Brought outdoor cat in to live with indoor cats and she's bad

[KimM12]

I have three indoor cats. Recently I've been considering making a particular outdoor cat an indoor cat as well. So finally this morning I took her to the vet and had her all checked out for FelV, HIV and worms. She got a clean bill of health and a wormer. Outdoors she was so sweet. Indoors she's a terror. It's only been 9 1/2 hours but I'm wondering if I made a mistake. She's fighting with the three cats. She made one go off like a siren. I got in the middle of a fight and was scratched. She growls at them and does some weird throaty thing. They're all hiding out, scared to death of her while she roams around acting like she owns the place. She's staying in the garage tonight.

My worst fear is that this will end up being one of those "My Cat From ****" cases and I'll end up putting her back outside and having to worry about her out there. I mean, she's really bad. It's almost as if I brought a dog into the house. Has anyone been in similar situations?

Here's a very short video of her in action, but this isn't even the worst of it. She's the fluffy siamese-looking one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4_zyjFJ4GM

[Susan]

You need to introduce the cats slowly...the most common and preferable approach is described here:

Cat-to-Cat Introductions | Little Big Cat

[KimM12]

Thanks for the article. I wish I had done research to begin with. I just put her in the cat carrier and sat it in the middle of the floor hoping the others would go up to it and smell it but they hissed and scattered instead.

I really thought they'd get along but so far only Agnes (the newbie) is happy.

[Venusworld21]

Yep, like Susan said, introductions need to be made slowly. If you can put Agnes in a room by herself while everyone calms back down, that would be ideal. Then re-start the introduction process, very slowly.

[lyle]

Individual personalities matter a great deal, of course, but our introduction of Joker to the two indoor cats took place room to room over a 4 week period and these were three pretty non-agressive cats. Personally, I don't think that there is any such thing as going too slow when introducing cats. Good luck.

[lyle]

Just took a look at the video. Doesn't look that bad to me. Agnes looks to be either overly friendly or pushy, and your indoor cat looks confused/nervous over the situation. No "furball" there Go for the slow reintro.

[KimM12]

The video was taken within minutes of bringing her in. They were all curious and hadn't yet formed their opinions of her. Now they know they hate and are scared of her.

I really think Agnes wants to be friendly and playful but she's too in-your-face and forceful. On top of that she's extremely energetic. Since bringing her in almost 24 hours ago I've seen her take about four rests and each time it lasted less than a minute before she was back up and at it again. She's constantly moving.

When she was an outdoor cat I would sometimes bring her in and hold her. But sometimes she'd get loose and chase the others.

It's definitely her, not them. Though she's as happy as can be.

[MowMow]

You need to read the article posted for you on introductions and do what it says. I didn't and it made my boys unhappy for a LONG time. It was over a year before they could tolerate being near each other because I just brought in Book and thought I'd let them figure it out.

It was MY fault that they were both so unhappy because I couldn't be bothered to read the articles and take the time to do a proper introduction. It was unfair and cruel to both of them.

Do it right, read the article and do ALL the steps without rushing it. It'll make their lives calmer and happier.

[3furbabies]

From the video she doesn't look aggressive or anything.... She seems happy... Her tail is up and she's running around... Looks like she is trying to play. You are right she seems high energy, but like everyone else said you have to slowly get them use to each other. My oldest cat I adopted last April ... My one took to her instantly, the other is territorial and it took for months for them to get along.


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[KimM12]

You need to read the article posted for you on introductions and do what it says. I didn't and it made my boys unhappy for a LONG time. It was over a year before they could tolerate being near each other because I just brought in Book and thought I'd let them figure it out.

I did read the article. I guess I would consider the garage Agnes' "base camp". The only thing is the other cats love going into the garage (one is out there right now sleeping in Agnes' bed). The garage has windows so it's sort of like being outdoors to them. I've been alternating. Letting Agnes in while the others are in the garage or in another room.

I just don't know how that particular system, step-by-step is going to work out for my situation. Maybe I'll try parts of it.

From the video she doesn't look aggressive or anything.... She seems happy... Her tail is up and she's running around... Looks like she is trying to play. You are right she seems high energy, but like everyone else said you have to slowly get them use to each other. My oldest cat I adopted last April ... My one took to her instantly, the other is territorial and it took for months for them to get along.

She is happy, but when she sees one of the other cats she makes a B line toward them. Puffs herself up, growls, hissing from both, screeching, slapping. It's like she halfway wants to play, but doesn't know how to act. She lived outside with her brother until yesterday and played with him, no problems. She's used to being around other cats.

Like I said that video was taken now exactly 24 hours ago. There was a lot of early curiousity among everyone.