All the other cats hate Rooster...

[superbek]

Hi everyone, sorry this is so lengthy but I wanted to be as detailed as possible.

I currently have two cats that both live indoors.

Ninja Kitty: 2.5 years old (female) spayed for about 10 months. Independent yet loving but only on her terms. She's a good ol' regular cat and so darn cute.

Rooster: Also 2.5 years old (male) but just came into our family 2 months ago after the tragic loss of our six mo kitten, Pirate. I adopted Rooster from the local shelter. He has been fixed for some time now.

Now, when I went to the shelter to get a new kitty, I was instantly drawn to Rooster although he is not the typical desireable cat. He's black, fat, and has a VERY distinctively loud meow. But I could tell how bad he wanted to be loved, he was trying so hard to rub up against me through the cage. I spent some time with him and fell in love with the tubby little fella even though my bf was not impressed and the shelter people were just like, "meh, whatever." When I asked if he was good with other cats and although the previous owner had said no, the clinic assistants put him up against other cages to which a few cats hissed at him but he did not even care about their existence so it definitely seemd like a win especialy when the assistants told me that people tend to lie about or misinterpret cat behavior when surrendering an animal.

Fast forward two months to present time. Ninja HATES Rooster. She hisses and growls at him if he gets too close and runs away if he really gets too close. He tries to play with her but she is NOT interested. However, he is rude. He doesn't always cover his crap in the box and dominates the food bowls during feeding time. Two weeks ago I resorted to moving Ninja's food bowl to the top of the fridge and if he is active, she just stays on top of the kitchen cabinets. She is stressed, I know it but what can I do about it now? The neighbor's outside cats hates Rooster, too. Rooster, like all cats, likes to sit in the window (that I keep closed) but my neighbor's cats has completely demolished the screen from the outside from trying to get to Rooster. Last week, before I realized the severity of the damage to the screen, I opened the window and a minute later a panicked Ninja was outside!

Monday I came home and one of the cats had urinated on my bed. I cleaned all of my bedding and came home last night to the same thing. At first I thought it was Rooster as he sometimes "misses" the litter box and I have wondered if he has special needs but now I am starting to see this as Ninja being territorial as well as sending me a message to get rid of Rooster. I don't necessarily want to get rid of Rooster so I need to know how to make this better. I have had cats throughout my life but I am inexperienced with multiple cats which I just took up about four months ago. I really hoping that some of you have good advice.

Also, I have a small apartment - 1 bedroom with an open floor plan in the living/kitchen. I would like to continue to keep my bedroom door OPEN if possible as it provides a more comfortable living/hiding places for the cats.

[3furbabies]

Sounds like you need to start the introduction process over. Lock the new cat in your room and let them sniff and paw each other under the door. Open it for a few minutes when you can supervise and if anyone hisses put the cat back. This could take several months. Also, is there a way you can stop the neighbours cat from coming over? Sounds like this upsets him too.