Troubles With A New Cat

[SayBackpack]

Long story short, my older brother and his wife recently moved back home with my parents, where I am also living as I am still in school. They also brought their cat with them, who is female, around 18 months old, and very.... we’ll say “feisty.”

The problem is that we have 2 cats whoe are both about 10, a male and a female. We followed basic recommendations about introducing new cats into a household, and the more easygoing male adapted well and doesn’t have much of an issue with the new cat. Our older female cat, however, oh boy. She’s always been a bit on the nervous side, though never aggressive. Any time she sees the younger cat, she goes bonkers, hissing, growling and spitting. The younger cat has decided to take this as a challenge, and spends a lot of time trying to hunt our cat and cause trouble.

We currently have a gate between the kitchen and main hallway that keeps the cats separate, but also makes life for all of us pretty stressful. It feels rather like we’re living in a cage at the moment. It’s been like this for 2 months now with no sign of improving any time soon, and I’m getting blamed by my brother for my cat “being crazy.” We feed them on opposite sides of the gate, we’ve tried regular play sessions to boost my cat’s confidence, pheromone diffusers....I’m at a loss. I came here hoping some of you could gove some advice on the situation. Thank you!

 

[ArtNJ]

It always makes me nervous when people describe the scenario where an older cat's anxiety hissing/growling makes a younger cat genuinely aggressive. It seems to be fairly rare, but it happened to me 10-15 years ago with prior cats, and led to the older cat getting bitten twice. We just couldn't solve the issue, but maybe you'll have more luck. I have a few suggestions:

(1) reintroduction - traditional recommendation when things have gone seriously south. This didn't work for me, and I do think a younger cat that interprets hissing/growling as an affront makes a reintroduction difficult...after all, it may not be realistic to have zero hissing/growling after a reintroduction, but perhaps if you combine a reintroduction with (2) or (3) below (something I didn't know to try back then);

(2) calming products - Feliway doesn't always work, some people have had success with other products;

(3) medication, usually prozac. Its good to consult with your vet, because they may have things they want you to try. Many don't give out prozac that easily, and want to feel like they have tried to work with you before doing so;

(4) time. If fur isn't being pulled out and you haven't found actual injuries, and its hissing/growling rather than cat screaming/yowling, then maybe things haven't crossed the line where improvement on their own is impossible.

If you are in the stage of genuine cat fights with lots of fur being ripped out and screaming/yowling, you need to separate them immediately while you pursue 1-3. Serious cat fights can lead to serious injuries. Its rare for housemates to full on bite each other, I was unlucky in that way, but if it does happen, the wounds usually get infected leading to pain for them and big vet bills for you.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I'll add some links to articles that will help with the whole process, as well.

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction
Do Cats Get Jealous? (and What To Do About It When They Do)
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide (goes hand-in-hand with the first one)
Is Your Cat Stressed Out?
Potential Stressors In Cats - The Ultimate Checklist
Six Surefire Strategies To Reduce Stress In Cats
How To Safely Break Up A Cat Fight (just in case)

And as A ArtNJ said, if there is no fur flying, and no blood on the ground, you may be in somewhat better shape than you think. There will be a certain amount of jostling for position now.

Patience is the key here. Bear in mind that successful cat introductions can take weeks, sometimes months to do. And you can only go as fast as the least motivated cat is willing to go. Trying to rush or hurry things will only lead to disappointment and failure.