New Cat Hates Resident Cat

[Catmom923]

Hello! Looking for any and all advice!

We have an 11yo mackerel tabby,Lulu who lost her brother a few months back. We got a new cat, Chappie, a 2yo make tuxedo cat. He is the nicest, sweetest, most loving cat you can imagine. So is she. Perfect fit, right?

She hisses and growls. We have been doing the slow introduction method. We even tried the crate method. Right now we have a screen door up in the new cats bedroom. He's been with us 2 months tomorrow.

Chappie, the newer cat, has snuck out 3 times. (I should mention he never hisses, just acts timid sometimes.) All times he ends up fighting her. The 2nd time he bit her so bad, we had to bring her to the vet. The 3rd time, last week, he pushed passed me as I was trying to go into his room, ran downstairs and attacked her. She wasn't wounded this time, just a few fur clumps removed. But he knew what he wanted to do, which scared me.

He really is the sweetest cat. I don't know if he's scared of her from her hissing and growling and general disregard for his existence and that's why he is so aggressive. I REALLY don't want to have to give up the new cat.

We have a call out to our vet to try to find a cat behavior specialist that we can reach out to.

We have been trying to move their foods closer to the door. Scent swapping. Everything works, until they see each other. She won't go near his room and she runs past so she doesn't have to see him.

ANY suggestions? Anything specific that had worked for other people? My friends keep telling me I need to let them fight it out but I can't afford the guilt of one of them getting hurt again, let alone another $500 vet bill! HELP!

 

[FeebysOwner]

You probably have two things going on here - First, Lulu is older and had a long time companion that she lost, so she is going to take a long, long time to accept another cat. Secondly, Chappie is likely acting out of possible fear, and now is on the offensive with her.

Reverse course with the introductions, and try again. And, no, you cannot let them fight it out - not with biting and fur flying.

I don't what all of the techniques are that you have tried, but here are articles about introductions as well as one about why cats attack. Not to overload you but, I am also including a link about older cats and kittens/younger cats.

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide

How To Introduce A Kitten To An Older Cat

Why Do Cats Attack?

 

[ArtNJ]

Its rare, but, just as you said, I am 100% convinced that some cats just do not tolerate being hissed at. Years ago, we adopted two kittens when we had a senior cat. One kitten was chill, always got along with the senior cat. The other kitten was way too active. Once he hit six months, he must have accidentally hurt the senior cat, whom he did like. The senior cat started growling and hissing at the young cat. The young cat still only wanted to play, still had affection for the older cat, but if he got growled and hissed at, or worse swatted, a switch flipped and he thought he needed to fight. I had two bite wounds and never figure it out, and yes, they cost me around $500 too.

Bite wounds are very rare I've learned. But when you have one, you are at risk of another, transforming the whole situation into something much more difficult.

I ended up permanently separating them using a finished basement. I am sorry not to have helpful insights, but bite wounds make everything different. And if you have a cat that is just mentally configured to not tolerate being hissed at, well, that makes slow reintroductions infinitely harder, because somehow you would have to get 100% of the way with the reintroduction process and not leave them anything to work out on their own. It just doesn't usually work that way in my experience.