Introducing New Cat, Aggression From Old Cat?

[chwx]

Ok so I have 4 cats living indoors now that we have moved into a bigger place. Oliver will be 6 years old in April, Pinball is 11 months old and Sally just hit 6 months. A few months prior to moving we had a stray adult calico show up who was named "Cali". We started feeding her and she hung around. We tried introducing her at the old house but my cats would have none of it, probably because 3 cats were already so cramped in 600sqf. We're now in almost double that and on neutral territory. Cali is indoors now and for the most part everyone seems happy....Except Sally. She's raging hell on ALL the cats when Cali is around, and God forbid there is food present. She's used to eating out of a "community" bowl with Ollie and Pin but if she even SEES Cali she will start hissing and trying to fight the other two. If Cali isn't around then Sally is perfectly fine and eats well with the others. I've got like 8 bowls laying around the house right now because of these fights. Oliver is the most chill cat ever, he has no interest in anything going on and just walks away. Pinball on the other hand is VERY sensitive to the aggressive outburst and I'm worried about his stress level. He likes peace and quiet. I assume this is mostly Sally trying to assert some sort of dominance but when will it end?? Cali will pick fights too if the others get near her bowl. Last night Cali and Sally were eating side by side (their own choice, I have like 8 bowls laying around) and when I moved a 3rd bowl from between them they looked at each other, hissed and then smacked each other at the same time.

I'm at a loss on how to keep the peace between all the cats, especially Sally and Cali who are the offenders. Oliver just wants to be friends (He was my "momma cat" to Pin and Sally when they were itty bitty kittens and even now) and Pin just wants things to be his normal routine. :/ I never had these issues when I introduced Pin or Sally, it seems to be an issue with Cali being an adult. (Of unknown age, though I suspect around Oliver's age.) More than anything I want mealtimes to be peaceful and for Pin to not feel like he can't eat. Oliver will walk away and go to another bowl but Pin kinda shuts down. Will they ever be able to eat in the same room?

 

[siold]

Ok so I have 4 cats living indoors now that we have moved into a bigger place. Oliver will be 6 years old in April, Pinball is 11 months old and Sally just hit 6 months. A few months prior to moving we had a stray adult calico show up who was named "Cali". We started feeding her and she hung around. We tried introducing her at the old house but my cats would have none of it, probably because 3 cats were already so cramped in 600sqf. We're now in almost double that and on neutral territory. Cali is indoors now and for the most part everyone seems happy....Except Sally. She's raging hell on ALL the cats when Cali is around, and God forbid there is food present. She's used to eating out of a "community" bowl with Ollie and Pin but if she even SEES Cali she will start hissing and trying to fight the other two. If Cali isn't around then Sally is perfectly fine and eats well with the others. I've got like 8 bowls laying around the house right now because of these fights. Oliver is the most chill cat ever, he has no interest in anything going on and just walks away. Pinball on the other hand is VERY sensitive to the aggressive outburst and I'm worried about his stress level. He likes peace and quiet. I assume this is mostly Sally trying to assert some sort of dominance but when will it end?? Cali will pick fights too if the others get near her bowl. Last night Cali and Sally were eating side by side (their own choice, I have like 8 bowls laying around) and when I moved a 3rd bowl from between them they looked at each other, hissed and then smacked each other at the same time.

I'm at a loss on how to keep the peace between all the cats, especially Sally and Cali who are the offenders. Oliver just wants to be friends (He was my "momma cat" to Pin and Sally when they were itty bitty kittens and even now) and Pin just wants things to be his normal routine. :/ I never had these issues when I introduced Pin or Sally, it seems to be an issue with Cali being an adult. (Of unknown age, though I suspect around Oliver's age.) More than anything I want mealtimes to be peaceful and for Pin to not feel like he can't eat. Oliver will walk away and go to another bowl but Pin kinda shuts down. Will they ever be able to eat in the same room?

Four cats is very manageable. The only one I think you could have a potential problem with is Oliver. I think it is wonderful that you took in a stray. But, I encourage people not to feed strays, as it encourages reproduction. I can see Oliver having a problem with Cali coming into his established territory. Neutral territory is a good start. I think it is wonderful that you brought in a stray. I'm surprised that Sally is the one having the problem, as she is just a kitten. What she is doing is showing the other cats that she is the one in charge. But, she is mainly showing Cali. The best thing to do is to feed each cat separately. Oliver may be calmer about this because you are introducing a female. Pinball will be just fine. Males have set territories, but roam much more than females. This will end once Sally feels that everyone has accepted her as the dominant cat. It sounds like her and Cali are in for a showdown. I would leave them alone while they are eating.

Your best bet is to just let Sally and Cali establish their hierarchy and not intervene.

 

[chwx]

No reproduction problems since everyone is spayed/neutered. Pinball and Sally were also pulled from the streets as feral kittens. I don't have much money but I do try to spay and neuter anyone I can when we have extra money. I just hate seeing hungry kitties and feel fixing and feeding them is better than not gaining their trust through meals and being unable to catch them to be spayed/neutered.

I'm not worried about Oliver at all, he could get the crap beat out of him and still want to be friends. He's our "hippie cat", all about love and peace. :lol3:

I try not to intervene with any of it, I grabbed the bowl to give to Pin away from the others. Like I said, I have 8 bowls that I dish out food in but it seems to still be an issue that everyone is curious what the other has (even though they eat the same thing) and Cali is food aggressive and Sally becomes aggressive if Cali is even across the room from her. I'm just hoping we can make peace in the house and everyone live in harmony. There is enough space now that the cats can all go off into different rooms if they want to. Cali and Oliver actually spend a lot of time together in mine and hubbys bedroom while Sally prefers the living room or my brother in laws room. Pinball goes wherever I go, he's a mommas boy and my velcro cat. :rub: Before the move, Sally actually spent most of her time with the dog but now I worry about Zoey being around Sally and Sally attacking her out of random if Cali comes in the room. :/ Zoey's almost 16 and can't see or hear as well as she used to so she has no idea what's going on most of the time. Sally has already smacked her once and scared the crap out of her and I'm worried the poor dogs going to have a heart attack if it happens again!

 

[ruaryx]

Did you do a slow intro process?  Cats don't like change and need to be introduced to new cats gradually.  

http://www.wvcats.com/integrating_cats.htm


I would separate them and redo the process, personally.  Make sure you love on your resident cats extra hard so that they know that their relationship with you and position in the house isn't changed.