New cat invading old cat’s space

[Fizzle52]

Hi everyone,

The members on this site have been very helpful with Hurri, my poor cystitis cat who has been through an ordeal with multiple blockages, bladder inflammation and urethral spasms, whom I have moved over to where I live with my parents in a pretty open house with a big garden in hopes of reducing his stress. He is getting comfortable, and has started exploring more.

The problem is that we have two existing cats, one 8 year old female stray, Dobby, and one 13 year old male British shorthair, Boris (my neighbour’s, who sort of lives here now), and after 3 days, Hurri has started venturing to the backyard where Boris usually likes to hang out. All 3 cats have been fixed, but Hurri only got fixed 4 weeks ago. He’s about 1.5 years old (estimated as he’s a rescue).

Boris is a grumpy man in general and very conflict averse, so he was unhappy and just gave Hurri a long death stare. Hurri seemed quite curious and tried to approach while bowing his head in a circle a little bit, and crouching. Boris just stayed where he was and stared. Then Hurri retreated and trotted away. Later on, Hurri began really encroaching on Boris’s corner. He would get very close, and Boris would hiss at him, then Hurri would just sit down slowly and look at him. His tail was bristly and he would sometimes go “mowwww” and then jerk a little bit forward, at which point Boris would hiss and growl. Hurri even walked into Boris’s litter box and took a piss. He’s generally a very mild cat, so I don’t know why he’s invading our old cat’s space.

What should I do? The house is very open and there’s no way to fence them off from each other. I’m worried about a fight, and also that this will cause Hurri’s stress-cystitis to flare up again.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. Hurri isn't invading Boris' space to be antagonistic, he is doing it because he is curious. As far as the litter box, it isn't unusual for cats to share them, so I don't think that Hurri's using Boris' box has any significance whatsoever. It's only going to be a problem if Boris thinks it is a problem.

The best you can do under the circumstances you've described is to use distraction techniques to get Hurri to stop focusing on Boris once you can tell that Boris has had it with the unwanted attention. And, make sure Boris has places to go to get away from Hurri. I would worry as much about Boris' health as I would Hurri's. So, distracting Hurri when you can and letting Boris know you 'have his back' by getting Hurri out of his face whenever possible, would the best for both of them health-wise. Hurri will eventually learn that he is better off leaving Boris alone, but this all very new and will take some time for Hurri to figure it out.

After you give Hurri some more time to settle into his new home, if he is still driving Boris crazy, you can start to pick up Hurri, tell him no, and remove him from the area that Boris is hanging out in. This is something you will have to do consistently - possibly hundreds of times - in order for Hurri to understand. It will be much less stressful for Hurri the quicker he learns that Boris is 'taboo territory'.

 

[Fizzle52]

Hi. Hurri isn't invading Boris' space to be antagonistic, he is doing it because he is curious. As far as the litter box, it isn't unusual for cats to share them, so I don't think that Hurri's using Boris' box has any significance whatsoever. It's only going to be a problem if Boris thinks it is a problem.

The best you can do under the circumstances you've described is to use distraction techniques to get Hurri to stop focusing on Boris once you can tell that Boris has had it with the unwanted attention. And, make sure Boris has places to go to get away from Hurri. I would worry as much about Boris' health as I would Hurri's. So, distracting Hurri when you can and letting Boris know you 'have his back' by getting Hurri out of his face whenever possible, would the best for both of them health-wise. Hurri will eventually learn that he is better off leaving Boris alone, but this all very new and will take some time for Hurri to figure it out.

After you give Hurri some more time to settle into his new home, if he is still driving Boris crazy, you can start to pick up Hurri, tell him no, and remove him from the area that Boris is hanging out in. This is something you will have to do consistently - possibly hundreds of times - in order for Hurri to understand. It will be much less stressful for Hurri the quicker he learns that Boris is 'taboo territory'.

Thank you for your detailed response! I also had the feeling that Hurri wasn’t being aggressive, but him jerking forward and doing that “mowwwwwww” meow made me second guess. Is that normal even for curiosity?

I just went out to check on them and saw that Hurri and Boris were laying down very near each other! About 1 metre apart. Boris was definitely not cornered — he came out closer to the front despite normally sleeping at the very back. As I approached them Boris hissed a little, and Hurri gave a very meek “oww”, but they didn’t move. They looked quite calm but their pose was still quite conservative, just normal belly down with paws in front, Hurri’s tail curled and Boris’ tail out. Does this mean that it just takes time and that they might one day be friends? Should I still pick Hurri up every time he gets close or only intervene when they fight?

 

[FeebysOwner]

That lunging forward motion and the noise that Hurri is doing sounds to me like inviting Boris to play! It sounds like maybe Hurri is already figuring out Boris doesn't want to be a playmate. That kind of interaction you described seems like a step in the right direction. I wouldn't intervene when they are together like this, since there didn't seem to be any over aggravation on Boris' part. He might have hissed just to tell you he isn't thrilled with Hurri, but he stayed where he was at and didn't try to swat at Hurri or leave. If the interactions are mostly like this, Boris might just learn to like Hurri - if not like him, at least tolerate him. Just continue to keep an eye on them when they are in each other's company.