At what point do I decide to rehome these cats?

[projectsyd]

A member of my family recently lost their home as a result of negligence on their part. We were the only ones who could take in their cats on short notice. I have two cats of my own, and so we have been keeping the cats separated. Our cats also used to live with their cats 5 years ago. We're currently housing & feeding our family member so the cat's have no other home for the time being. The cats have been under the same roof now for about 2 weeks and I've seen no signs of improvement with regards to the behavior of my family member's cats. Both cats attack my cats if they're ever left alone together. We've been trying to keep the cats separated as much as we feel necessary but sometimes they manage to find each other.

Current System:

I have 8 litter boxes in my house for 4 cats (4 on each floor). Each cat has their own food bowl & water bowl, there are two communal food bowls and a communal water bowl. The pairs of cats only have access to the communal bowls when it is their turn to leave home base. Each cat has a favorite toy as well, and we have been playing with all four cats.

My cat's home base is our bedroom. We have been feeding them in the bedroom & they have access to a water bowl while in the bedroom. My family member's cats home base is our basement. They have access to water while in the basement but we don't feed them in the basement. They also have access to the four litter boxes when in the basement.

At meal time, we've been feeding them between a gate (which is just me acting as a gate keeper while all four cats eat). We haven't had any incidents during meal times so far, though my cats still occasionally hiss at the other cats. We take turns allowing both set's of cats to have access to the communal areas. While one set is in the communal area, the other set is at their home base.

Over time, my cats have become more courageous and will sometimes make a bolt from home base to the communal area while the other cats are out. My cats haven't attacked the other cats, they generally run and hide. In cases where they feel cornered, they will take a defensive stance and yowl loudly. One of my cats jumped through the railing at one point from the 2nd floor and landed half way down the stairs. I haven't seen my cats instigate an attack against my family member's cats but mine are the first to growl/hiss and act defensive.


How Things Are Going:

We attempted a feeding in the communal area tonight as their had been very little hissing and feeding between the doorway & gatekeeper seemed to be going well. We had three of us supervising, toys and treats at the ready and things were going good until one of my family member's cats attacked my cat. Then the other cat joined in, and next thing we know it's a full on brawl. All cats drew blood & we had to wrangle everyone up and bring them back to their home base.

I don't know what to do; I feel like my family member's cats need to find a new home while they're getting themselves back on their feet. I'm worried about the health and safety of my cats. They're extremely stressed & I don't want any cats to get hurt. In addition, my wife and I are leaving the country for three weeks at the end of the month. I worry that managing the four cats during this time will be very difficult for one person living at the house.

At what point should I consider rehoming my family member's cats? Does anyone have any suggestions on what else I could be doing with the cats? Our plans now are to reset by feeding between doorway and slowly reintroduce using the gatekeeper but this time take more time. I just don't know what else I can do to get the cats used to each other. It will be months before my family member will be able to find a place of their own and we don't know anyone else who can take the cats in.

 

[Furballsmom]

I think everything you were doing has been right on the money except that you rushed things a bit. It's ok in that other than some blood being drawn things are still where they were in each feline's mind (as opposed to having taken steps backwards even though it might feel like that).

If you aren't familiar with these two articles, there is some helpful information. The only thing that concerns me is that you-all are leaving.

Would you consider (if it's available where you are) registering with Rover .com? It's free to register and that's really the only way to see the people --house/pet sitters, their customers' reviews, bio's and fees.

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction – TheCatSite Articles

 

[Nebaug]

Pet hotel!! Tomorrow!!! it’s very nice of you to help family members. That said, your home life should not have significant changes and it does. You cat do not understand and it’s a huge upset and change. Couple of years ago I had 4 adults and 2 under six children in my home for two months (no animals) As you can imagine it was …sometimes chaotic atmosphere. I tried to protect cats with setting boundaries ( cats room was a no go zone) however that wasn’t always followed and just having so many people was a stress. A month after they left and my beautiful boy that was prone to stress developed blockage that got complicated and ultimately led to his demise. Until this day I blame myself for not recognizing how stressed he was and isolating him more to give him time to breath.
I’m sure this is extremely stressful for your cats and you need to protect them. If you don’t intend to live together forever you need to separate cats completely (they can keep theirs in their room) and let yours keep their territory. If that is not possible again pet hotel even some rescue and adoption agencies will board animals until owners are ready to collect them. Good luck.

 

[projectsyd]

I think everything you were doing has been right on the money except that you rushed things a bit. It's ok in that other than some blood being drawn things are still where they were in each feline's mind (as opposed to having taken steps backwards even though it might feel like that).

If you aren't familiar with these two articles, there is some helpful information. The only thing that concerns me is that you-all are leaving.

Would you consider (if it's available where you are) registering with Rover .com? It's free to register and that's really the only way to see the people --house/pet sitters, their customers' reviews, bio's and fees.

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction – TheCatSite Articles

The one family member will be at the home while my wife and I are away, so there will be someone home most of the time. I also have other family coming and checking in on the house as well while we're gone. The only thing I haven't tried is petting using clean socks. My plan now is to just reset and try again starting with scent, then visual, then playtime/treats. It's pretty much what we already did but as you put it we probably rushed the interactive playtime.

We were really hoping to have this figured out before we left the country. My cats have separation anxiety and have had accidents in our room when we've left for long periods of time. I'm not comfortable leaving them in my room for hours on end without us being there so I don't really know what to do.

 

[projectsyd]

Pet hotel!! Tomorrow!!! it’s very nice of you to help family members. That said, your home life should not have significant changes and it does. You cat do not understand and it’s a huge upset and change. Couple of years ago I had 4 adults and 2 under six children in my home for two months (no animals) As you can imagine it was …sometimes chaotic atmosphere. I tried to protect cats with setting boundaries ( cats room was a no go zone) however that wasn’t always followed and just having so many people was a stress. A month after they left and my beautiful boy that was prone to stress developed blockage that got complicated and ultimately led to his demise. Until this day I blame myself for not recognizing how stressed he was and isolating him more to give him time to breath.
I’m sure this is extremely stressful for your cats and you need to protect them. If you don’t intend to live together forever you need to separate cats completely (they can keep theirs in their room) and let yours keep their territory. If that is not possible again pet hotel even some rescue and adoption agencies will board animals until owners are ready to collect them. Good luck.

Pet hotel isn't possible as the family member doesn't have the finances to support that arrangement. Aside from offering room and board we've refused to offer help with financing due to major trust issues. But yes, it's not a permanent situation so maybe some other arrangement is necessary.

 

[Furballsmom]

The one family member will be at the home while my wife and I are away, so there will be someone home most of the time

My cats have separation anxiety and have had accidents in our room when we've left for long periods of time.

My point was that by having a certified licensed pet sitter coming in to check on all the cats, play with them and help the person who is there as necessary with them plus send you videos and updates as well as handle any veterinarian visits, you would have a possible option.

Have you looked into Cat Music? There's Relax My Cat, Musicforcats and Spotify and other sources have harp music for cats.

Also there are a lot of calming products on the market;
My Poppycat didn't respond to pheromone type products at all positively--with Feliway he just sort of hunched into himself 'til I removed him from the area where it was being used (a vet clinic), and he'd leave the room where I tried Comfort Zone at the house.

Only Natural Pet has a calming product called Just Relax Calming spray with essential oil (catnip oil)--see their link I gave you above.

There's this one, be sure and scroll all the way down the page;
www.bachflower.com

Also, there is ThunderWunders calming chews, Richard's Organic Pet Calm drops, Naturevet Hemp, HomeoPet Anxiety Relief, Head to Tail Calming, Relaxivet Quiet Moments Cat treats, GNC Calming formula, and there is Calm-o-mile, Natures Miracle calming spray, Vetri-Science's Composure is another item to look at, Pet Remedy - UK and US (it has valerian) is yet another, as is Essential Pet Pet-eze, Pet Organics No Stress, Only Natural Pet (brand and website) has other calming products, Pet Naturals also has one I believe, and there are others.

Lambert Vet Supply is a website to look at, and of course chewy, also there's Petwishpros, animaleo, 1-800-petmeds, Petco and PetSmart, and other pet stores.

This post talks about some other products;
Calming Treats For A Very Picky Cat

 

[Nebaug]

If finances is an issue the licensed whoever is out of question either. So your family member should keep his/hers cats confined to his/hers room strictly. This would at least give you piece of mind while you are gone overseas. If family member is staying only temporarily I just don’t see a point of stressing cats by intro process, that can stretch 6 months a year or longer.

 

[Furballsmom]

If family member is staying only temporarily I just don’t see a point of stressing cats by intro process, that can stretch 6 months a year or longer.

This is a good point, I agree.