So about 13 months ago I moved to new house and decided to adopt a cat outside my old house named Johnny that I took care of for about a year. He used to come in out of my house. He is now about 2 years old. I have two other cats too, one 13 years old and the other one about 11 years old. I did the slow introduction in the new house and my 11 year old does not care for him but shows Johnny if he does not want to messed with, but my 13 year old one named Oscar is scared of him. He stays in some area of the house and when he walks around he looks around him because he is afraid of Johnny will chase him. Johnny knows that and he intimidates him. I keep Johnny in the garage at night otherwise things are not going to go well! My older cat Oscar likes to go to second bathroom and sleep in the upper shelve of the closet but the last few weeks he is peeing pooping in the floor there. He looks like he is scared to go tho the room with litter boxes that I have had since I moved to new house.( he does not have any medical issues and he did the same thing while back in my other bathroom but now I closed the door) This is been going on for a year and it is not getting any better. Johnny is always looks like he is looking for trouble. They don’t like each other. I can’t keep him in the garage all the time because it is just not right or lock him in the room. I am running out of options. I am thinking about have him in and out of the house. He is used to outdoor in the new house and it is pretty safe. Any suggestion or ideas will be appreciated.
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I am running out of options
- Thread starter Shawnski
- Start Date
Unfortunately, this is a very hard situation. Its quite common for older cats to never warm to active youngsters Generally, things do improve with time and there is a long slow climb to toleration, but this is not always the case. Years ago, I had one of these situations where things got much worse when the kitten reached about a year, and I was never able to solve it.
Still, although there is no magic solution anyone can give you, perhaps we can give you some ideas for things to try which may help. Firstly, you could try a lengthy (several weeks minimum) reintroduction process. Here is our guide on introductions -- a reintroduction uses the same process. How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles Basically, the hope is that with a fresh start, they can do better. Secondly, you could try to increase the elevated spaces in your home for the older cats. For most people, this means adding cat trees. If you watch a lot of Jackson Galaxy, he very frequently has folks build elaborate cat super highways. It sounds like nonsense, but it very much isn't. More than once, I've seen an older cat that is generally very fearful of a youngster play with the youngster with the advantage of elevation. It helps them feel safe. If you have carpentry skills or can afford help, watch Jackson Galaxy's tv show for ideas on how to "catify" your home. If not, maybe add a tall cat tree or two -- can't hurt anything.
Hopefully, folks will have some other suggestions for you. While I have tried to be real about the difficulty, there *IS* hope. Many cats start to chill out considerably around age two, and this tends to make getting along with older cats much easier. So there is definitely hope you can turn this around.
Good luck!
P.S. As far as Feliway, someone will surely recommend it, but be aware that there is no scientific evidence it does anything at all, and various people report that it helped or did nothing, exactly what you would expect from random chance. Personally, I'd put the money towards a better/taller/additional cat tree.
Still, although there is no magic solution anyone can give you, perhaps we can give you some ideas for things to try which may help. Firstly, you could try a lengthy (several weeks minimum) reintroduction process. Here is our guide on introductions -- a reintroduction uses the same process. How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles Basically, the hope is that with a fresh start, they can do better. Secondly, you could try to increase the elevated spaces in your home for the older cats. For most people, this means adding cat trees. If you watch a lot of Jackson Galaxy, he very frequently has folks build elaborate cat super highways. It sounds like nonsense, but it very much isn't. More than once, I've seen an older cat that is generally very fearful of a youngster play with the youngster with the advantage of elevation. It helps them feel safe. If you have carpentry skills or can afford help, watch Jackson Galaxy's tv show for ideas on how to "catify" your home. If not, maybe add a tall cat tree or two -- can't hurt anything.
Hopefully, folks will have some other suggestions for you. While I have tried to be real about the difficulty, there *IS* hope. Many cats start to chill out considerably around age two, and this tends to make getting along with older cats much easier. So there is definitely hope you can turn this around.
Good luck!
P.S. As far as Feliway, someone will surely recommend it, but be aware that there is no scientific evidence it does anything at all, and various people report that it helped or did nothing, exactly what you would expect from random chance. Personally, I'd put the money towards a better/taller/additional cat tree.
Forgot to address making the youngster and indoor/outdoor cat as you suggested. Yes, that can help with these issues! Generally speaking, the youngster gets a ton of energy out when outside, and bothers the older cats less when inside. I have personally seen this make a big difference. Indeed, when I had a one year old as an indoor/outdoor cat, when it was raining hard and he didn't want to go outside, I would see dramatically more problems between the 1 y.o. and my senior cat. No matter how much you play with the younger cat, you will never get as much energy out as they do when they go outside.
Many people here are against indoor/outdoor arrangements because of the dangers. But if your environment is reasonably good for it, and with you having a specific reason to consider it, I think it is definitely a reasonable option if you can't solve this any other way.
Many people here are against indoor/outdoor arrangements because of the dangers. But if your environment is reasonably good for it, and with you having a specific reason to consider it, I think it is definitely a reasonable option if you can't solve this any other way.
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I decided when I am at work I keep him in one of the rooms and closed the door. I went home today for lunch and saw white hairs every where in the living room. I noticed the last 4-5 days Oscar has few tiny scratches in his nose. Trying to make one cat happy and he is making the other 2 cats including me miserable. The white one is Oscar and Johnny is grey tabby one.
