Resident Cat... Hunting New Cat?

[bijounk]

Hi, everyone, I'm new here so thank you for your time and I look forward to contributing mine as well

So, we adopted a sweet, shelter kitty (Molly) a month ago exactly actually. The shelter said she'd come in with other cats but the rest of them had been adopted out which made me sad But the shelter said that she's good with other cats in the shelter and that she'd be a good candidate for a multi-cat house which is what we were hoping for anyway.

Two weeks ago, a friend asked if we'd be interested in taking in two strays who were abandoned by her neighbors after they moved. The poor things were just left outside in beginning of the summer and since my friend couldn't take them in, she fed them all summer and tried to find them homes. I've kept them (Preston and Lila) in a spare bedroom and they've settled in nicely too, very sweet cats. They're all quite young, not more than 2 years old, I'd guess so I figured they'd all fit in nicely together especially since the resident cat hasn't had THAT much time to become that possessive of me and territorial but has had enough time to acclimate and feel secure.

When they first arrived, Molly and Preston tried to play under the door, occasionally she hissed at him but after a week, or less even, she stopped the hissing and she and Preston have spent a lot of their time howling and scratching at the door together, presumably so they could play together and actually played with a toy together under the door. Lila really just keeps to herself, she isn't shy, just really chill lol.

Anyway, I decided it was time to try to introduce them. I figured I'd introduce Preston first since they already seemed to kind of have a bond and I figured if they got along ok, Lila would just kinda follow along. I put him in the carrier which is actually a canvas one meant for a medium dog so it's pretty big with windows all around. At first, Molly went up to him, neither of them ever hissed or growled once, they sniffed each other, she walked around his carrier, she batted at him and he batted back but it looked just like playful banter b/c he layed down to play with her, so after several minutes of this, I figured I'd take the big step and open the door since there were no signs of hostility. I did and he came right out, made a tour around the house while Molly followed him and they occasionally sniffed each other... after a few minutes though, she batted at his face and he winced and walked away. Then, as he was walking away, she actually followed him in a crouched, stalking position. At first, I just thought they were going to play, but after "hunting him" for a minute, she actually ran up behind him, lept in front of him and started smacking him on the face -nails out! I picked her up, petted her and settled her down, while he, seemingly unphased, continued to walk around and smell things I put her down and walked with her over to him and petted her and him a few times and then she crouched down, stalked him as he walked, then attacked him again! And he wasn't playing back, he was just cowering and looked scared I felt so badly, so I picked him up and put him back into the other room and now I just don't know what to think. After I put him in there, I stayed in there with him so that he didn't think he was being punished or anything, and even while I was in there, he was scratching at the door and howling. I petted him to sleep and Molly is acting as if nothing ever even happened and is her usual lovey self.

So, have you ever heard of a cat stalking and hunting another cat? I can't seem to find anything like this anywhere. Sorry for such a long post, just wanted to provide all of the info Thanks again for your time and thought and I'm glad I found this forum

 

[peachesxo]

Helloo.

So I don't have a ton of experience when it comes to introducing new cats, I am actually in the same process as you right now but we are still at the separate rooms/under the door interaction phase for the moment (not by choice, the kitten is sick so we are frozen at that stage until she is all done with her treatment). The claws out face batting might seem a little discouraging, but honestly for a first time introduction it seems like a pretty good start/normal, she may just be overly excited and trying to play a bit more aggressively, but since there was no full blown attacking/hissing/craziness it should only get better from here. It's a good thing you separated them though, you don't want either of them to feel scared. They probably just need some more time to calm down, get used to eachother, and test the waters, maybe try some through a cracked door sniffing tomorrow or in a few hours, and then if there is no face batting there you can try the full introduction again. Then if she really goes at him again, you can restart from through the door once again, rinse and repeat, but if they aren't really hurting/scaring each other letting them duke it out (playfully and supervised) a little shouldn't hurt. It's up to you to judge when it's going "too far"

I have found this video quite reassuring when it comes to what to expect from introductions -->

 

[tjcarst]

It can take weeks, months, or never for cats to get along.  That was a very quick introduction.  And I think it went rather well.

There are quite a few threads on here on introducing cats.  I have two cats who have lived together for going on two years who still 'hunt' each other. Little cat fight broke out today over the top perch on the cat tree.  *sigh*

 

[bijounk]

Thanks so much for the reassurance and info I know that the process can take FOREVER but Molly has been good with other cats and obviously these two new cats are too, so I'm pretty optimistic that there won't be forever hating, (if in fact there's hating at all now ) especially since they're all pretty young. Molly and Preston have been meowing and scratching at the door for the past week, her wanting to get in and him wanting to get out lol, so that's why I let them meet yesterday. It seemed like they were both telling me, ok, let's get this rolling lol. And yes, I did use necessary precautions, I put him in a carrier to make sure they would be ok and I proceeded from there.

I wasn't necessarily discouraged by how Molly acted, just confused b/c I've never heard of a cat stalking and hunting another cat lol and I really didn't know if it was aggression or playfulness. Molly plays super rough with her toys and on her cat tree and since she's a bengal/maine coon mix and about a year old, she's an excellent hunter and super smart and energetic so I'm guessing she was just uncontrollably excited since Preston's even bigger than her lol and she probably thought, "awesome! I don't have to be as gentle with him!" I let them meet through a crack in the door this morning and they both batted at each other a bit, he laid down again while he played with her and seems to be a super submissive cat. He got sick of it after a little while and walked away while Molly tried shoving through the door to get to him, so I'm guessing she just wants to play really badly? There's never any hissing or growling, so that's what I'm going with lol.

I'm going to give them them their chicken together in the same room today to see how they do with that. If not, I'll back step a bit and just feed them with the door cracked between them for a few days/weeks and see how that goes but I don't anticipate the process drawing out too long with them especially after what you've said. And Lila doesn't seem to give two poops about Molly or coming into the rest of the house or Preston for that matter. She just lays in her basket and watches everything so I'm guessing once I get Molly and Preston to be buddies at least to some degree, integrating her won't be too stressful.

Thanks again, guys and I still welcome any advice/info you might have

 

[bijounk]

oh and thanks for the video -holy freakin' cuteness! There didn't seem to be any of that initial angry, territorial nervousness with my two my so that's good, I think The toys idea is a great idea, I should try that with them today since they both like to play so much and that might keep Molly from wanting to hunt him so much lol. He and Lila have their own toys and Molly has hers, so I'll use one of his and one of hers so there won't be any possessiveness Thanks again, what a great site
 

 

[andrya]

lt sounds like they're right on track. As long as there's no bloodshed, lol, they're just playing and/or establishing hierarchy. Which they should be allowed to do.

Welcome to TCS, btw 

  l'd love to see some pix of your new crew.

 

[catspaw66]

Sugar and Spice and Sheba will "hunt" each other and Julie and Silly.  I have seen Sugar jump off the bed on top of Spice or Julie many times.  The thing to do is make sure Molly's and Preston's nails are clipped, then they won't cause as much damage if they really get into a scuffle.

 

[bijounk]

Good idea with the nail clipping, hers are good but i haven't looked at his.

They've actually been out together all morning today after just doing some more through the door meetings yesterday and they seem to be getting along swimmingly You know, other than occasionally attacking each other, but still no hissing so I'm guessing you're right about it being playing/hierarchy establishment. I actually had both of them playing with toys at the same time so I'm relieved that things are going so well. Thank you guys for the encouragement and help, I really appreciate it and it did put my mind at ease

Molly and Lila met through the door for the first time yesterday which didn't sound as promising lol. Lila hissed and growled at Molly, they batted each other in the face a little, then Molly walked away lol. I think that Lila's going to end up being the boss of all of them

I was thinking of letting Molly and Preston stay together in the main house for a week before trying to integrate Lila, is that a good idea? It seems that most people have two or more cats and introduce one to the group instead of the other way around so I'm not totally sure how to do that

Thanks again for everyone's help, you guys are awesome

edit: I'll get some pics off of my hubby's phone tonight Molly's a bangle/maine coon with longish hair, Preston's all white with one blue eye and one yellow with short hair, and Lila's all white with longer hair and blue eyes. All very pretty kitties

 

[bijounk]

I apologize for being gone, I've been really sick I just wanted to followup in case someone else finds this thread and wants to know what happened

So we let Molly and Lila meet through the door several times over a few days and honestly, I just waited until Lila acted like she wanted to leave the room and explore and I think that was the best thing I could have done instead of trying to force her. After being without Preston for a few days, she finally scratched at the door to come out so I just let her out and she just ignored Molly altogether for the first week without incident and only hissed at her if Molly got too close which luckily Molly respected lol. A few weeks later, Lila and Molly are playing together and even sleeping together Molly plays with Preston and snuggles with Lila so she's got it made in her little world lol and my stress levels have returned to normal

Thanks again, guys You really did help!

 

[peachesxo]

^ Aweee, yay! So good they are getting along.

I just updated my thread yesterday too and mine are acting like besties now as well!

I posted some pics if you want to see them http://www.thecatsite.com/t/250364/new-kitten-with-calicivirus-and-resident-cat-help

Yay for successful introductions