Long introduction is feeling too long

goreycat

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
May 21, 2019
Messages
6
Purraise
7
Early in March, my roommate caught the cat that was living around the dumpster. She was pregnant, had her kittens, and finally we were able to get her spayed. (I posted about her previously as well.) She is NOT handling introductions well at all. It's been months and I'm discouraged and exhausted. Looking for encouragement/it'll get better and suggestions of what is going wrong that I could fix.

The household:
Calli and Smoke (13/14), adopted together 12 years ago, very mellow about other cats. Have been introduced to about two dozen cats over the years through fosters/moving/new cats.
Puff/Squeaky/China, 2 years old. Siblings raised with the older cats from 5 weeks. Handled another introduction well – a little fussing but mild, and everyone gets along now. Puff is not friendly, but doesn't fight, just yells/hisses. Squeaky is the biggest, dumbest best friend. Always the first to say hi and make friends, quickly forgives (or forgets?) bad interactions. I generally send him in first as the ambassador.
2 probably siblings, 8-9 months old, scooped up in Feb. Handled the introduction into the household well, over about a month – we would have gone longer but everyone adjusted quickly. Whiskey is just like Squeaky in terms of friendliness, while Vino acts like Puff.

At the moment, the current group gets along fine, the occasionally bopping or chasing, but nothing serious or lasting. Lots of vertical space and spots to hide – three stories with a full basement, cat trees, hidey holes. Almost always have some feliway plugged in.

She (Diva) spent about a month in the bathroom - a week and a half before giving birth, and then about two weeks after. During that time, she could hear/see/smell cats under the door, and we switched blankets, but she was very aggressive. Twice she snuck out and immediately attacked the nearest cat, chasing them and drawing blood each time.

We then got a large play pen, the type that has a zip off top and mesh sides, and moved her and babies into it in the living room, while the others were given some restriction for about a week, and then allowed to wander as usual. They pretty much ignored her (Squeaky would go over and sit and watch), but every time one of them got near, she'd growl/hiss, and if they got closer she'd lunge at them, clawing at the mesh and yowling. She (and kittens) would get free range of the house for several hours, twice a day, with the other cats shut in the basement.

We were hoping some of the aggression was just defensiveness about the kittens, but the kittens are off to their new home now and it hasn't gotten better. No longer being in heat hasn't helped either. She's gotten to the point where she doesn't lunge at the others while in the pen, or yell. Squeaky can lie right next to the mesh and they're ok, but no one else really wants to come near her. We've started trying to do some introduction outside of the pen, keeping her on a harness and leash, because she will not stop attacking the other cats.

None of them have gone after her at all, or done anything more than hiss, but any time Diva sees another cat while out of the pen, she gets ready to attack them. If they get far enough away and she's on harness, she'll settle into tense watching, but if they're close, she attacks – not friendly, no noise but ears back, claws out, chasing and cornering. We keep her nails trimmed short, so there hasn't been much damage, but breaking it up can be hazardous because she'll scratch and bite at us as well. When she's out on her, own, she explores a little and then goes to sleep, often in areas the other cats spend a lot of time, so scent is exchanged and she's calm about smelling them.

It's really discouraging because it's been three months now, two months during which they could see each other and were wandering around each other's space, but she's still acting almost as aggressive as day one. They're decent with all the inbetween steps – will eat near each other, can see and smell each other without issue. There's a large gap under the basement door, and they'll play (ears forward, no hissing, claws in) through it, but face to face she attacks. None of mine are motivated by treats, so offering them that as a reward for good interactions doesn't work.

When she's out on the harness, you can't do anything else except watch her, because she gives little warning before she attacks, and I'm really tired of working 40 hrs and then spending so many of my few free hours just holding the leash trying to integrate her. Plus I miss spending time with my cats!

It doesn't help that so far I still don't really like this cat, and that hasn't gotten better for me. I'm also still unhappy that for technically being my roommates cat, I'm doing most of the work introducing, cleaning up after, feeding, etc. But I've never had to deal with an introduction this long or hard, and I'm at a loss as what to change, and how long to keep trying when I already sort of want to give up. It'll get better if I'm just patient, eventually, right???
 

Furballsmom

Cat Devotee
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jan 9, 2018
Messages
39,270
Purraise
53,927
Location
Colorado US
Hi!
I'm sorry to hear things are rough. Has the new cat been thoroughly checked out by a vet, and spayed?
 
Last edited:

ArtNJ

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 1, 2017
Messages
5,485
Purraise
6,957
Well, I'm not really knowledgeable about momma cats with kittens, but I wonder if maybe she was highly stressed because she had kittens in a strange small place surrounded by other cats. Maybe its more then that time not counting as introduction time -- maybe that time actually made things worse, because she was constantly associating your other cats with her high stress level. Thats speculation on my part, like I said I'm not familiar with how momma cats act, have never done a playpen intro and they get discussed here relatively rarely as well. But it seems possible to me that the time when the kittens were with her didn't count, and may have actually made things worse.
 

FeebysOwner

TCS Member
Staff Member
Forum Helper
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
22,429
Purraise
33,188
Location
Central FL (Born in OH)
Hi. I agree with A ArtNJ 's speculation. This was messed up from the get-go. Diva and her babies should have been kept separate from the other cats until the kittens were at least 8 weeks old - ideally 12 weeks old. So, way too early in the process for exposing her and the kittens to the others. Additionally, Diva being placed in a mesh play pen, along with her kittens, while the others cats were allowed to roam free around them was setting up a bad situation. She didn't know the other cats, and then she is placed in a precarious position, trying to protect her babies. That set the stage for what you are experiencing now. Given the timeline, the pregnancy, the number of cats involved, 3 months is NOTHING.

If I were you, I'd start over. Give Diva a room of her own, let her settle a bit, and if you are the one doing the work - develop a relationship with her. Then, start an introduction process with the most friendly cat of the rest of the group. Get her acclimated and comfortable with one cat to start with. Then, you can devise a plan about how to add other cats to the mix. Below are links to some articles that might help you to devise a 'do-over' plan.

Btw, you mentioned two more cats - Whiskey and Vino - not addressed as to who these two are vs. the rest (Calli, Smoke, Puff, Squeaky, China). So, there may be more that we on this site don't know...

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide
 
Top