- Joined
- Oct 6, 2012
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Hi everyone smile.gif just wondering if anyone can give me some guidance in introducing a new cat to the household. I will give a little backstory on my experience as well as about the cats involved.
My name is Alex and I've had mostly cats all my life although never more than one at a time growing up. My wife sheena has also had a mostly cat household growing up as well although she has had experience with a multi cat household.
Milo - came to me as a stray when I moved into my own house and I kept him as he was very young and there is nothing but coyotes around my place --( think he was dropped off on the road to fend for himself at the neighbors barn )-- he is the king of the household and has the mood to go along with a king, he either likes you or doesn't and isn't afraid to let you know
Milo is a male grey tabby short/long hair 3 years old
Augustus - We got Augustus after having milo for about a year because he was quite visibly bored and started to get a wee bit destructive. Augustus is a Male Bengal that was supposed to be my big strong monster who turned out to be the biggest suck you have ever met!! Milo and Augustus did very well when we introduced them, I kept Augustus in the office for a week with a toy between the door as well as constantly swapping blankets..... By the time we let them meet face to face they were best friends and still are 2 years later, and although milo can be quite moody Augustus seems to know milo is the alpha. He is 2 years old
Jade - jade was Augustus mother, we weren't planning on getting a third cat but fait had other plans and I couldn't be happier about her coming to us as her female Bengal energy brings a nice calm to the house as well she is quite vocal when the boys get out of line and keep them in their places. She also had quite a seamless transition into the household using the same techniques. She is a 5 year old Bengal
This is where everyone's knowledge/past experiences are needed smile.gif
We had another GORGEOUS stray come along about 4 months ago but wouldn't come near us, about a month later after disappearing for a couple weeks he re-apeared quite thin/messy and this time wanted nothing but love... We started feeding him as we looked for his home but as it started to get cold out I couldn't help but bring him inside...... After a trip to the vet then quarantine for a month then back to the vet for blood tests for viruses and a neutering he has now been inside for 2 months and is quite content with his surroundings. Now I said we didn't want a third and I really really was never thinking 4!!! But words can not describe how awesome he is...... So ya, keeping him.
His name is Sebastian and he is a male long haired tabby estimated at 1-1.5 year old who had his testicles until I had him nurtured
This is where my predicament begins, I have tried every trick in the book with introducing him from the towel swapping, separate rooms (still in effect) I even took some fence lattice and built a door to replace the door in the room so they could more easily see each other and interact when we were home. After 2 months of this we have seen little change in his aggression towards the other cats. He is fine when we feed them all together as well as when he is in his carrier and the cats are wandering around. Milo managed to sneak onto the main floor through the cat door with his extra toes and crazy ninja skills and they got into quite a tuff with hair EVERYWHERE and a small scratch on each cat. I was hoping this would solve their issue but hasn't seemed to. Augustus is at the point where he doesn't care he just wants to see him and jade runs off every time he is around other than at dinner or breakfast but is still a little on edge during that time. My main issue is his aggressiveness, he is ok when I am between them but as soon as I stand up or pretend not to pay attention he goes straight into attack mode (Sebastian)...... We recently got that plug in defuusser with the pheromones as a friend that works at a shelter suggested trying it and are almost finished the first plug in, we have noticed a bit of a difference in the other cats with it but not so much in Sebastian although we are only on the first bottle we were told that we wouldn't notice anything until the second......
Anyway that's all I can think of right now, any help would be awesome!!! I understand I'm going to have to eventually have to let them sort their **** out I'm just wondering if there is a better / more effective way of handling it..... Thank you very much for any help smile.gif
My name is Alex and I've had mostly cats all my life although never more than one at a time growing up. My wife sheena has also had a mostly cat household growing up as well although she has had experience with a multi cat household.
Milo - came to me as a stray when I moved into my own house and I kept him as he was very young and there is nothing but coyotes around my place --( think he was dropped off on the road to fend for himself at the neighbors barn )-- he is the king of the household and has the mood to go along with a king, he either likes you or doesn't and isn't afraid to let you know
Milo is a male grey tabby short/long hair 3 years old
Augustus - We got Augustus after having milo for about a year because he was quite visibly bored and started to get a wee bit destructive. Augustus is a Male Bengal that was supposed to be my big strong monster who turned out to be the biggest suck you have ever met!! Milo and Augustus did very well when we introduced them, I kept Augustus in the office for a week with a toy between the door as well as constantly swapping blankets..... By the time we let them meet face to face they were best friends and still are 2 years later, and although milo can be quite moody Augustus seems to know milo is the alpha. He is 2 years old
Jade - jade was Augustus mother, we weren't planning on getting a third cat but fait had other plans and I couldn't be happier about her coming to us as her female Bengal energy brings a nice calm to the house as well she is quite vocal when the boys get out of line and keep them in their places. She also had quite a seamless transition into the household using the same techniques. She is a 5 year old Bengal
This is where everyone's knowledge/past experiences are needed smile.gif
We had another GORGEOUS stray come along about 4 months ago but wouldn't come near us, about a month later after disappearing for a couple weeks he re-apeared quite thin/messy and this time wanted nothing but love... We started feeding him as we looked for his home but as it started to get cold out I couldn't help but bring him inside...... After a trip to the vet then quarantine for a month then back to the vet for blood tests for viruses and a neutering he has now been inside for 2 months and is quite content with his surroundings. Now I said we didn't want a third and I really really was never thinking 4!!! But words can not describe how awesome he is...... So ya, keeping him.
His name is Sebastian and he is a male long haired tabby estimated at 1-1.5 year old who had his testicles until I had him nurtured
This is where my predicament begins, I have tried every trick in the book with introducing him from the towel swapping, separate rooms (still in effect) I even took some fence lattice and built a door to replace the door in the room so they could more easily see each other and interact when we were home. After 2 months of this we have seen little change in his aggression towards the other cats. He is fine when we feed them all together as well as when he is in his carrier and the cats are wandering around. Milo managed to sneak onto the main floor through the cat door with his extra toes and crazy ninja skills and they got into quite a tuff with hair EVERYWHERE and a small scratch on each cat. I was hoping this would solve their issue but hasn't seemed to. Augustus is at the point where he doesn't care he just wants to see him and jade runs off every time he is around other than at dinner or breakfast but is still a little on edge during that time. My main issue is his aggressiveness, he is ok when I am between them but as soon as I stand up or pretend not to pay attention he goes straight into attack mode (Sebastian)...... We recently got that plug in defuusser with the pheromones as a friend that works at a shelter suggested trying it and are almost finished the first plug in, we have noticed a bit of a difference in the other cats with it but not so much in Sebastian although we are only on the first bottle we were told that we wouldn't notice anything until the second......
Anyway that's all I can think of right now, any help would be awesome!!! I understand I'm going to have to eventually have to let them sort their **** out I'm just wondering if there is a better / more effective way of handling it..... Thank you very much for any help smile.gif