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New Poster with Cat Troubles

2K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  Viszay 
#1 ·
Hello

I have decided to join this cat forum because I am having some troubles introducing my new kitten to my resident cat. I am female, in my 20's, and I am married.

My resident cat is 10 years old, female, orange and white, named Marmalade.
My kitten is 5 months, 2 weeks old, male, silver tabby with some white patches, named Odo.

Before getting the new kitten, about 10 days ago, we knew that we'd be in for a rough introduction because Marmalade is a bit aggressive with me, but we went for it anyways.

The only available kitten at the shelter, when we went, was labelled as fearful, because he used to be feral. We knew that this would make it extra difficult, but we had fallen in love with him.

We have kept them apart, Odo in a separate room with all the essentials. In the first week, Marmalade was hissing through the door at him. We moved her bowls of food and water to just outside the door, so she would get used to him. I cracked open the door and put a weight behind it so that neither cat could get through, but just see each other. Marmalade was outside, hissing, and then lunged at the door. We decided to go back a step, and just have the door closed. We started swapping them, so that they could experience each others scent and territory without seeing each other. They were both freaked out at first, but after a few days of this, they both seem to have relaxed a bit.

So, today, I decided to have the door open a bit, so they could see but not access each other. I sat with Marmalade, giving them both treats that they could only access by being close to the door. There was no hissing or growling, they ate all the treats, and then stared at eachother for about 30 mins through the door. I thought "Awesome, I'm making progress!", so I opened the door to let Odo out, when Marmalade was just down the hall. He came out, looked at her, and froze. She stared at him, crouched down, and then chased him down, where she attacked him, and drew blood. I'm taking Odo to the vet now, but I'm just feeling really stupid about going too fast, and worrying about possibly having ruined their relationship.

I would appreciate advice, or stories about your difficult cats and how it worked out in the end. Thank you
 
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#2 ·
Welcome!

Yup, you did what lots of us have done - got excited and rushed it.

I probably wouldn't have gotten a kitten (or another cat) with Marmalade's age and temperment. Odo may be extra fearful now, too.

I would suggest starting completely over and taking it very, very slowly.

I've had things worked out, and I've also rehomed cats when it didn't.

Here are some great guidelines, and also just an all-around good website

Cat-to-Cat Introductions | Little Big Cat
 
#4 ·
I have gone back to just having the door closed now, with feeding them wet food at the same time on both sides of the door. I've written myself a timeline so that I can't feel optimistic and jump forward a step.

Thank you for the link, marie73, I've read it before, but I'll certainly read it again.

I have done a little bit of switching their bedding. Marmalade smells it all over and doesn't mind sleeping on whatever i put in her favorite spot, but Odo will not touch any new bedding of hers that I give him. Instead, he sleeps on a chair, or the floor. Even if I drag a string across the new bedding, he'll run around it rather than over it.
 
#6 ·
I would use a few Feliway plug in dispensers for your kitties. I hate to keep mentioning Feliway plug in dispensers in posts but it has really helped me with stressed, fearful, cats and kittens. It helps settle them down a few notches. Esp with restarting your intros again.

Spending time with your kitten and playing with it will help it bond with you and gain confidence.
 
#7 ·
I hate to be a pessimist, but a 10 y.o. red tabby aggressive female and a fearful silver tabby?.....I doubt this will work out. She's too old and set in her ways, and red tabbies can be aggressive for sure towards other cats, and often silvers can be lacking in confidence. And why was it you decided your girl needed a young kitten? You can try again slowly, but I'm not optimistic with this combination.....sorry! :sad:
 
#8 ·
I guess we didn't really do a ton of cat homework before deciding to get another cat. We didn't consider that maybe Marmalade would be so difficult, we were just thinking about that we wanted a second cat. We felt the call of the SPCA, because they put an add in the newspaper saying they had too many cats and needed homes for them.

I'll look into feliway. I've seen a lot of progress in Odo since we adopted him, at first he wouldn't let us near him, but now he follows us around and is ok with being held for short periods of time
 
#9 ·
Most cats you can bring around. Some it will be a truce. A few just arent going to and you would have to rehome them. But I wouldnt give up until youve tried all our suggestions that have worked for us. Plus you should read thru all of Pamela Bennett Johnson books on behavior and her solutions esp Cat vs Cat. You followed your heart and wanted to make a difference in a cats life. I wouldnt fault you for that.
 
#10 ·
I'm going through something similar now (introducing a silver tabby kitten to my 8yo spayed female only cat). I don't have as many challenges as you. Kitten is not fearful and Bean (adult) is not aggressive in general, but even so, I'm at over 7 weeks and still not at the free interaction phase of things. It just takes cats time to adjust. There are ways to make things easier, but you can't force them to adapt faster.

I second the advice to step back and take things slowly. You may be juggling cats for some time yet, but I wouldn't give up. And don't get too attached to your schedule. Cats have their own ideas about things.

:2kitties
 
#11 ·
Thanks for all your help so far. I'm going to give an update on what's been happening.

The day after taking Odo to the vet, we bought some feliway, in a diffuser and a spray. Using an extension cord, we plugged in the diffuser 3 feet from the door, on Marmalade's side. I'm not sure how much good it has done her, but it certainly seems to give Odo more confidence. Whenever he gets freaked out, if we spray the feliway outside of his hiding place, he comes out, when his favorite toy and treats couldn't entice him out. Also, within the week of getting the feliway, Odo escaped from his room 3 times when we were bringing him food. Luckily, the 2 cats didn't have an encounter, as I was able to close him into a different room, but it shows that he's not afraid of her, despite being hurt. I'll keep using the feliway, it may just have a smaller effect on Marmalade, but some effect is better than none.

I continued switching their rooms, but neither cat was very happy about it. Marmalade won't stay 5 minutes in Odo's room, and Odo tends to just hide under the couch or bed when he's switched.

Odo likes to stick his paws under the door to try to interact with Marmalade. Her first reaction was to hiss, and then swat at his paws. It has now progressed to her smelling his paws before hissing, which is at least a little bit of progress.

3 days ago, we replaced the door to Odo's room with one that we had a mesh screen installed in the bottom so that they can see and smell each other much better. Marmalade's first reaction was a lot of unhappy meows, but I was glad that it wasn't hissing and lunging. Odo has been trying to make friends with her by meowing happily at her, and exposing his stomach to her. When he makes sudden movements, she gets freaked out, hisses and hits the mesh, but, she's been slowly starting to stand more movement on his part before hissing. Within the first day of putting in the new door, she was already ok with eating in his presence, even if he is as close as he could be to the door. I'm going to keep them at this stage for quite awhile, at least until Marmalade starts to make some more positive indications to his presence.

I am planning to buy Cat vs Cat soon, thanks for the suggestion. I'm sure it will come in handy.
 
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