Not getting along

[cats5]

Raven which is Nicky's actual real brother (they came from the same litter) just do not seem to get along at all. When I rescued both of them many years ago, I was planning on trying to find Raven a good home but since I couldn't, we decided to keep him. Well, Nicky was in the house & since I had one cat that lived in our building out back & needed a companion as her companion Sunny Bunny passed away, I decided to let Raven live out there with her which worked out great; however, unfortunately, our Little Bit passed away & that left poor Raven out there alone so I decided to bring him into the household with the other cats. He has adjusted quite well & even though he's not bosom buddies yet with the other cats they seem to tolerate him except for his real brother Nicky. Nicky does not like him at all & always instigate a fight with him. Raven's been in the house for about  6 months now & he's not exactly the friendliest cat himself. He doesn't like to be held & to hold him, you have to catch him off guard as if he sees you coming at him, he will run & hide. They are both about 8 yrs old now & I'm hoping in time that they will warm up to one another & be friends or at least tolerate one another. Maybe 6 months is maybe too soon to expect this? Raven does enjoy being in our house & he's definitely a chow hound as he loves to eat & the only one he has actually warmed up to is Mr. Topaz which looks identical to him except Mr. Topaz is a little larger than he is.

 

[ravenclaw]

You haven't explained the process you used to integrate Raven into your household. Did you just plunk him down inside, assuming that he would get along because his brother was there?

Introducing a new cat into a household with resident cats can be tricky, and I'm guessing that you took some shortcuts. One idea is to start the introduction process all over again.

Otherwise, check to make sure the house has plenty of clean litter boxes, cat furniture, and toys. Maybe use Feliway to reduce stress. Keep the two warring cats apart except for when you can supervise them directly.

It's good of you to take care of these needy animals.

 

[cats5]

Yes, maybe I did do a shortcut but I've used this same method for many yrs with previous cats that I have rescued & it did take some time but they all finally adjusted. Raven is doing quite well & when I first brought him into the household, he pretty much stayed by himself & I did keep them separate unless I  was there to supervise. Other than Nicky, he's doing quite well & seems to be quite happy in our house. We have 6 cats in the house & right now, Cami is the newbie & she has her own private bedroom & I only let her out when I can keep an eye on her & so far so good with her. Raven has been in the house for 6 months now & there is no way for me to separate him from just Nicky so that is not an option. I have 6 litter boxes that are cleaned twice daily & he's really not interested in playing with toys at all nor do I have any cat furniture. My cats pretty much sleep wherever they want to in our house. Raven & Nicky tolerate each other & on occasion will have a few spats so I'm hoping as time goes on, they will get better. Thanks for your imput.

 

[betsygee]

I understand about the shortcuts.  We had two cats and introduced a third by 'plunking him down' in the house.  We didn't know about cat introductions at the time and we were lucky--it worked out fine and all three of them are friends now.  So sometimes that does work.

But we've got another cat we're trying to introduce now and it's a more complicated process.

Have you tried calming collars or Feliway plug ins?  Or maybe calming treats for Raven and Nicky.  Sometimes those kinds of things work.  

 

[cats5]

No, I haven't tried the calming collars or Feliway plug ins but that might be an option. Not really familiar with the calming collars but will check into it. Is it like a flea collar that you keep on for a period of time & than replace? Also, the plug ins, do you have to put them thru-out the house, which I would think would be rather expensive??? My cats don't just stay in one room, they have free-range thru-out the house. Not heard of calming treats either but thanks for the info.