Unwanted excessive friendly chasing

[Willowwombat]

So, WIllow and Dude seemed to be settling in together nicely (We've had Dude for 7 weeks and Willow for 8 years). They cohabit peacefully and there hasn't been a single fight, or even growling. They hang out together in our living room, but usually in their spots at either end of the room. Meal times are fine as long as Dude eats out of Willow's line of sight (otherwise she comes over and he stops eating).

I know this has been a great introduction by all accounts, but I am worried about one aspect of the relationship that has now become habit and I would like to put as much of a stop to it as possible because it is bothering Dude and stopping him from having a closer relationship with us, which he obvioulsy craves.

Willow chases Dude a lot, especially in the morning and evening activity hours. It's obviouly friendly -- she has no malice in her posture, and her ambushes are clearly for fun. I do know that sometimes Dude is a willing participant -- I can tell by his happy curly tail and the fact that he will often race past Willow deliberately while shouting. But eventually he tires of the game and she just won't stop. She never jumps on him, and if he turns around she will stop the chase. She just cannot control herself, and eventually Dude gets upset and retreats.

He's even starting to avoid her, which seems like the relationsip is going backwards. He had only just started to sit on the couch with us. Now if WIllow comes into the room he jumps down and sits in a high window ledge. He was sleeping on my bed during the days (no cats allowed in there at night! but now he doesn't even try to get up there. ) So he never gets the cuddlies he's obvously craving. We pet him a lot, but it's not the same and it feels as though he's a second-class citizen around here.I don't want him to be a target, no matter how friendly the intention, and I don't want this behaviour to become a bad habit that cannot be broken..

I bought several Feliway Friends diffusers because that one is supposed to help with the chasing, but is there anything I can do do stop the chasing from a behavioural point of view? Once Dude has hissed at her, and clearly wants to be alone, should I distract Willow when she starts chasing him again? Are there any other suggestions? I don't think locking her up is fair and she might not understand it anyway, but I hope there are some things I can do.

 

[TardisDance]

I've been going through a similar issue that is just now starting to improve. My new 1.5 year old male Kirby was chasing and scaring my 4 year old female Sango a lot. My husband and I for about 2 weeks were hissing and timing out Kirby every single time he tried to chase Sango. I found out the hissing was more effective than the timeouts and he's stopped chasing her. He only chases if she initiates which is a lot now - she's gotten a lot more confident since I think she knows we have her back.

 

[ArtNJ]

Wow, its not often that an 8 year old cat is active enough to be a PITA! Might even be the first time I've heard of such a thing. A real blessing that Willow is so healthy and vibrant. Of course, its a totally normal thing if you flip the ages, and have a young cat bothering an older cat with the young cat's activity level.

How old is Duke? If Duke is a kitten, then just don't worry about this at all. Count your blessings that its going well, and be confident that the situation will improve before too long. If Duke is older, that might be trickier.

 

[TardisDance]

Oh wow, I guess I didn’t realize it’s the older cat that’s doing all the chasing. That’s sort of how it’s flipped with my two cats. The oldest is now chasing the youngest a lot, but I guess she realized it’s fun and rediscovered her kitten hood - karma for my youngest who was a PITA to her and harassed her so much. Maybe Willow is doing the same haha

 

[Willowwombat]

I guess I didn't explain the ages properly. We adopted Dude 7 weeks ago, but he is nine years old, and a very active boy, but very shy and just starting to be comfortable living here.

Willow is almost 8, so they are similar in age. But Willow is the dominant cat, she is the long-term resident cat and Dude is the newcomer, and she is larger than he is - a big, sleek intense black panther. Her intentions are friendly but she's also being dominant, it's clear.

She sometimes chases him for an hour at a time. Dude is not confident to chase her back. He has raised a paw a couple of times and sometimes hisses, and she does stop, but five minutes later she's at it again.

This morning she was also blocking him from the stairs, and he needed his litter box.

So while there's no outright violence, she's being a total jerk and a nuisance and a friendly bully and I have to make her stop.