Problems introducing adult cats

[luciafernanda]

I have a cat, Lucia, she's one year old and still very playful and energetic. She'd never really known other cats until recently.

My parents have two cats, Billy and Max. They're brothers and thirteen. We've had them since they were kittens. They're lazy and very set in their ways.

I moved back in with my parents a few weeks ago after living abroad for a while. Obviously I brought my cat, so now Lucia is getting to know other cats for the first time, and they couldn't be more different from her.

To start with, we kept Lucia locked in my room all the time, tried not to let the cats see each other, swapped objects with each others' sent on them, etc., then we started feeding them on opposite sides of the door...we did lots of research online, figured out a plan of exactly how we'd do it, and it worked well. Eventually, we started letting Lucia have the run of the house when we were in. She's been allowed to run around the whole house as long as people are around for about a week, and at first things were perfect.

Max could not care less about Lucia. He is the laziest, most relaxed, laid back, and confident cat you could meet. His attitude rubbed off on Lucia, and now they're even playing together - they've never hissed at each other, never fought, even sleep by each other. That is more than I ever expected or hoped for.

Billy on the other hand...well he's always been more nervous than his brother. He really doesn't like change, and luckily hasn't had to deal with much in his life. But he does not like Lucia, though he was beginning to accept her until last Sunday. I was out, and my parents were having roast beef for dinner. Lucia was hovering around the table, and being incredibly sweet and adorable, and my parents dropped some beef for her. At that moment, Billy walked in. Lucia took that to mean he was threatening her food and she launched herself at him, they got into a vicious cat fight and my mum ended up with a nasty cat bite herself.

Since then, there has been a lot of tension between Lucia and Billy, and it seems to be getting worse. They will sit next to each other on the sofa (Billy sits on my mum, Lucia sits on me), but after a period of sitting nicely, one of them will suddenly hiss at the other and we've been afraid there'll be another cat fight (there hasn't been, but only because we're around to distract them or grab them or whatever). Aside from in the evening, Billy just hides whilst Lucia walks around the house.

Yesterday, Billy spent the whole day hiding under my parents' bed. Today he's behind the sofa. Even though I've locked Lucia away in my room to try and help Billy relax and realize it's still his territory, he's too nervous to come out.

I'm really sad for Billy. He's not a dominant cat. Lucia doesn't mean him any harm, she's just curious about him (she likes going up to him to have a look or sniff then goes away, she even rolls onto her back in front of him), but she's always constantly running around and wants to see what's going on everywhere all the time - she's young and has only lived in small apartments before, she's never had all the space she has now in my parents' house.

So....any advice as to what we can do, to help Billy and Lucia to get on and to also help Billy relax and be less anxious?

Thanks.

 

[Ms. Freya]

After something like that, it may not be a bad idea to re-start introductions between them. I know it will feel like one step forward, two steps back, but it may help Billy get past his upset. Does Billy have anywhere in the house where he can go that Lucia can't? If he has a safe spot, it may help him relax.

One other thing I've found helps are Feliway pheremone diffusers. Our Freya was a very anxious cat and we found that plugging the diffusers really helped her mellow out.

I know we have other members here who've dealt with similar situations, though. I'm sure some of them will be along soon with more ideas.

 

[luciafernanda]

I'd never really heard of Feliway but we're going to get a diffuser! Sounds like it might be the solution to our problems, if it works - and I've read almost all good reviews.

Billy can go in the garden and in the kitchen (we keep Lucia out of the kitchen so she can't get through the cat flap, it's not a really convenient arrangement). In the daytime that's okay, but it's getting colder and raining more so Billy would rather be inside. He has his hiding places in the house, like under my parents' bed and behind the sofa, but Lucia can get to them if she wants to. I'm not sure how to create an area that only Billy can get to in the house?

I'm wary of starting the reintroduction again, even though I know it's the best idea probably, because now Lucia knows there is a whole world outside of my bedroom, she wants to go to it! She sleeps with me at night but she'll wake me up shouting when she's up and ready to play. She even jumped on the door handle the other day, she's smart. Also she is SO LOUD. If she thinks you're ignoring her, she will shout and shout and shout and even sounds somewhat human. It's unnerving how loud she can shout. So if she's locked in my room when we're home, basically we all suffer her piercing miaows. And sometimes she'll even run into the door to get out, and I don't want her to hurt herself. Maybe it is the best solution though and we should just buy ear plugs, hehe.

I wish Billy could just see how relaxed his brother is and follow suit

 

[segelkatt]

Just like with children sometimes they just have to work it out by themselves. If you let Lucia have the run of the house  and Billy notices that she does not go after him, just sort of pokes at him, eventually he will figure out that she is no threat. Hissing and growling is not a cat fight, they'll get over it. If you try to interfere you will get the raw end of the stick as you saw when your mom got bitten. They may never get to be buddies, as long as they tolerate each other it's ok, but that will take time and lots of patience on your part. A cubby where Billy can hide (I use the carrier for that) would help. 

 

[shadowsrescue]

Make sure you have lots of vertical space for the cats to escape one another.  You can use cat trees or even just shelving on the walls.  Take a look at Jackson Galaxy's site and look for his "Catification" ideas.  He suggests the cat super highway. 

Reintroductions may be necessary, but I understand the challenges.  I would suggest until things settle down you do not leave the cats unattended.  If no one is home to watch the cats, put one of the cats in a room by themselves. 

Beside using Feliway, you can try Composure.  It is a calming natural remedy.  It comes in treat or liquid form.  I prefer the liquid form, but the treats are ok too.  You can give it to the more aggressive cat to help calm them and and also to the cat who is afraid to help them feel more calm with the situation. 

Last year I brought a stray/feral into my home.  I had one resident cat who had been an only cat for 5 years.  I also have a large dog.  It took exactly one year for there to be peace in my home.  It took lots of work and I did have to redo introductions.  I moved too quickly the first time and it cost me alot of time.  The second time I moved very slowly and it made a big difference.  I also incorporated it with feliway and composure.

 

[luciafernanda]

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• luciafernanda
• Oct 11, 2014

I just went into the spare bedroom and saw this, got so excited I had to share. They were so relaxed I actually had to go and stroke Lucia to check Max hadn't actually killed her, hahaha.

Billy doesn't really jump high anymore, but Lucia likes high spaces, there's lots of shelves and things she climbs up. I'll make Billy a nice box up under my parents' bed where he can hide in comfort.

Don't worry, whenever we're out, Lucia is always locked in my room - she has everything there.

Thanks for the suggestion of Composure, I hadn't heard of it. I think we'll try Feliway and Composure to see if that improves things, and then do re-introductions if those don't have the effect we want.

 

[mani]

I love it when that happens...

 

They're probably being typical cats, searching out the sunshine, but they're prepared to share it and that's a wonderful thing!