New Cat In The House - Updated Aug 19 - Still Having Issues

[BaileyCrow26]

Hi there, I DESPERATELY NEED HELP! PLEASE READ, I KNOW ITS LONG.

We adopted our grey domestic short hair at 3 weeks old from our towns shelter. We didn't get any litter socialization, so he's a bit of a wild child and a biter, we don't mind, were used to it and figure eventually he will grow out of it. He was neutered in late February, and is about 9-10 months old

Our vet said stormy might be getting bored and would benefit from a playmate and we wanted a second cat, as we don't want children, just cats! So we adopted a beautiful stray siamese that lived outside next door to my parents house, Sammy. Sammy had been neutered and completely vaccinated and was a stray after his original owner passed, he had lived with three other cats, so he is a really well behaved cat.

We brought Sammy home to meet stormy, and we followed the whole 'leave them in separate rooms, feed through a baby gate' shebang, and its been 5 weeks. The boys began playing through the baby gates (we stacked three on top) and the hissing and low growling had ended. they were rolling around and playing through the gate so we thought it was time to put them in the same room.

We began with meal time, they are both VERY food motivated. We gave them their dinner and they did great. no growling, even switched plates for a minute with no issues.....then the food is gone....

Stormy (Resident Cat) is a huge hunter and will attempt to hunt and sneak up on Sammy (New Cat) and Sammy does not like it, so he will obviously hiss. Stormy doesn't know boundaries, clearly because he constantly bites us, but then it ends in a full on hair-flying brawl. We are beginning to feel hopeless...I know it can take a while, but we couldn't break stormy of his biting habit (water guns, nose flicks, air horns, etc) so were worried we might not be able to break him of this habit. they play through the baby gates, but when theres no separation, its a full on cat fight. please, help. we do not want to rehome either of our babies

 

[FeebysOwner]

Stormy has apparently never been taught cat manners, if I understand correctly. Sammy is the new kid on the block, so he is pretty much afraid of Stormy because Stormy is trying to dominate. Typically, one of them will have to be the dominate cat - and that may be Stormy. However, in the meantime, Stormy needs to understand boundaries - and one thing that DOES NOT work is spraying Stormy with water. That can actually have the opposite effect.

The biting that Stormy does - it is solely toward Sammy or also toward you? Either way, consistency is the answer. When Stormy tries to bite, he needs to be picked up and either 'hissed' at or firmly told "no" or "ow" (pick one of those and stick with it), then removed from the area to another location for a few minutes, no more interaction/ignore him.

See if there is anything in these articles that might help you to develop a plan.

Why Do Cats...? The Ultimate Guide To Feline Behavior

Solving Cat Behavior Problems: The Key Ingredient

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

 

[BaileyCrow26]

Stormy has apparently never been taught cat manners, if I understand correctly. Sammy is the new kid on the block, so he is pretty much afraid of Stormy because Stormy is trying to dominate. Typically, one of them will have to be the dominate cat - and that may be Stormy. However, in the meantime, Stormy needs to understand boundaries - and one thing that DOES NOT work is spraying Stormy with water. That can actually have the opposite effect.

The biting that Stormy does - it is solely toward Sammy or also toward you? Either way, consistency is the answer. When Stormy tries to bite, he needs to be picked up and either 'hissed' at or firmly told "no" or "ow" (pick one of those and stick with it), then removed from the area to another location for a few minutes, no more interaction/ignore him.

See if there is anything in these articles that might help you to develop a plan.

Why Do Cats...? The Ultimate Guide To Feline Behavior

Solving Cat Behavior Problems: The Key Ingredient

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

Stormys biting is solely towards me and my fiancé. we tried that, even by holding his scruff, and he just doesn't learn.... I know you probably think we weren't consistent, but we did it for weeeeeeks. Stormy did try to mount Sammy last night and to my knowledge that is a sign of dominance. but stormy also swats and slaps Sammy, it looks like play (ears forward) but Sammy DOES NOT LIKE IT. he hisses, but stormy doesn't get the message (clearly....hes stubborn, can you tell?)

 

[Danglos]

Please can you post some pictures especially so we can see size comparison. We started down the road of increased multi cats (currently 4) after our 2 Leo and Jessie were even sized and it became a daily battle sometimes 4-6 hours of warfare. I read that this was because they were even in size and power so will constantly fight for dominance. One day it was Leo on top licking Jessie but the next Leo was on the floor and Jessie top of the cat tree, or worse Jessie would chase Leo from anywhere he tried to sleep. We ended up bringing in a bigger cat called Milo to be the boss. For awhile that seemed to work.

 

[BaileyCrow26]

Please can you post some pictures especially so we can see size comparison. We started down the road of increased multi cats (currently 4) after our 2 Leo and Jessie were even sized and it became a daily battle sometimes 4-6 hours of warfare. I read that this was because they were even in size and power so will constantly fight for dominance. One day it was Leo on top licking Jessie but the next Leo was on the floor and Jessie top of the cat tree, or worse Jessie would chase Leo from anywhere he tried to sleep. We ended up bringing in a bigger cat called Milo to be the boss. For awhile that seemed to work.

I don't have a photo of them next to each other, but they are very similar in size if not exactly the same. Did your cats get past the power trip?

 

[Danglos]

I don't have a photo of them next to each other, but they are very similar in size if not exactly the same. Did your cats get past the power trip?

Unfortunately in a complicated series of events the neighbours cat Meeky appeared at our door and urinated inside causing a lot of issues. Leo and Jessie at different times attacked Milo and Leo even attacked me. Leo moved on and Archie replaced him but Jessie carried on the aggression and would back Archie into a corner then was hitting him. We have Milo still in charge of Archie, and new kittens Ollie and Charlie. So far Milo runs the house and it seems to work. Ollie has only been here 12 days and it's caused a bit of disruption to the cat hierarchy.

 

[BaileyCrow26]

Hey guys

Could for sure use some help

So we have slowly introduced our new siamese to our grey domestic cat. both neutered males around the same size and only a few months difference in age. The siamese lived on the streets and we took him in. Stormy, the grey domestic, is in full blown kitten mode now. he likes running and playing fetch, gets the zoomies OFTEN and loves to hunt anything that moves. Sammy is a little shy, but will play after some convincing but not in front of stormy. the biggest problem is that all stormy wants to do is POUNCE. he will hunt Sammy, do wiggle butt, hunker down, ears back, and CHARGE. sammy hisses, backs up, ears down, and low growls. we try to distract and divert that energy when we see stormy ready to pounce. we aren't sure how to do this/what else to do. they haven't been together for too long, its been about a month and a week since we got sammy.

 

[cheeseburger]

We are about two weeks ahead of you in introduction timeline. We had the same issue at the same point in time. It resolved itself once we just allowed pouncing to happen. After about two days, our resident cat got bored of it and our new kitten started pouncing back and now there is no more pouncing.

I too had a ton of anxiety about the pouncing and kept trying to break it up but the key to moving past it was allowing it to happen. Our new kitten also hid, hissed and growled, and eventually they figured it out and now there's no more of that either.

Pouncing is play. The other cat is communicating that they don't like that type of play. This is GOOD stuff that the cats need to figure out amongst themselves. Let them do so. I know it's a little scary, but once I let go the cats figured it out on their own.

 

[danteshuman]

I agree with letting them work it out. Though extra play time to wear out the hyper kitty never hurt.

 

[BaileyCrow26]

We are about two weeks ahead of you in introduction timeline. We had the same issue at the same point in time. It resolved itself once we just allowed pouncing to happen. After about two days, our resident cat got bored of it and our new kitten started pouncing back and now there is no more pouncing.

I too had a ton of anxiety about the pouncing and kept trying to break it up but the key to moving past it was allowing it to happen. Our new kitten also hid, hissed and growled, and eventually they figured it out and now there's no more of that either.

Pouncing is play. The other cat is communicating that they don't like that type of play. This is GOOD stuff that the cats need to figure out amongst themselves. Let them do so. I know it's a little scary, but once I let go the cats figured it out on their own.

Wow thats amazing that our timelines lined up similarly. Thank you so much, it stresses us out so much, I lose sleep because I am so attached to both now and could never imagine rehoming either. we raised stormy but sammy and I have bonded in a whole new way. this is very encouraging, we have a whole free day tomorrow so I guess we will let them work out their issues!

 

[BaileyCrow26]

I agree with letting them work it out. Though extra play time to wear out the hyper kitty never hurt.

Thank you! Yes he is a hyper little man, and loves fetch so we will definitly try to wear him out

 

[danteshuman]

How do I put this nicely? Meezers remind me of kids with ADD; highly intelligent, easily bored, always wanting to play cats (that are beyond wonderful and bond very strongly with their one person.) As a survivor of one siamese mutt and the current mom to a 8 month 1/2 siamese mix I will give you the advice I wish someone had told me during my punk’s first year:

You have to wear them out mentally and physically. A bored siamese is a destructive and/or bullying siamese. You can never tire them out with just play. So ?food puzzles with treats inside? ,lots of interactive toys you rotate and a bird feeder to give Sammy a bird watching window is a must! Dante taught me that outside time calms the little buggers down. My current teen gets at least an hour a day of harness time on his 26 foot leash every day. On days that it rains he starts getting into everything!

My punk Dante terrorized his brother by pouncing on him every time he got bored for over a decade. What helped/solved it was afternoon outside time and giving my victim cat one on one daily play time to build up his confidence.

 

[JoyM]

I agree with WEARING him out! He sees the new kitty as a fun new interactive toy. He will probably need multiple play sessions a day with all that energy.
Laser pointers are great but always end with something he can CATCH or he will get frustrated that he wasn’t able to catch his “prey”. Wand toys are great but if you have one that will fetch, that is perfect. If you can get him to the point he is panting, you will have an easier evening.
Cats are most active at sunrise and sunset so that’s when you should have a really good play session. They have extreme bursts of energy but usually don’t have a ton of endurance so it doesn’t take too long (maybe 20 minutes). After he has successfully hunted, feed him. This will encourage him to rest afterwards.
More than likely, your new furbaby will start joining in on the fun and when a shy cat plays, it increases their self confidence. A confident cat doesn’t get “picked on”.
Cats <2 years old have tons of energy and need to get it out or they find things to get into. Really all cats need play but during kittenhood it is essential.
They will eventually figure it out but doing the play and feed technique will get them there MUCH faster. Besides, it’s fun for everyone to see them running and jumping and just being the precious panthers they are.

 

[BaileyCrow26]

Just a little update.... we let the boys be together for 3 hours today. sammy (new cat) sat in the corner while stormy (resident cat) played, ran around, and occasionally pounced, with the return of a hiss and low growl from sammy. I guess this is somewhat positive, feeling a little hopeless but I think its at least positive they could be in the same room for so long. we will be trying again for longer tomorrow.

 

[BaileyCrow26]

we have two cats (mentioned on here before about introducing them) and they can finally be in the same room together without KILLING each other but Stormy (not so well behaved, have tried everything nothing works, even vet cant get him to mind, he bites and hunts alot, only 9 months old) continuously run-attacks Sammy (new cat, siamese, VERY bonded to me and not much of a playful cat, lived outside for a while and we adopted him, think hes almost 1.5 yrs old) and sammy does NOT understand that stormys playing behavior and automatically hisses and extends claws, ears flat on head. we cant get sammy to play back with stormy and understand that this is stormy trying to play. is there any ideas to get them to interact together and break sammy out of his grumpy shell

 

[neely]

Thank you for rescuing both these boys. Here is an Article about cat introductions that may be helpful for you:
How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction
And one more about how to successfully introduce cats:
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide

Both of these Articles discuss some of the problem behaviors you are experiencing between Stormy and Sammy. I hope their relationship improves.

 

[susanm9006]

Are they pulling fur out of one another and biting hard when you say they are trying to kill one another? Or is it just hissing and slapping? It would be helpful for us to see a video of their interaction.

 

[BaileyCrow26]

Are they pulling fur out of one another and biting hard when you say they are trying to kill one another? Or is it just hissing and slapping? It would be helpful for us to see a video of their interaction.

I have a video I just can't seem to upload it... troubleshooting now lol

 

[BaileyCrow26]

Are they pulling fur out of one another and biting hard when you say they are trying to kill one another? Or is it just hissing and slapping? It would be helpful for us to see a video of their interaction.

https://thecatsite.com/media/img_7086.422532/

 

[BaileyCrow26]

here is where we are in our introduction... sammy is a little grumpy man that doesn't want to play (siamese) and stormy is the grey wild kitten you see (Russian blue?? maybe grey domestic)

here is the link to the video...please help. we are stuck here

https://thecatsite.com/media/img_7086.422532/