Miserable Situation

[Scat Man]

Back in December of 2018 we brought 3 cats that my mother in law had to the house with our already 5 we had..Now 3 stay in the living room and kitchen and the other 5 have the rest of the house..Not working out like we had hoped as they do not get along..Disaster is the best word to describe it.

I guess part of this is my fault for rescuing 3 of them.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Are they fighting, or just mostly 'ignoring' or barely tolerating each other? I am guessing that the resident 5 still all get along, and the other 3 also get along with each other? So, you have essentially two mini cat colonies living in your home. As long as they are not fighting, you might have to live with this situation as is.

What exactly are you calling a disaster? Are you looking into the idea of going back and trying to salvage an introduction process...or???

See if there is anything in these articles that you might want to try to improve the situation.

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide

The Multi-cat Household

 

[KarenKat]

That’s super tough - but even though I’m sure your integration he’ll feels like forever it’s only been about six months. We introduced a third cat at the end of 2017 (we are now down to two unfortunately, also the ones that weren’t getting along). It was tense for almost a year, and even now I feel like the two rivals are only just starting to see common ground.

Obviously your situation is more complex, but it always feels worse when you are in the thick of it.

 

[Scat Man]

Not so much they do not get along (they don't) it's the fact they have to be miserable confined to specific rooms in the house....The lone 5 will go down the hall as far as the living room and stop and none of the other 3 will go any further than the living room....

Yes I have pretty much made up my mind that this is the way it's going to be...I just feel like they all maybe miserable in the current situation we are in....

 

[KarenKat]

Have you tried to do anything to bridge the gap? Special feedings near the other group, playtime or separating the two areas and swapping the cats? (Dealing with Site swapping with three cats is hard enough, I shudder the think what would happen with 8)? If there aren’t really fights I should think with some work you could improve the situation.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Do you have the living room blocked off from the rest of the house, or do they just stop there on their own? If there is a way to set up a blockade, you can try feeding them a few feet away from the blockade on each side so that they are kind of forced to see one another while eating. To begin with, you could just gradually move the feeding stations closer and closer to the blockade until they are within a few feet on each side. Usually, that is when cats will most tolerate one another - during meals. Perhaps, after repeated feedings in this manner they will come to realize the other crew is not so bad at least to the point that they might become willing to cross over to the others' territory. There are DIY screens that could be made to accommodate whatever size the blockade would need to be, and could be easily movable so it is not preventing you from moving from one location to the other.

In the meantime, creating vertical spaces to make up for the lack of floor space would be another way to at least give them the feel of more room. Cat trees, cat shelves & perches, including window perches, in each section of the house.

What would happen if you swapped each crew between the areas? At first, it probably would need to be for a short period of time. That would also allow for scent swapping because each area would now smell like all of the cats. You have a big group to deal with, but it might be worth a try.

 

[Kflowers]

If they are stopping on their own before the 5 enter the living room, then they are working things out on their own. All you need do is wait. Cat time is really slow. Today for the first time in the year since we got the new dog, who adores the cat and knows hissing means back off, cat actually came in the room with her. Cat sat several feet away and looked at her. An hour later cat went back to the room where the dog wasn't. That's huge. So that's how I'm measuring what you are saying.

If they aren't stopping on their own, which shows toleration, then do as those above say. Yeah, go on and buy the double child gate or the screen door for the living room.

 

[rubysmama]

Yes I have pretty much made up my mind that this is the way it's going to be...I just feel like they all maybe miserable in the current situation we are in....

Is everyone eating ok? Using the litter boxes regularly? And there's not actual fighting, right? If that's the case, I'd say none of them are miserable. I think if they were, you would know it.

You may have already read this, but here's the TCS article on The Multi-cat Household

Thanks, btw, for taking in the 3 cats. Who knows what would have happened to them, if you hadn't.

 

[betsygee]

We had three cats and then took in four more when a friend died. We had a mesh gate in the hallway separating the new cats from the resident ones, splitting the house. One day, one of the new cats pushed her way under the mesh and that was that, she was just part of the household. A second one of the new group did the same, so we had five out of seven together.

A third one from the new group never did integrate. He got in terrible fights with our 3 resident cats despite our best efforts to integrate them. Then the poor guy developed IBD and went deaf, which I'm sure didn't help his disposition.

The last of the four 'new' cats was a little spitfire--she fought our three at every opportunity. It took close to three years to get her finally integrated with the original three. But it finally happened. She was never 'friends' with them, but she lived in peace with them until she died recently at the age of 16.

I'm sure it seems like it, but six months isn't all that long with such a big group of cats. Hang in there.