[marigold]

Hi,
We recently took in a stray 4 to 5 year old female cat. We already had a 9 year old male cat namer Kittie (who was also a stray). Kittie is neutered, and the new cat was spayed. After a trip to the vet, the new cat was put into a bedroom so she could get use to the new surroundings. After a while we let her out to explore the rest of the house, and put the Kittie in her room, so that they would get use to each others smell. After there was no hissing or growling when they smelled each other, we brought the new cat down in a carrier to meet Kittie. They did not hiss or growl when they saw each other. Next we let the new cat out of her room, and into the same room as kittie. They touched noses, and did not act aggressive the first time. The second time the new cat hissed and tried to scratch kittie, which caused him to run and hide. The next time she hissed again, when Kittie tried to come up to her. Kittie really wanted to be friends. He is never aggressive to her, no matter what she does. After a bunch of meeting, things are not getting any better, I have tried feeding them together, and playing with them together. One moment she will be nice to him, and the next hiss and try to scratch him. kittie is now hiding a lot of the time, and is upset. The new cat seems upset too. She was using the litter box, now she will sometimes go on the floor by the litter box.

Is there anything more I should do? I do not want Kittie to be scared all the time. Also, I do not like forcing the new cat to stay in one room most of the day, but I am afraid to leave them alone together. I sense that she is unhappy confined in one room.

The new cat does not just hiss at Kittie, but hisses at people a lot. She can be the most friendly cat one minute and the next hiss at you.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[juliahadley]

Hi there
I have exactly the same problem as you

We have a 10 month old neutered male and recently we adopted a 2 year old stray female who has a broken pelvis so is kept confined a lot at the mo

however, she hisses at our male cat when he gets too close
and she was also hissing at us - which I think was when we had been petting our other cat and she could smell him on us

I think you are doing everything right, and it will settle down
the female no longer hisses at us, and only hisses at our boy if he's rying to pounce on her
Like you our male cat is very soft and just wants to play, is not aggressive at all, I think he gets a bit upset when he gets hissed at
make sure you give plenty of attention to Kittie when he's hissed at (and don't give the other cat attention, so she will learn not to hiss at your other cat)

some cats will always hiss at other cats if they get too near
if they're not fighting and hurting people I wouldn't worry

I'm sure your new cat will settle down given time
keep up the good work, and you will probably find them curled up together in a few weeks

We've had our new cat for 4 weeks now, and she no longer hisses at us, (though does swipe at me occasionally), and will tolerate our other cat until he tries to jump at her, then she'll hiss and swipe
but it is definitely getting better

give it time and am sure it will all work out
good luck