don't let her know what it was like for you to have that sprung on you and Olive.

We are at the beginning of week two introducing our new addition, Squeak (3 years old), to resident cat Gracie (1.5-2 years old), both female. Squeak is still spending most of her days in her isolation room, though we are doing a lot more site swapping now and she's roaming around for a few hours while Gracie gets her scent all over the isolation room. Neither is particularly happy at this point. They have spent some limited time in the same room. Squeak stares at Gracie in that aggressive cat-way, hisses and sometimes growls at her when she gets too close and under the door when they're separated, and will swat Gracie if the hissing does not dissuade her from coming too close. When they're in the same room, Gracie will occasionally stalk Squeak (unsure if its play or aggression). Gracie and I have done a little bit of clicker-training together, however, and she seems to be responding to click/treat rewards for desisting her pursuit of Squeak and/or ignoring her. Squeak and I have just started clicker training, and she doesn't "get" it yet, so she's not ready for that during introductions. We know from their history that both are capable of getting along swimmingly with other cats. In this situation, however, I think they're just going to be very slow and so their humans need to be patient. Hopefully in the end it will work out. No real cat-fights or serious injuries, so that's good! 

We've also been lucky that no one's behavior has been out of the ordinary for them (though we are still getting to know Squeak). Gracie has been a little more territorial with her toys, and Squeak will occasionally have a bout of redirected aggression if you try to touch her while she's aggressively staring-down Gracie. However, individually, they are both their normal delightful kitty selves. 

 

[msbedelia]

One thing that's consistently frustrating to me is that Squeak (new kitty) seems so much more aggressive than our resident cat, despite being cat-friendly at the shelter. It is hard to find resources on why this might be or the best way of dealing with it. 

 

[elizabeth1st]

I think you are extremely lucky to have your cats act as they do in just a few short days! I had to keep mine separated for 9 months and they still tore each other up. I finally had to re-home the aggressor, and it hurt deeply. Her kitten, who was just under a year did eventually come around, but it took at least 6 months before he became 'normal' again. If your cats are acting like they do in just a few days, I'm sure Olive will return to her loving ways as soon as she accepts the 'intruder' fully.Maybe you are lucky in a way, it would have become harder for her to accept a new cat the longer she was a one and only!

Can you elaborate on the "tore each other up"?  Fighting?  I am trying to introduce a 3 month old kitten (lovely, friendly male to be neutered at 6m) to a 5 m old female spayed.  She has been with us for a month.  She is not happy.  We are keeping them separated and trying to do the intro very slowly;  I hate the idea of the little guy being attacked by the female.  She is very attached/possessive of/to me and is seeking reassurance constantly since the new kitten arrived.  I thought youth, opposite sex would help the transition.  They are both pedigreed cats so there has been responsible upbringing and socialization.

Your story does not sound very optimistic - "getting rid of the aggressor after trying for 9m".  They are both lovely beautiful cats and it would be so sad if the older one can't accept the kitten.  I'm not sure what we would do.  I don't want to jeopardize the sweet nature of the little one - he really is so cute.  And of course when we acquired the female she very sweet as well.

Any suggestions would be most helpful

Thanks

 

[katluver4life]

Can you elaborate on the "tore each other up"?  Fighting?  I am trying to introduce a 3 month old kitten (lovely, friendly male to be neutered at 6m) to a 5 m old female spayed.  She has been with us for a month.  She is not happy.  We are keeping them separated and trying to do the intro very slowly;  I hate the idea of the little guy being attacked by the female.  She is very attached/possessive of/to me and is seeking reassurance constantly since the new kitten arrived.  I thought youth, opposite sex would help the transition.  They are both pedigreed cats so there has been responsible upbringing and socialization.

Your story does not sound very optimistic - "getting rid of the aggressor after trying for 9m".  They are both lovely beautiful cats and it would be so sad if the older one can't accept the kitten.  I'm not sure what we would do.  I don't want to jeopardize the sweet nature of the little one - he really is so cute.  And of course when we acquired the female she very sweet as well.

Any suggestions would be most helpful

Thanks

It's very rare to find a cat who just HAS to be an only cat. This usually occurs when the cat has been on it's own in the outside world awhile. They tend to be more territorial. Most cats learn to coexist in peace, even if they never become buddy's. Hence why feral "colonies" survive.

With your kittens, what you are doing should work out fine. I find food to be a good motivator, along with the scent exchange, to make them accustomed to "feeling good" with their combined scents. Are you following the method outlined in this article? http://www.thecatsite.com/a/introducing-cats-to-cats? If so, then they should be fine in time. I would also add the use a single grooming brush on both of them to help with scent exchanging.

 

[hala beirouty]

Well, I have some bad news. Leo was returned to the shelter a couple of weeks ago..

I had to travel out of the country to visit my family in my home country, and I left my roommate to care for Olive and Leo. According to her, Leo was not complying with his litter box and continued to poop outside, and was getting too aggressive and even hurt Olive. She told me she had to take him back.

While I'm glad that Olive is doing okay now, I found it very sad and quite cruel to have taken him back, and I can only hope that somebody else more suitable has adopted him. 

Wish you all better luck with your kitties!

 

[tulosai]

Well, I have some bad news. Leo was returned to the shelter a couple of weeks ago..

I had to travel out of the country to visit my family in my home country, and I left my roommate to care for Olive and Leo. According to her, Leo was not complying with his litter box and continued to poop outside, and was getting too aggressive and even hurt Olive. She told me she had to take him back.

While I'm glad that Olive is doing okay now, I found it very sad and quite cruel to have taken him back, and I can only hope that somebody else more suitable has adopted him. 

Wish you all better luck with your kitties!

I am extremely puzzled as to why you don't seem more upset about this.  If it were my roommate, I would be suing her. And I do mean literally suing her/him.  I don't view my cats as property, but legally, the cat was your property.  She/he had no right to do that.

Also, FYI, it is extremely unlikely someone more suitable has adopted him unless it is a no kill shelter.  At kill shelters, returned animals are often simply moved to the top of the kill list as they are no longer deemed adoptable.  This was a horrible thing to do to a cat who it seems was adjusting as well as can be expected. 

EDIT: I went back to the start of the thread and see it was your roommate who actually purchased the cat.  So I take back the first paragraph.  However, I am still really puzzled abotu why you don't seem more upset.  To me this is really awful.

 

[hala beirouty]

Believe me, when she told me I was very upset. But there was literally nothing I could do about it as I was out of the country, and technically he was "her" cat, so she did what she wanted and never asked me of my opinion right from the start. I can only hope that he was not put down... But I can never know and there's nothing I can do about it now except give Olive all the love and care she needs

 

[ruaryx]

@Hala Beirouty  your roommate seems suuuuper annoying!  Sorry, I just can't stand rude roommates and irresponsible pet owners!!!

 

[cat lady224]

I need some advice. I adopted a cat (almost a yr old) and brought her home to my other cat who is a sweetheart. He is 3 1/2 and is so easy going and friendly. I've been hanging out with the new cat, Babie, in my bedroom. But last night she saw Jetes and started to stalk him. She was hissing and hunching her back. Poor Jetes was scared and ran under my son"s bed. He doesn't come out like usual now. I think he's too scared :-(. I know it's been less than two days but I feel so bad for Jetes. Babie is a sweet girl, very cuddly and affectionate.

I will keep Babie in my room with the door closed when I'm not home. I don't want to alienate Jetes from his home. I'm hoping that she will get used to his scent after some time. Is this the right thing to do?