RE: cat on cat (Full Version)

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CarrieO -> RE: cat on cat (2/8/2009 6:43:55 AM)

I might as well throw in my advice....

I have 3 resuce cats. I started with 2 about 10 years ago. They're the best of friends, no problems at all. They were quite happy to lay on my bed 22 hours a day, eat/play/hunt the other 2. Then, the younger one...now 12 years old...became very ill. I was afraid I would lose her and was concerned for the older one, now 15 years old, because she was so used to having a buddy. I decided to bring another into the fold. I went to the rescue center and found a sweet little 2 yr. old female. She had just had a litter of kittens and appeared to be quite mellow (appearances can be decieving).  I brought her home and, naturally, the older female began hissing/spitting/scratching the new gal. This was about a year and a half ago. The sick cat, of course, got better and came home to a madhouse of young cat/old cat craziness.  Adding to the problem, I live in a small (400sq. ft.) cottage so space is at a premium.
They've staked they're territories out and after much fighting (none of them are declawed) they are learning to like, or at least tolerate, each other.
Peaceful coexistance!
I suggest you give it time, if you really want to give it a go with adding to your feline family.  Growing pains will happen...along with some flying fur and some bloody scratches. Try to offer each cat a seperate space and maybe a time to be together with you. For me, this has always been grooming time. They each get washed/brushed/nails trimmed/treats while we're all in the same room. 
BTW.....I'm gone usually 8-9 hrs a day for work and the girls are left alone....they make it work.  I've learn to accept that it's quite normal for some cats to play rough and I'm no longer shocked to find furballs on the floor. The vet has said they are happy, healthy and well-adjusted felines....no worries.
Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

**edited to add....At this moment, my 3 girls are curled on my bed in a giant ball of black/white/gray fur.....like I said, Peaceful coexistance!**



OneMoreWaste -> RE: cat on cat (2/8/2009 8:28:40 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: sravaka
I am no expert, but I think there's a difference between rough play and fighting with serious intent to do damage.  I have two almost three year old cats.  They were littermates, so have never not been around each other, and they go in a flash from snuggling together grooming each other (totally adorable) to sinking teeth into necks and swatting each other viciously in the head.  They stalk each other, pounce, chase each other all over the house, wrestle, etc., and then go back to snuggling.  I view them as have a bit of a BDSM thing going on. 


Cats, by nature, are predators. If you ever watch big cats on TV or at the zoo, the "playing" that they do, chasing each other around, is actually training for the way that they will hunt as adults. To human worried about their little kitties, it can look *very* rough. Cats are surprisingly durable.

When we fostered a small pack of stray kittens, they would sleep in a big huddle every night, but when it was playtime, all four of them were wild jungle beasts from hell (for about an hour), pouncing and rolling and stampeding across the room. It was almost too much cuteness and hilarity to take [:)]

As for the OP, my experience is that if you have a cat who still acts like a kitten, and gets bored and destructive when he's alone, it would probably be a good idea to get him a playmate with a similar temperment, and a variety of toys/furniture to play with. Inflicting him on an older, more mellow cat, is not the best idea. We kinda learned that the hard way (our mellow cat is also a long-haired tuxedo; the rambunctious cat is a tabby who's now a ten-year-old kitten)

Good luck!



NuevaVida -> RE: cat on cat (2/8/2009 9:31:12 AM)

Thanks to all of you for your great advice and encouragement!  It is very helpful to me.

Holly - who are you calling a little shit?  My kitty??  LOL (he is)

Miss Morrigan, you are right.  I am very new to the feline world and don't know what I'm doing a lot of the time.  I Google a lot, re: cat behavior, and I ask questions of other long-time cat owners.  I love my little guy - the last thing I want to do is cause him (or any other furry creature) undue stress because I'm making a dumb mistake with him.  I was concerned about this when I brought him home, but I wanted a pet and he desparately needed a home (he was in really bad shape when I adopted him) and it was a good fit.  Right now he's snuggling up between my feet and purring.  I like him happy.  [:)]



BigSi2009 -> RE: cat on cat (2/8/2009 9:39:37 AM)

How about allocate each cat a safeword to use until they trust each other properly.....

Sure ok, not that helpful!.  But from reading the replies on here, I think you have a good amount of advice already.



NuevaVida -> RE: cat on cat (2/8/2009 9:52:33 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: BigSi2009

How about allocate each cat a safeword to use until they trust each other properly.....



LOL!!  I like it! 

Is "meow" a suitable safeword??



kiwisub12 -> RE: cat on cat (2/8/2009 11:04:02 AM)

Slightly off topic, but my adult um found a 6 week old rottie puppy in the parking lot of her work place. Very very thin so obviously abandonned. Brought him into a house with 2 other dogs and a couple of cats.
  Balthazar likes to body slam the cat - who needless to say didn't appreciate the gesture. Finally Dexter had had enough - and took off after Bal    and beat him up, scratching , hissing, boxing and generally intimiadating the hell out of him. Bal finally got away from Dexter and ran to the um for shelter and protection.
Can you say respect the kitty??   I have a feeling that  Bal will politely respect cat rights from now on. And just as well, given the size of his paws!

And the same cat hated the the next door neighbours cat when they moved in. Would hiss and beat him up as often as he could.  Two years later the two of them are as thick as thieves, and have established a neighbourhood gang that go around beating up the other cats and stealing their food.  bad boys!



Vendaval -> RE: cat on cat (2/8/2009 3:33:35 PM)

Yes, cats in a household can become their own pack and collectively kick ass on intruders into their territory.



LookieNoNookie -> RE: cat on cat (2/8/2009 7:24:31 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: NuevaVida

My friend was going to take her cat to the shelter today.  She just didn't want him anymore - Gah!!  He's the coolest cat, too - a black long haired with white socks and a white bib.  He's middle aged, mellow, and minds his own business.  So I told her to bring him here - we'd see if he got along with my own little guy (we tried introducing them before, not very successfully).  If so, I'd take him.

I realize we had to rush a proper feline introduction.  But we got them together.  It was worse than the last time.  My kitty is just under 2 years old and still acts like a kitten.  He antagonized our visitor to death by repeatedly pouncing on him, wanting to play.  This was met with hissing and swatting (friend's cat is declawed), followed by more attempts to play, followed by more hissing and swatting.

Then all seemed mellow for awhile.  That is, until my little guy snuck up behind him and - DOINK - pounced right on his back.  The result was Wild Kingdom in my living room - - a wailing, snarling, twisted commotion of two cats wrapped around each other, rolling along the floor fighting, with tufts of fur flying in every direction.

*sigh*  Thankfully no one got hurt.  But I can't keep the cat.

I did talk my friend into taking her cat home and hanging onto him until we found a suitable home (whew).  But it was rough going for awhile. 

My little guy just wants to play play play.  I'm thinking of getting a second young cat to keep him company during the day - maybe it would be more playful than an older one.  I just don't want another scene like today. I am still relatively new to the world of cats.  Any ideas?



Valium.

(It actually doesn't matter all that much if you take them or the cats do....they'll still fight with each other....if you take the Valiums...you won't give a shit.  If you give the Valium to the cats...they won't give a shit and you'll laugh your ass off while they fight).



Vendaval -> RE: cat on cat (2/8/2009 7:26:04 PM)

That reminds me, having them share some catnip might smooth matters along.



Twicehappy2x -> RE: cat on cat (2/9/2009 4:39:31 AM)

 

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-care/introducing-new-cat.html

Here is a link to one of the best how to articles on introducing a new cat to your home.




MissMorrigan -> RE: cat on cat (2/9/2009 4:49:29 AM)

One other thing I did want to say and this comes from personal experience of having house cats as well as housing rescue kitties. Cats will continue to fight for their hierarchical/territorial 'right' all the while it remains there. When my little man, Genghis Khan, has had to go into the vet hospital for an operation the female actively tries to kill him when he's reintroduced to the home despite the fact they  have been raised together from the days they were born and they are now sixteen years of age. The ONLY way to stop this kind of behaviour in the female is to remove her from anywhere she considers her territorial 'right of passage' and so I place her in the toilet room with door locked so that she cannot get out. She'll claw at the door, wail pitifully and I'll ignore her for some hours. When I reintroduce her to the rest of the home the status quo has been returned, she's compliant, friendly and washes the male as if she were doing it any usual day. The mistake people frequently make is removing the newly introduced kitty... this just reaffirms the dominance/territorial issue with the established cat.
quote:

ORIGINAL: Vendaval
That reminds me, having them share some catnip might smooth matters along.



MmeGigs -> RE: cat on cat (2/9/2009 4:59:30 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Vendaval
That reminds me, having them share some catnip might smooth matters along.


Have you tried this, and did it work?  Judging from the way my cats have acted with catnip, I assumed it would make things worse.



MissMorrigan -> RE: cat on cat (2/9/2009 5:15:17 AM)

Yes, same here. My cats become spiteful once juiced up on catnip and it's only amusing to the onlooker.



Vendaval -> RE: cat on cat (2/9/2009 6:32:16 AM)

It was a hit at the last cat party!

quote:

ORIGINAL: MmeGigs

quote:

ORIGINAL: Vendaval
That reminds me, having them share some catnip might smooth matters along.


Have you tried this, and did it work?  Judging from the way my cats have acted with catnip, I assumed it would make things worse.



Lynnxz -> RE: cat on cat (2/9/2009 9:41:12 AM)

quote:

Valium.

(It actually doesn't matter all that much if you take them or the cats do....they'll still fight with each other....if you take the Valiums...you won't give a shit.  If you give the Valium to the cats...they won't give a shit and you'll laugh your ass off while they fight).


Hahahah o no... don't give them Valium, no matter how hysterical it is. When I was little we gave our anxiety cat valiums to help him cope with a move.  He was just a confused puddle of fur for a few hours. >.<



LaTigresse -> RE: cat on cat (2/9/2009 10:47:50 AM)

Anytime I bring a new fur baby into the house the present occupants get locked into the bedroom. That way the new one can explore the house, sniff out the present occupants, and start making themself at home.

After that, it's supervised time together only. When I am gone, the newbie goes into a kennel. After all potential for serious squabbles are past then it's free rein for all.



NuevaVida -> RE: cat on cat (2/9/2009 11:27:37 PM)

That sound so reasonable LaTigresse, thank you for posting. 

A couple folks mentioned catnip.  My guy goes berserk on catnip.  I don't give it to him anymore, after a broken lamp, scattered jewelry (some of which I've never found), a broken vase....you get the idea lol.

Ah well, I think he'll be stuck with just me awhile longer.  I may have found a home for my friend's kitty, so at least he won't be going to the pound.



Vendaval -> RE: cat on cat (2/9/2009 11:28:49 PM)

Oh good, glad you found a home for the other kitty.



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