Resident cat attacks kitten, need help.

[Rekk]

Hi, we got a new kitten 3 weeks ago, (16 weeks old then), we have 2 resident cats M and B, M is very easy with new cats he was a friend to the kitten day one no problems with him, B is the issue, we started off with the basics, safe base for the kitten, scent swapping and all the basic things. We got up to the point where we could feed all cats face to face like almost touching through a screen door to be safe, been doing that for a week now no issues, we started doing actual face to face meetings 3 days ago, that didnt go great, B puffed up and looked like he was gonna attack the kitten and we put an end to the encounter before anything could happen, today though, B was sitting in the room looking at the kitten playing with a toy and suddenly decided to just attack him full on growling and pulled a bunch of hair off the kitten. Clearly not ready to be face to face yet. Any advice on what to do from now?
We have gotten the feliway friends spray on for 2 weeks now already.

Thanks for any tips

 

[VAMama]

It's common for attacks to begin when they enter the routine stage. Kitten was a novelty, then a visitor, then a resident, then an annoyance. I'd keep kitten away for a while until the hair heals. Then do more supervised visits through a screen. Make the visits positive for both, a time of treats and play. Be sure to let B know he's not being replaced. When B shows aggression, end the visit and express disapproval.

 

[rubysmama]

R Rekk : Hello and welcome to TCS. Sorry though for the situation that's brought you here.

Reading your post, it seems clear that they aren't ready to be face to face yet. Growling by itself, isn't too bad. But actually pulling out a bunch of fur from the kitten is a major sign of aggression, and is one of the things we say to watch for, in addition to blood shed, and one of the cats acting extremely stressed.

So in your case, you're right to go back a few steps and then proceed more slowly. It's not unusual for introductions to have setbacks, and TCS even has an article on the topic. How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction | TheCatSite

Cat introductions rarely go quickly, and can actually take longer than the humans were hoping. Good luck. Hope with time and patience your three cats will be able to live happily together.

 

[FeebysOwner]

For some cats, 3 weeks is nothing, and it sounds like that applies to B. Site swapping is another step I didn't see you mention, so try some of that too - placing B and M in the kitten's safe zone while allowing the kitten to explore other locations of the house. It gets the kitten's scent everywhere so that B has to experience that without the presence of the kitten at first. It will also enable the kitten some time in other areas without feeling the pressure of not knowing when B might surprise him.

You always need to move at the pace of the slowest adapting cat, but that doesn't mean that the same steps at the same time need to be applied to each of the cats. Use M as a conduit between the other two, since it would seem M gets along with both. It might help to allow M to spend some of the time with the kitten during these site swap sessions, and some of the time with B. This exposes M to more of the kitten's scent which B will recognize, allows the kitten to continue bonding with M, and might actually help B to better adapt as well.

Also, I have heard quite a number of cases where Feliway actually causes more problems that it helps, so you might want to test that theory by discontinuing the spray.

 

[Rekk]

Thanks for all the replies and great suggestions, going to start doing more site swapping with B we’ve done it quite a few times but not daily, going to add it to the routine, M has started to love the kitten and vice versa so they hang out often together and play, M and B get along fine, and B acts completely normal everywhere in the house when the kitten is in his room.
When it comes to feliway i dont think it had any effect on B at all, could have made a small difference but we could test by stopping to use it for a while.

 

[rubysmama]

When it comes to feliway i dont think it had any effect on B at all, could have made a small difference but we could test by stopping to use it for a while

About Feliway, I've never used it myself, so have no opinion. I do know there's more than one type. Here's an older thread that discusses Feliway Multicat VS. Optimum: Thoughts?

Plus these ones:
Does Feliway really work?
Feliway Survey *moderator approved*

 

[Alldara]

Have you tried some gated time where B can watch M interact with the kitten? Sometimes that can help a cat learn to read the new cat's body language, which helps them to feel safe.

I also recommend taking a short worn by a human in the home and petting kitten, B and then M with it. Then run it along the baseboards of the home.

 

[Alldara]

For example, when we got Cal, Magnus was comfortable with him quickly. So we let Magnus gate-hop and play with Calcifer. We kept Nobel on his own side and he watched a lot. When he watched, he learned about Calcifer and then he became comfortable with him.