Resident Cat Chasing New Cat

[GraciesParent]

Hi everyone!

About a month ago, I rehomed Gracie (new cat) with my sister, who's cat-mom to Larry (resident cat), a big, oafy gentle giant. We've been following all the cat-introduction guidelines -- we read all the articles on this site (+ many others!) and have been taking it very s-l-o-w-l-y, per Jackson Galaxy and all the other experts.

Both cats are now mostly OK with each other -- they will eat side by side, have treats side by side, and after an initial sniff will usually ignore each other during supervised joint-playtimes.

EXCEPT...

Larry likes to chase. Anytime Gracie starts walking upstairs (to the second floor from the main floor), Larry immediately bolts after her and she panics. He's not aggressive with her and doesn't attack her, he just seems to love the "game" of chasing. Gracie, though, winds up scared, usually under a bed, and Larry will sit in the room and just watch/wait. As soon as she gets brave enough to slowly venture out, he follows and starts chasing again. Eventually, we separate them and Gracie goes back to her base camp.

So, I have a few questions:

* Though Gracie will sometimes make one short guttural sounds when the chase is underway, she doesn't wail or scream and neither does Larry. Is this a sign that she is *not* as scared as we think she is? They run so fast that we can never see whether her ears go back, but there's never any physical contact or blood spilled or fur flown. He just seems to chase her into a corner and then sit there.

* Is there any way to deter the chase instinct in Larry? It's usually triggered by the stairs, and we can't figure out why... but Gracie's base camp is on the second floor, so we can't block the stairs off.

* Would multi-cat FeliWay be worth a try?

Right now, post-chase, we go back a step in the introduction process and keep them apart (we have a pet gate, so they can see/smell/hear/touch each other through it easily and they're totally fine with that) for a couple of days... then we try again... then it goes fine for a while... then inevitably another chase happens.

Should we actually be exposing them to each other *more* rather than less?

Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance! :-)

 

[GraciesParent]

Oh, and a couple more details, in case they matter: Gracie is four years old, petite and spayed, and Larry is seven years old, neutered and easily twice her size.

 

[Furballsmom]

Would multi-cat FeliWay be worth a try?

Hi!
It might be (but it's a bit expensive and there's no guarantee that it will work).

Some members have taken an approach of working to get the chased cat's confidence up with more individual play time and more luvins, (...she is really the only one who can get Larry to stop chasing, either by giving him a swat, or by actually getting involved in playing/tussling with him etc)

...and then some play time with the two cats together, --tying into your thought of exposing them to each other more.

 

[GraciesParent]

Thanks, Furballsmom -- Gracie is actually quite confident. She will walk out of her base camp (when we open the gate) and right past Larry. She hurries a tiny bit for the few steps she takes closest to him but otherwise doesn't really seem scared, and will sometimes actually whine for him (or us) from behind the gate.

She has swatted him before, maybe twice total, when he's tried to sniff her bum, but when the chase starts she takes off and doesn't look back.

Today's chase seems to have spooked her quite a bit, though: she ran under my sister's bed almost an hour ago and is still there. She's popped out for treats but then retreated back under the bed. This is the first time the chase has affected her for more than about five minutes -- she usually bounces back pretty quickly and is ready to come back out of her safe room... but not today.

 

[Furballsmom]

That's her in your avatar photo? She's beautiful!!
Hmmm. Maybe try the playtime idea, either with the two of them together in an area but playing separately with several different toys and at least two people one for each cat, and then eventually with just one toy between the two of them?

 

[Kflowers]

Was Larry this playful before you started using the FeliWay? We tried it with Sweet Gum and she became a kitten again - biting and attacking anything that moved. We got rid of the stuff and her thin veneer of civilization returned.

 

[Kflowers]

Where you in the room when she went under the bed? Does she stop before she hits the wall under the bed? I've known cats who sort of crash landed in their safe places. If she does you might consider putting a line of pillows against the wall under the bed, to soften the landing.

I'd consider her whining for him as well as you at the baby gate a sign that she likes him. She may want to play with him, but have yet to work out the details. He isn't hurting her, so he seems to have his part down good. The staring is waiting for her to decide to play the game again. If he went under the bed after her, that would be bad.

 

[GraciesParent]

Maybe try the playtime idea, either with the two of them together in an area but playing separately with several different toys and at least two people one for each cat, and then eventually with just one toy between the two of them?

Yup, we're going to revert to that, I think. We'd already successfully passed that stage of the intro process -- or so we thought! -- which is why they were now being fed together (happily and peacefully). Though, they never quite took to the "play with one toy between you" idea.

Was Larry this playful before you started using the FeliWay?

We actually haven't started any FeliWay yet. I was wondering if it might help.

The staring is waiting for her to decide to play the game again. If he went under the bed after her, that would be bad.

That's what we think, too! And Gracie never crashes into the wall, thankfully.

Larry has always liked to chase -- he does the same when he visits my parents and their cat, but their cat usually gives him a swift swat and a BIG yeeeeeowl "GET AWAY FROM ME!!!", and he knows to knock it off... then doesn't do it again. They always have one "incident" when he visits, and then he keeps his distance. But their cat is bigger than Gracie, and maybe more intimidating. ;-)

 

[Kflowers]

From everything I've heard male cats have respect for female cats. Male cats like to fight, usually sort of for the fun of it. Even when they are fighting over ladies and turf they don't intentionally damage each other enough to keep the other from hunting. (Yes, they do serious damage because of the abscesses, but I don't think they understand that part. And, of course, sometimes you just get a bad guy, who fights dirty.) Female cats are hardwired to protect kits. Usually smaller than the males, they fight hard with intent to kill.

A small female cat, a large male, the male chases and leaps on the female, before a breath, she flips over underneath him and rips a long deep gouge from his ribs to his fluff. He learns not to bother her and we paid a vet visit. They managed to ignore each other after that.

 

[GraciesParent]

LOL and YIKES! We're hoping not to get to that point. Your "fight to kill" description sounds like our parents' cat, who's somewhat timid but does NOT put up with ANY of Larry's shenanigans. And he knows it.

 

[Kflowers]

Chase and hide is a favored cat game. So is stalk and wait. Gracie isn't screaming for a rescue, is she? You may have already succeeded in your introduction. Of course, they may now consider the chase - get separated - view through the child gate - eat separate - get together a game now. A game that involves the humans. Not too shabby there.

Are you waiting until they both sleep on the same bed at night? Cause sometimes that never happens.

 

[GraciesParent]

No, we're nowhere near expecting them to curl up and sleep together. We know that's still a l-o-n-g way off. And no, thankfully she's not screaming when she's cornered. She did the first time it happened, but that was a couple of weeks ago and she hasn't done that since.

It seems that yesterday's extended chase/hide has really spooked Gracie, though. She will now not come out of her base camp, even after watching Larry (through the gate) be sequestered in another closed room.

Our concern is that Gracie doesn't know that she should chase back, or to establish her boundaries w/ Larry... and that she's actually becoming more afraid rather than more confident. She seems to be *losing* confidence rather than gaining it.

 

[Kflowers]

Treats sometimes help. More play time just for her. Set up a table, bookcase, something at least three feet up from the floor, by the door with the child gates. The idea is to give Gracie a high perch to sit on to watch Larry. Height is strength in cat world, unless, of course, she goes to earth. Try the height thing first, it's easier than putting a tunnel in your floor.

 

[GraciesParent]

We've created a multi-level perch for her (dresser + chair + step ladder combo) just inside her base camp and on her side of the gate, so we'll see if that helps! She's spent the entire day in her room, only venturing out briefly for a few treats and then heading back inside.

We're not going to push anything too soon and are just letting her decide if/when she wants to step out.

 

[goingpostal]

When I added a second cat, my first loved to chase her around and into corners. I’d have to go break it up and separate for awhile. They were ok with each other, not friendly but not aggressive, but then the 1st especially at night would get feisty and decide she wanted to chase.

I kept the new cat in my bedroom at night, in different levels when I was gone and kept breaking it up, after a month or so she was mostly over it, another few months and it’s an equal common game, they clean and lay by each other, not BFFs but get along very decently. So I didn’t really do anything although I had a diffuser going, just let time take it’s course.

 

[GraciesParent]

Thanks, goingpostal -- last night, Gracie and Larry hung out on either side of the gate for a while. She didn't seem scared and sniffed him/he sniffed her, which was good... everything was calm... but she's still very tentative about leaving her room.

 

[GraciesParent]

So, it now seems like Larry (who was neutered at the shelter five years ago, when he was a year old) might be trying to "mate" with Gracie (who had been spayed by her previous owner).

She's still afraid of him when they're together -- we keep him on a harness and he's not aggressive or anything, but he's started to very calmly walk over to wherever she is an just kind of STAND over her, peering down, almost in a domination-esque way... and she does NOT like it. He doesn't bite or swat or growl, he just kind of stands there until she hisses... then he walks away or, if he's not getting the hint, we direct him away.

Could he somehow still be feeling "amorous"? Is there a male/female dynamic that remains, even when both cats were long ago spayed/neutered?

And, most importantly, is there any way to deter this behavior or remind Larry that his new sister is NOT for dating? ;-)

 

[susanm9006]

That doesn’t sound like mating behavior to me. It is probably a subtle and rather polite request for play. He is probably waiting for her to flop over on her side, or stare back at him as a way of saying game on?

 

[Kflowers]

With mine in the story above, the lady was in heat, which is why boy cat offered his services. He didn't do it right, he'd been neutered before he learned how and it's possible Larry was too. If Larry intended romance, he'd be waiting for her to do the 'in heat dance' or he'd have jumped on top of her and grabbed the back of her neck.

Remember Star Trek when Kalar and Worf finally got together? Cat sex is sort of like that, maybe a little less violent.

 

[GraciesParent]

That doesn’t sound like mating behavior to me. It is probably a subtle and rather polite request for play. He is probably waiting for her to flop over on her side, or stare back at him as a way of saying game on?

That's encouraging, then. I mean, at least from a "what is he DOING?!" standpoint. :-)

She cowers and hisses when he does this, so she's not exactly into it... but he usually backs off, and it's a relief to know he might not be trying to woo her. Thanks!