New Cat Introduction Going Wrong. Any Way to Salvage It?

stuffman

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About a month ago, we decided to adopt a cat who was rescued. We named him Gomez (Gomez Cattams :)) and he's a very sweet, very playful boy who is neutered and probably a little over a year old. He came to join our two existing cats- Clarice, a 4-year-old sphynx who we've had since she was 12 weeks, and Toby, a just-turned-13 tabby who we've had for the last 6 years. Clarice and Toby hit it off right away, even though she's much more outgoing than the sweet-but-skittish Toby.

We set up a home base for Gomez in the back room and took him right back there immediately after bringing him home. The other cats didn't seem to mind, and after a few hours I caught them sticking their paws under the door and playing with each other. They really didn't seem to mind, and were very curious. We felt that they would be okay with each other, and later that night we opened the door to allow them to introduce themselves. Clarice hissed at him, but he kind of backed off and she went her own way. Toby just kinda looked and sniffed and went his own way too. We'd let them all out in the house, but after a while Gomez would inevitably try to pounce on the others leading to some hissing/growling and we'd separate them for a bit. They'd go from hanging out on the cat tree to being a catastrophe in the blink of an eye it seemed.

Over the next few days, it seemed to get worse and worse. Gomez keeps trying to pounce and chase, and the reactions from Toby and Clarice were getting more and more intense, leading to some swatting and a few scuffles but no real scratching or otherwise. We decided to step things back and keep them apart, swapping rooms and having as much time with the doors open but with baby gates up. Clarice incessantly hisses at him when she sees him through the gate; Toby sort of looks at him and continues on his way. They cats are acting normally otherwise, with no signs of distress or bad behaviors. We'll even do open-door feeding time, with each cat eating just feet away from each other. Clarice will occasionally look over and hiss at Gomez but there's nothing much going on otherwise.

It seems to me that Gomez is overly playful and it's scaring Clarice and Toby. Sometimes Gomez will try to play with Toby or Clarice under the baby gate. Toby usually just walks away but Clarice gets mad. After nearly 3 weeks of keeping them apart, I tried to see how it'd go if I let them all out together. Immediately Gomez hid around a corner and ambushed Clarice as she walked past. They got into a scuffle and she tried running off, Gomez chasing her the whole time while she's yelling and trying to get to the top of the cat tree. I was able to pluck Gomez as he was climbing up, and while it looked like play, Clarice was definitely scared of him. I put him back in his room and all three cats went about the rest of the day as normal.

My wife and I are running out of patience and we love Gomezy so very much but things clearly aren't working. My mother-ln-law is willing to take Gomez but we'd really prefer to keep him. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

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Furballsmom

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Hi! Welcome!!
Three weeks, in cat time which is what you need to realize is what you're working in, is no time at all. They need a lot more. If I'm reading your post correctly, what you're describing isn't all that bad.

Take a look at this, maybe there's something that helps;
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles
and there's this one as well since at a year old he's not that far from kittenhood;
How To Introduce A Kitten To An Older Cat – TheCatSite Articles
 

ArtNJ

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It can be pretty tough introducing a playful young cat to an older cat, especially a senior cat. This is a pretty normal sort of difficulty unfortunately. Furballsmom Furballsmom is entirely correct that these things usually do get better with time and provided some good links. However, if you were to ask a senior cat their opinion of a younger overly playful cat after two months, the average answer would be something like "not a complete serial killer like I thought. However, he doesn't take no for an answer, ignores my scorn, and sometimes even leaving the room doesn't work." Over still more time, that often morphs further into "I don't hate the little *&^!, but he is a PITA sometimes and occassionally I need to growl and hiss to remind him to keep his nasty paws to himself".

Four year olds are a much more in between age, and many become great friends with the youngsters, playing up a storm. Some do not, and have much the same difficulties as an older cat.

I call it the "long slow road to toleration". Its just tough when you have a youngster that is or acts like a one year old and a senior cat. If you keep the cat, don't expect anything you read or try to work like magic, because it probably won't. All of that said, you never know, and especially the four year old might still warm up to the youngster!
 
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