New Cat Behavior Problems...

[vivvie]

Hi there,

I am new here and this is my first post. I am so happy to have found this forum1

We have 3 cats, all females, all rescued this year. Our first cat, Brie, is 3. Our second cat, Annie, is 2.5 yrs., and our newest addition, Vivian, is 4. We got Brie in January, Annie in late February, and Vivian a week and a half ago.

Brie accepted Annie right away. She did the normal hissing/growling and Annie would just walk away. They became very close and of course Brie quit hissing/growling at Annie and all is good between them.

Brie and Annie came from the same cat rescue group but the owner said they had never met before.

We rescued Vivian from a different place, more like a pound verses a rescue...I don't know any other way to put it and I mean NO disrespect towards the place. They are wonderful people trying to help cats and dogs find homes.

Anyway...here is the big problem. Our newest cat Vivian is attacking both of our cats! She is the most kind, loving cat to US, but the meanest cat we ever saw to our other two cats! Our first two cats do the normal hissing/growling but instead of walking away from them Vivian will pounce, chase, and scratch Brie and Annie. Well the first time this happened Annie lost her bladder contents she got so scared! When Vivian goes after either cat they get so scared and they run away. Both have completely changed their routines now and they are nervous wrecks, which makes us all nervous in our home.

I am really considering taking Vivian back to the shelter as she just doesn't seem to get along with our two cats. I don't want to take her back though as we have become attached to her and just love her to death! She was abused terribly in her little life - her jaw sits funny and the area above her nose is puffed out and she has two old marks on her one ear. The shelter said they don't know what all happened to her but they received her from a foreclosed home where she was left to die...starved and dehydrated and they brought her back. Prior to her other owners abandoning her she must have been beat up since she still has the scars bless her heart.

Has anyone else dealt with anything like this? If so...what can we do? We sure feel terrible for our cats that were here first and want to save them from Vivian's abuse but we don't want to give up on Vivian and take her back to the shelter. I am so stressed over this and I just don't know what to do.

Thank you and sorry so long,
Vivvie

 

[motoko9]

Welcome to the site!

Most people here will tell you that a week and a half isn't enough time to judge whether or not your kitties will ultimately get along. (I know, sometimes you get lucky, and cats will accept each other after just a few days, but things often don't work out that way.) It took me about a month to establish a peaceful household after I brought my third cat home (the first two cats were brothers and were adopted together, and they were not impressed with the newcomer). Like you, I was very stressed out about it!

Did you separate your newcomer from the resident cats, or introduce them immediately? You may have to isolate her for a while and then try re-introducing them more gradually.

Check out the sticky on introductions for more information, but in the meantime, you've come to the right place; you'll get a lot of advice from people who have been through this type of situation many times.

 

[vivvie]

Thank you so much for the welcome and the reply motoko9, I appreciate it!

I am starting to see that some cats accept each other right away while others do not. Our first and second cat did accept each other from the first meeting. Brie, the first cat, did the hissing but Annie just walked away and showed her respect and all is great between them. I think Annie thinks of Brie as her mother or a big sis, it is so sweet. Now our new cat Viv - oh my! The two resident cats are doing their normal thing but Viv is not having any of it!

So, we had to put Vivian in our guest bedroom and I am sad about it. I feel sorry for her being in there. It is a beautiful room and she has her own bed, windows, etc., but I can tell she is lonely. We go in several times but it isn't the same as when she was running free around the house. I just didn't know what else to do though as she kept attacking our resident cats for no reason so we had to confine her so we can start over with the introductions. We are planning on keeping her even if she doesn't get along with the other two cats - somehow, someway we are going to make this work. She sat at that shelter for many months and we want to do our best to give her the life she deserves.

Have a lovely morning,
Vivvie

 

[addiebee]

Gradual reintroduction and get some Feliway... that should help reduce the stress load in the house for the kits. And YOU!

 

[motoko9]

You and your husband are to be commended for giving this girl a chance! Keep us posted...

 

[abacat]

Hi

I feel your pain. You saw my other post about my problems with Abby and Buddy. I just posted an update so I won't post again but don't give up hope. It's been over a month for us and Buddy is still in his room. I feel awful about it too (he also has a window, beds and toys). He really, really wants out, and we think he's part Siamese so he's very vocal. Whenever I start too feel guilty I remember that its not forever and he is much safer now then when he was on the street (we rescued him from outside at our condo complex).

I agree with AddieBee, the Feliway is amazing. I have it going in the hall outside his room and I think it has really helped Abby a lot. I also took a towel and rubbed it on Abby and put it under Buddy’s food bowls so he could associate her smell with good things.

I also agree with motoko9 that what you did for Vivian was awesome!!

 

[mrblanche]

We have two cats that, had we made a decision at the end of a week and half, probably would have gone back to the shelter. However, they now fit in the household just fine. "Bosom buddies?" No. But they have their own satisfactory interaction, and their little fusses aren't enough to kill them over (which would be the result if we took them back).

 

[taryn]

Maude more or less tolerated Attitude and Nuts until she crossed the bridge due to liver failure. There was hissing and swiping and Maude whacking them on the head at first and she also took each one of their heads in her mouth(yes their entire heads fit in her mouth. She didn't bite down or hurt them but she got it across that what they were doing at that point was NOT acceptable. Attitude kept stuffing her tail in Maude's mouth when she(Attitude) jumped up on Paul's lap to keep Maude from hissing at her.

Maude wasn't thrilled with them during the time we had all 3 but like I said they more or less worked out a truce that they not bug each other. Attitude and Nuts are litter mates so they have been around each other since birth. The only time she tolerated Nuts at all was the day before she had to cross the bridge, Nuts kept coming into the bathroom to check on her, I think he knew she was really sick, he even groomed her and she let him. It was so touching. Maude really did not like Nuts, she tolerated Attitude more than Nuts. She would let her sleep against her back. I did see her and Nuts touch noses once(like less than a week after we brought them in and released them) but she then remembered she 'hated' him and hissed and swiped at him. You can look at my sig picture, that was about as close as she let Nuts near her and you can see what she thinks of the newcomers.

It might just progress to them tolerating each other, which is all Paul and I wanted, they didn't need to be best buddies or even 'friends' they simply needed to be able to tolerate each other.

It takes time but they usually work it out. I was lucky Maude was mad at them at first and territorial(which we totally expected) but nothing major ever happened and we were able to integrate them quickly. Most do not go that smoothly. Maude actually attacked me the first time I brought Attitude(after I put her back outside with her siblings) inside, this was prior to us deciding to try and see if they could live together, there were health issues that we were worried about, Attitude and Nuts are leukemia positive and Maude was negative(and still was when she crossed the bridge) so we had to think very long and very hard before deciding to get Maude vaccinated and bringing Attitude and Nuts inside(they had lived on our porch with their mother, aunt, grandma and siblings since they were 4 weeks old so they weren't going anywhere and even if they lived outside they would be surrounded by family.

It can take time. Just let them get acquainted and see what happens, just take it slowly. Also get some Feliway, I used a calming collar on Maude and that seemed to help, I didn't get attacked for bringing them inside.

Taryn