New Aggressive Cat

shortkitty13

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Hello,

My husband and I adopted two cats about three weeks ago, we already had two and we've been having trouble with the four of them not getting along. I am wondering if anyone here can read our situation and give some advice about how to deal with some aggression problems we've been having.

We already had Guts and Vinny, a brother & sister pair we adopted when they were 4 months old, they are now 4 years old. Both are very laid-back, both like to play and get pets but generally on their own time; they'll let you know when they're in the mood.

Now we have also adopted Roland and Fizzgig, not siblings but seemed to do well together at the shelter we adopted from. Roland is 1 year old and Fizzgig is 2 years old. Fizz is pretty laid back and is very sweet - he follows you around the house and likes to ride around on shoulders. Roland, however, is nutty. The shelter told us he was "feisty," which we now know was code for aggressive and a little crazy, but my husband just fell in love with him and had to have him. Now I feel like he is completely disrupting our home and I'm at a loss of what to do with him. Here are our main problems with him:

1. Roland seems to have huge mood swings. In the isolated room with just Fizz, he can be very sweet and melts onto our laps for pets. Then the next moment if you touch him he tries to bite the crap out of your hand. When he's out in the whole house with all 4 cats he becomes very aggressive if you touch him at all and makes a lot of hissing/yowling noises if you try to pet him.
2. He stalks the other cats. Fizz does not seem to mind and they will play together, but our old cats HATE it. They are definitely scared of him and he does not give it a rest. We have been trying to have a spray bottle handy whenever we have him out with the other cats, but the spray bottle stops him for about 10 seconds and then he'll start stalking/trying to pounce on someone again.
3. I am completely unable to clip his nails, which leaves me really worried for the other cats as he is the only one I can't clip so he's the only one with fully sharp claws. We have tried holding him in small increments, touching his feet, etc. to get him used to the process but he is just awful anytime we try to clip them. He absolutely destroyed my hand the last time we attempted it. We are going to try again tonight by wrapping him up in a towel, but I am scared of getting hurt. We also have some sedatives from our vet for our other cat (she gets very upset being put in a carrier) and are also thinking of giving him a very small dose of that in order to clip his nails.

I am just so confused about what to do with him. I'm not giving up on him and I refuse to take him back to the shelter - I'm just unsure of what to try. We took the introduction process very slowly - first just letting them sniff a towel with the other cats' scent on it, then site swapping, then peeking through the door, then playing in a room together, etc... but our old cats are still so fearful. And no wonder, because he tries to pounce on them!

If anyone has any advice on how to fix this with all four cats, or what to do about the youngest ones' aggression, I would be so grateful. Thank you.
 
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shortkitty13

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I will also add that we have also used cat "calming spray," which hasn't seemed to do much. Currently contemplating getting a couple of the behavior solutions that Jackson Galaxy sells - particularly the bully one. They are so pricey but honestly I'm desperate and willing to do whatever it takes.
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. Tbh, a 3 week introduction process is pretty fast. Sometimes it can take months to get multiple cats acclimated to each other. While, I am not altogether sure that the rapid pace of the introduction is the sole issue, it does seem like there is some tension being felt by Roland when he is surrounded by all of the other cats at one time.

Roland is the youngest and will likely act/look a bit more feisty because he is just 1 year old. Even Fizz has another year's worth of age on him, and has likely settled down a bit more than Roland at this point. However, Roland needs to be taught boundaries, especially with the older two cats. And, the key to successfully teaching boundaries to any cat is consistency, consistency, consistency.

When Roland attacks you or another cat, he should be picked up (with a towel if necessary, and you can use a piece of cardboard to separate him from the other cat first), either told a firm "no" or 'hiss at him', then say no more and move to another room for a time-out. A minute or two time-out is sufficient. This has to happen each and every time he attacks, and a designated method chosen and not changed from incident to incident.

Also, some cats are more easily startled than others, so your hand/body movements might be provoking some of the attacking he does to you when you reach to pet him while in your lap. Reaching over a cat's head can startle some cats, for example. So, it is important to pick up on what you are doing at the time Roland surprise attacks and see if you can find a pattern.

There are a lot of different calming products on the market, and not all work on all cats, so you may have to experiment with a few to find one that works on Roland.

I am going to include links to several articles that might help you with some ideas on how to handle your situation.

How To Set Healthy Boundaries For Your Cat

Why Do Cats Attack?

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

Your Cat Probably Hates It When You...

5 Reasons To Never Spray Water On Your Cat

I hope there is information in these articles that you will find beneficial!!!
 
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shortkitty13

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Hi. Tbh, a 3 week introduction process is pretty fast. Sometimes it can take months to get multiple cats acclimated to each other. While, I am not altogether sure that the rapid pace of the introduction is the sole issue, it does seem like there is some tension being felt by Roland when he is surrounded by all of the other cats at one time.

Roland is the youngest and will likely act/look a bit more feisty because he is just 1 year old. Even Fizz has another year's worth of age on him, and has likely settled down a bit more than Roland at this point. However, Roland needs to be taught boundaries, especially with the older two cats. And, the key to successfully teaching boundaries to any cat is consistency, consistency, consistency.

When Roland attacks you or another cat, he should be picked up (with a towel if necessary, and you can use a piece of cardboard to separate him from the other cat first), either told a firm "no" or 'hiss at him', then say no more and move to another room for a time-out. A minute or two time-out is sufficient. This has to happen each and every time he attacks, and a designated method chosen and not changed from incident to incident.

Also, some cats are more easily startled than others, so your hand/body movements might be provoking some of the attacking he does to you when you reach to pet him while in your lap. Reaching over a cat's head can startle some cats, for example. So, it is important to pick up on what you are doing at the time Roland surprise attacks and see if you can find a pattern.

There are a lot of different calming products on the market, and not all work on all cats, so you may have to experiment with a few to find one that works on Roland.

I am going to include links to several articles that might help you with some ideas on how to handle your situation.

How To Set Healthy Boundaries For Your Cat

Why Do Cats Attack?

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

Your Cat Probably Hates It When You...

5 Reasons To Never Spray Water On Your Cat

I hope there is information in these articles that you will find beneficial!!!
This is very helpful, thank you! How long should an introduction take, with the new cats being isolated? Our vet and the shelter told us only two weeks with a few days for each step, so we thought we were being especially slow. Do you think we should completely start the process over?
 

FeebysOwner

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There is no one answer about how long an introduction process needs to be in place before you can call it a success. That depends solely on the cats, the environment, their ages, their demeanor, etc, etc, etc.

A couple of weeks, as the vet/shelter said, is probable in some cases - not so much in others. And, the few days for each step before proceeding to the next step is only applicable if that step appears to have been totally successful - otherwise each step needs to be expanded based on desired results.

Also, keep in mind, it would not have been to the shelter's advantage to tell it could take months, as I am sure they would not have wanted to scare you away from adopting the new cats. You also don't know (do you?) the history of these cats, so their previous life could be impacting their current behavior, especially Roland. That will also affect the introduction process.

This is an excerpt from the 'unsuccessful cat introduction' article (above) states:

Here are a few tips for going through the re-introduction process -
  • Read the rules for introducing cats again - they all still apply so make sure they are fresh in your mind.
  • Try to separate your home into two large areas, rather than keep one cat in a single room. A single "safe" room is great when you bring a cat into your home. It's not needed with a cat that has already spent some time exploring your home. Larger living quarters mean less stress for all involved - and an easier re-introduction.
  • If possible, move faster to the "territory swap" phase. Again, since both cats are already familiar with your home, allowing them to spend time in "the other cat's" area won't be as stressful as it would be for a new cat.
  • Make sure you can do a "territory swap" in a safe way without losing control of either cat and having them face each other in the doorway. Use a crate or carrier, or find a way to create a third "safe zone" for the swap.
So, on that note, I guess I should have included the article on Successful Cat Introductions - which I will do now:

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide

There are still likely to be some additional ideas posted here by other members over the coming hours/days!

Good luck! Continue to talk to us as needed, and certainly keep us posted!!
 

Danglos

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Wrap a towel round a cats paws and only leave the paw where you are trimming nails sticking out and just a bit. Maybe it sounds cruel but tightly bound up my cats sit calm and we get the job done then shake them loose and they calmly exit the towel. The battle is wrapping them up after that they just accept it.

On the newcomer thing we also have 4 and I was worried the newest Ollie is crazy as at playtime he's been destroying the cat toys, growling, hissing and drove off the two settled/longest stay residents. I let him dominate play then I tricked him out of the room and locked him out. The next cat got the toy and was exactly the same growling, hissing really aggressive so he also was exiled. The third kitty exactly the same and I realised that they all do that it's hunter instincts and kittens are supercharged with energy and take it out on each other.
 
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shortkitty13

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Wrap a towel round a cats paws and only leave the paw where you are trimming nails sticking out and just a bit. Maybe it sounds cruel but tightly bound up my cats sit calm and we get the job done then shake them loose and they calmly exit the towel. The battle is wrapping them up after that they just accept it.

On the newcomer thing we also have 4 and I was worried the newest Ollie is crazy as at playtime he's been destroying the cat toys, growling, hissing and drove off the two settled/longest stay residents. I let him dominate play then I tricked him out of the room and locked him out. The next cat got the toy and was exactly the same growling, hissing really aggressive so he also was exiled. The third kitty exactly the same and I realised that they all do that it's hunter instincts and kittens are supercharged with energy and take it out on each other.
Thank you for the advice. I get that Roland has a lot of energy and is the youngest, but my two older cats just won't engage in the same kind of play with him. I just feel so bad for them as they are cowering from him an constantly looking around to see if he's there. :(
 
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shortkitty13

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I restarted from square 1 on Monday. I have been using towels and socks to get them used to the new cat smell again every day. I also took a blanket from the new cat room that they had been laying out and put it out in our hallway. Guts and Vinny will lay on the blanket and aren't hissing at the towels/socks anymore. I also purchased 3 baby gates and set them up in the doorway to our basement with a blanket over them so the new boys could roam the basement with Guts and Vinny upstairs. There was one hiss from Vinny when he smelled the boys on the other side of the baby gates, but then they just sat listening to the boys playing in the basement for a while. Would this be a good time to move on to site swapping, or should I just keep doing the towels/socks for a couple more days? I'm so nervous about screwing this up!
 

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Site swapping in my experience having introduced 8 cats to existing cat(s) is good whenever. We've even had new cat in a box and old cat in a box i.e. carrier whilst this is going on. Some cats have been mega aggressive and others not.

Introduced Ollie to the other three no problem and seems okay with no real hissing. They wander around together etc and eat so i figured okay. However, I've noticed a few things:

When Ollie's playing none of the others join in. When I've shut him out they join in. Bring him back and two walk away almost in a huff. Ollie also is clingy and rubs up against and super affectionate follows us around avoiding the others and when he's gone downstairs out of sight several times he's yelped and run up quickly so when unattended I'm not sure how they treat him. Still only been a week and they say a month sometimes longer so long as they aren't actively attacking or blocking each other, no toilet issue or clear bullying. It's subtle things but eventually cats will realise the other is here to stay and so long as you swap scents and make them sleep a few days in each others "home" it should be okay. It's just playtime where there's issues with multicats.
 
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shortkitty13

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Site swapping in my experience having introduced 8 cats to existing cat(s) is good whenever. We've even had new cat in a box and old cat in a box i.e. carrier whilst this is going on. Some cats have been mega aggressive and others not.

Introduced Ollie to the other three no problem and seems okay with no real hissing. They wander around together etc and eat so i figured okay. However, I've noticed a few things:

When Ollie's playing none of the others join in. When I've shut him out they join in. Bring him back and two walk away almost in a huff. Ollie also is clingy and rubs up against and super affectionate follows us around avoiding the others and when he's gone downstairs out of sight several times he's yelped and run up quickly so when unattended I'm not sure how they treat him. Still only been a week and they say a month sometimes longer so long as they aren't actively attacking or blocking each other, no toilet issue or clear bullying. It's subtle things but eventually cats will realise the other is here to stay and so long as you swap scents and make them sleep a few days in each others "home" it should be okay. It's just playtime where there's issues with multicats.
Oh, you need to make them sleep in each others spots? So I would need to have my older cats sleep in the new ones' isolation room and let the new ones sleep with us for a night? I haven't read that before. I don't know how Guts & Vinny would react to that...

We don't have anyone with toilet issues either and I've taken that to be an okay sign at least. Have you used any of the diffusers or calming scents with your cats or do you basically just leave them to their own devices? How long did you wait before leaving them alone unsupervised, while you're away from the house, etc.?
 

Danglos

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t You don't have to but we've tried many ways and this works for us. At one point we had the isolation bathroom, then the isolation dog cage (which was a bit mean) and finally a whole room as I figured these are 3 month-6 month cats at various times. Ollie was the most recent 3 months 20 days old and he was accidentally introduced early and while they aren't hissing at him and he eats, sleeps and hangs out with them he is still noticeably the odd one out from the gang. I reckon 2 more weeks he'll be sleeping besides the others.

The thing is kittens quickly become cats and we found some like Lucy had to be rehomed because she not only wanted to be solo she hates other cats. Today had a video of her from our friends and she's jumping in and out of a tunnel and fetching a ball. We had her for 2-3 months and she never played with us. We are very much aware that when our kittens get bigger they might not like each other and if we had to we would move any unhappy cat to our friends as fortunately we have a lot of cat owning friends and we understand that certain cats fit a social dynamic and others don't. Can't force cats to be sociable but at the same time need to give them 2-3 months to settle in and unless they aren't eating (like Lucy) then if they are happy up to 12 months old.

This all sounds cruel and callous as we love our cats but we've learned that multi cat harmony is only achievable with the right cats. Every cat who has left us is happy SOLO and was rehomed for that reason and the three who left us we have lost £300, £600 and £800 so it was for their sake and were costly lessons. People think we are crazy switching cats but its because we are near to achieving a happy cat home. We have four and will either keep all or cut down to three. I intend to observe behaviours and play in next month, the reassess in 2 months from then and then 4 months after that. By that point I'll have either succeeded and ideally keep all 3 of the little ones or move one on.

We built our family around Milo who is 9 months old. We made a commitment that he's the boss cat and he has to be happy with his companions. He has fur siblings 4 months 1 week, 4 months 2 weeks and the last is 5 months tomorrow. Cat temperaments are so different. Leo and Jessie hated each other and all other cats. Leo was violent towards us when other cats were around but on his own could be lovely. Jessie bullied other cats. Lucy was scared of other cats. Milo was friendly to every cat and is a lovely boy. So it made sense to build around him.

Archie is lovely but is attacking furniture and becoming a bit destructive. He also won't play. He pushes other cats away from food and is lazy and greedy! Charlie is affectionate but on his terms. He won't be picked up nut he will happily be stroked and rub up against you. He also likes to watch us and purrs instantly. Ollie is the most affectionate and is a super cat but as the new guy I feel he's deliberately hanging with us and trying to be number one per. Milo is calm, he dominates the others but isn't a bully. They all follow him and he leads them in demanding food etc. He also groomed me on Monday!

Lots of cats, different personalities and interactions. It's exciting and interesting but we are still learning and it benefits our family. I'm happy with the cats and my children are learning responsibilities. Our youngest son who has learning difficulties is starting to learn empathy, how to handle cats and it's really good for him. I hope your cats settle down. Like I said Ollie is over the top wanting to be main cat, see us first, aggressive play and establish his position. I think Roland is doing the same. New environment possible frenemies, smells, territory, establishment etc. He's probably adjusting quite well considering some cats hide for 3 weeks before they even start to settle!

PS We used Felliway Classic now we use Felliway Friends!
 

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Felliway takes one week to fill the room and start being effective. Airing or air fresheners ruins its' affect so you have to isolate a room and fill it with the stuff over time then introduce cats to play there or maybe eat at opposite ends of room where they can see each other then gradually place this close daily over a week or so. Eventually they'll tolerate each other then one day you find them sleeping besides each other!
 

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FELIWAY!!!! works WONDERS with my single cat and her urinary issues
 
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shortkitty13

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Felliway takes one week to fill the room and start being effective. Airing or air fresheners ruins its' affect so you have to isolate a room and fill it with the stuff over time then introduce cats to play there or maybe eat at opposite ends of room where they can see each other then gradually place this close daily over a week or so. Eventually they'll tolerate each other then one day you find them sleeping besides each other!

Is this the same as Felliway Friends, like you said?
 

5starcathotel

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Just a couple of points to add....

For resolving animosity between an 'active' cat, and an 'inactive/older' cat, it often helps to engage the older / inactive cat with highly interactive play. It gives the older cat confidence, and shows the younger cat that he is not a thing to be messed with!

Introductions take as long as they take....it took almost 2 years for my crew of 4 cats to share a single tree for an afternoon nap in the sun.

I think you are dealing primarily with territory issues, as Danglos and FeebysOwner indicated. In his space, Roland is calm and affectionate.....but outside of this 'safe zone', he is agitated and aggressive. I'd guess Roland needs site swapping and territory expansion therapy, and your older cats needs some structured play-time to remind them of how much fun hunt-catch-kill can be.
 

Danglos

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Is this the same as Felliway Friends, like you said?
Yes it appears to have a different name in the US. In the UK it's Felliway Friends. Our vet sells it but if there are better recommended products available I suggest you check out the reviews.
 

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I’m following this thread with interest as I have a similar-ish situation at the moment. I'm not sure what the etiquette on this site is: should I start another thread or is it okay to post my own description of what I’m up against and ask some questions?
 
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