My new cat is bullying my other cats

[pamela diaz]

Hi,

I have a 7 year old male and a 2 year old female. They've been together for a year and a half now and they get along great. Both cats are sterilized, they're sweet and quiet and loving. They have socialized with other cats in the past and never had a problem. 

My boyfriend and I recently moved in together into a new house, new for everyone. He has a 4 year old female cat, named Tuca, also sterilized. She had never socialized with other cats before and she is very demanding and loud, but very sweet to us. We didn't have major problems introducing them, within a week they were eating together and playing and sleeping in the same bed with us. But recently, Tuca started hissing at the other cats, chasing them and attacking them for no reason; there hasn't been extremely violence, but she harasses them whenever she can. My cats now are a little scared, to the point where they no longer sleep with us if Tuca is in the bed and they are afraid to pass near hear, when Tuca hears one of them coming to the bedroom she instantly gets up and acts dominant and they leave, they search protection from me, but I want them to feel secure on their own. 

What can we do to stop this behavior? We want all our cats to be happy and feel at home.

Thank you.

 

[Columbine]

Living with two other cats is a HUGE adjustment for Tuca. It actually sounds to me like things have gone incredibly well so far - car to cat introductions typically take weeks or months, not a few days!

You also have to bear in mind that 2 females will generally have a bit of a power struggle initially, as they will both expect to be the boss. That's not to say that they can't live together, just that it can be a bumpier ride

The first (and easiest) thing to do is get some Feliway Multicat diffusers - ideally enough to treat the whole house (one diffuser treats 50-90sqft). That by itself can often be enough to restore order and peace.

Daily interactive playtime for all three cats could help enormously - its a fantastic stress buster, will direct excess energy in a positive way, and is wonderful for building both self confidence and confidence in the territory.

Opening up more vertical space (by use of cats trees, shelving etc) can be enormously helpful too. You're effectively increasing the available territory, and that in itself can help to diffuse tense situations. Try to make sure there's always an escape route, so that Tuca can't corner the others somewhere. Adding in plenty of cat furniture will also give them all places to 'own', and this should help a lot too.

Make sure you have plenty of litterboxes (at least 4 in this case), and have them in different areas of the house. That way there should always be a clean box available, and no one can prevent anyone else from getting to a box (sometimes a dominant cat will guard the litterbox - having them well spread out makes this impossible )

Stay patient. Things will improve in time.[article="30274"][/article][article="30307"][/article][article="30316"][/article][article="0"][/article][article="0"][/article][thread="297074"][/thread]

 

[tulosai]

If the behavior persists or escalates, you may want or have to consider reintroducing them, though in this case I'd probably first try some of he strategies Columbine suggests. If you do choose or need to do this, look over the following articles and follow the steps in them exactly and slowly, not moving on to the next step until all three cats are completely comfortable.

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-successfully-introduce-cats-the-ultimate-guide
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/introducing-cats-to-cats

This article may also provide some good information for you on your new situation:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/the-multi-cat-household

Good luck!

 

[pamela diaz]

I never thanked you. The cats get along ok, at least they are not afraid of Tuca anymore, she still hisses at them and attacks them sometimes, and tries to steal food when they get wet food, but generally we're ok, they play and chase each other and share toys. Maybe they will never be best friends, but they live well together. 

Thanks!

 

[Columbine]

That's great news! Not all cats will become best friends, but most can learn to coexist relatively peacefully given time and patience. Well done for getting them to this point :bigthumb:

Thanks for the update too - it's alway good to hear how things turn out

 

[my buddies]

Your situation is very much like my current situation.  I have a male (10 yrs.) and a female (2 yrs.) who get along great.  I just took in a young (1 1/2 yrs.) female cat who was a stray.  She is so precious and sweet - I even named her "Precious" - but she became an aggressive bully when after 2 weeks of separation & a slow introduction, I let her share space with my two cats.

Things are slowly getting better, although they growl at each other periodically.  Ironically, the two females are getting along better since they were both hunting an insect in the kitchen together.  Strange.  Oh, I gave Precious some catnip, which she LOVES, and started my new NOW diffuser with essential oils from AnimalEO vet (Dr. Sheldon? in MN).  She makes and sells the best essential oils for animals.  I used the Happy Cat one last night.  I figure if I keep Precious "drugged" for awhile, she'll eventually adjust... that's the plan.

Good luck with your situation.  It's funny to see my 15 lb. white Maine Coon hide from my skinny little Precious.

 

[onirin]

Just going to touch a bit on the stealing food thing

Some cats dont like eating around others, or seeing other cats near them while eatign dinner.  It's a territory thing I guess.  They are nervous another cat will steal their food.

I have one fast eater.  Sometimes she would eat so fast otu of nervousness of the other cat she would throw up.  When she is done she tends to get close to my other cat and watch her, pretty much looming over her.  

They dont fight but you can tell the slower eater is feeling tense.  It got to the point where she hardly ate.  

We started feeding them on opposite sides of the room in a way where they could see one another while eating.  This seemed to help with nervous eating and keeping everyone at their own food bowls.

You might try this, or just feeding them in different rooms.  That way no one feels their food is threatened or that another bowl is in their "territory".

 

[pamela diaz]

About the food thing, the two female cats are fast eaters. The younger one finishes and leaves, but Tuca, the other female, goes to the male and tries to eat the food his food, he leaves unless we move her away, then he keeps eating. She knows she can't do this, so when we are watching she waits far from the male until he is done and then she comes close, but if we are not watching them she goes right the way. We could try to feed them separately and se how she reacts. This is not a big issue I think.

We have another situation now. The cats have been getting along, Tuca doesn't like to hang around the others that much, and I guess this is ok. The problem now is that she has claimed our bedroom as her territory, she doesn't like when the other cats want to come in, she hides under the bed and hisses at them and growls, if she is on the bed she jumps to attack them if they want to come in or get on the bed, she even stands on the threshold door so they won't get near. She has come to a point where sometimes even we (my boyfriend and I) are not welcome into our own bed. Do you have any advice on this?