'old' cat fearful of new cat - advice please!

joggyb · 2 July 2007 at 12:41PM

Hi all

Am really hoping that someone can help, as this is proving very upsetting to me and OH, not to mention the cats...

In short, we've had a cat for 2 and a half years - since she was a 13-week old kitten. We've never had any problem with her, and love her to bits.

On Friday - after much consideration - we chose to give a home to a rescue cat from Battersea.

We've kept them both separate - but our 'old' cat (they're actually pretty much the same age) is clearly very fearful of the new one (Norman), and won't come downstairs unless carried down! We've put her litter tray and food in the living room - although we've tried bringing her food to her upstairs, too, which hasn't had much noticeable effect. She's not really eating very much at all, which is most unlike her.

Norman, meanwhile, is in the kitchen, and is really gaining confidence by the hour. He, I think, would like to explore more of the house, and to make a new friend (he's been 'tested' with other cats, and seems to have no problem).

But what do we do now?

We're scared that our old cat will be permanently 'scarred' by this, and she's clearly miserable. On the other hand, we don't want to have to take Norman back either, as he's a lovely little cat in his own right and has clearly thrived since coming here.

In the meantime - I'm running myself ragged going between the two of them, giving them equal time and cuddles, etc. (OH is at work today.)

I have given B'sea Advice Line a call, and have left a message, so I'm hoping they'll call me back.

But, please - if anyone has any ideas, experience, or any helpful suggestions, we'd love to hear them! This is a difficult and new situation for us, and any help will be very much welcomed....

Thank you to all :T

January_Embers · 2 July 2007 at 2:37PM

I have introduced kittens to adult cats with few problems, thing with older cats is they're a bit like some people, set in their ways!
You really haven't had the new cat very long and it can take quite a while for the old cat to adjust to the fact that there is now a new cat to share the house and your affection.
Some cats never really get on but will just tollerate the other cat. We had one like this a few years ago.

When we first introduced the kittens we had them in a large cage (like a dog cage) for short periods throughout the day so the older cats could come and have a look without feeling too threatened (also to protect the kittens in case the older cats got aggressive). After a few days we let the kittens out and one of the older cats ran and hid for about 3 days, then realised that these manic balls of flying fluff were here to stay, so came out and all was well.

Hopefully your old cat will soon realise this cat is here to stay and come out. I would keep the same routine and feed her in the same place as normal to cut down on too many changes at once for her.

B'Sea should be able to give some good advice on introductions.

We are adding a Westie to our family very soon so our kitties are in for a bit of a surprise!

nickyhutch · 2 July 2007 at 2:43PM

Try this:

http://www.cats.org.uk/catcare/faq_behaviour.asp#1

mariauk · 2 July 2007 at 2:45PM

Hi

Also try and change the rooms around so that "old" cat can go in the room that "new" cat has been in and get used to each others scent without having to worry about meeting up. If you are going betweeen cats and fussing over the pair of them it means you will be passing each others scent as you stroke them which is also a good thing to do. Good luck, I have an 11 week old puppy who really wants to be friends with our rescued cat (she is about 11 years old) and she is fine until the puppy starts jumping around

Good luck, I`m sure they will settle, its early days yet!

Maria

joggyb · 2 July 2007 at 3:42PM

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

We tried the dog pen (got one big enough for a Great Dane), but the new cat, Norman, made it very clear he didn't like it in there. Our old cat is very wary of it, too, so I don't think we can put her in there.

Battersea have more or less said just to bring Norman back, as it's clear we've tried everything, and it's maybe just down to our old cat not being used to other cats.

I'd be really, really sad

to do that, as he's come on leaps and bounds in such a short period of time. He's such a sweetie, and I'd really feel that we'd failed him, and disrupted him unnecessarily. And I'm sure our old cat could get used to him - it's surely just a question of giving them time (and lots of reassurance etc all the while)?

If they could rub along together, even without being best buddies, we'd be happy.

Please keep the ideas coming.... we really want to make this work if we possibly can.

(Oh, and the 'thank you' button isn't appearing at the moment - as soon as it does, I'll be thanking you all even more profusely!)

louisdog · 2 July 2007 at 4:19PM

It is very early days, hopefully they'll eventually get used to each other.

As long as your original cat has plenty of fuss from you and has somewhere to retreat to, you should be ok. Has she got a favourite food you can give, that way she'll see life's not all bad, and maybe even associate the arrival of the new cat with a positive experience.

As long as they are not fighting, you might be ok, it will just take a while. How do they react when they see each other, is there any aggression?

At one time we had four cats and the second one did not take kindly to numbers three and four, he learned to tolerate them but didn't play and they had the odd spat, the other three got on fine, we have two left now and they are OK together but they do like their own space, they don't cuddle up or play together or anything. I think cats are often quite solitary.

If I were you I'd give it at least two or three more days. It must be a shock to your existing cat, she'll hopefully be back to her normal self soon.

Good luck with it!

walwin · 2 July 2007 at 4:20PM

Hi,

It may be worth perservering with the dog crate but not making a 'thing' about it. We bought one for our cat as we were driving her here from Spain and didn't want her cooped up in a normal travelling basket. We left the crate with the door open with a duvet inside, and just ignored it. It didn't take long for her curiosity to get the better of her and again we just ignored it when she went inside. Then when I was playing with her I threw a foil ball inside and she was chasing it round the crate quite happily. If you get that far, you could put some food in, something they might consider a treat, chicken or ham in mine's case. Once she was really relaxed about going in and out of it I put in a litter tray, water etc.
Hopefully one of them will eventually decide it's not a bad place to be. It worked for mine and I promise you she is not the easiest of cats, gorgeous but not easy!
It's important not to rush it though.......

Good luck, hope it works out for you

joggyb · 2 July 2007 at 4:34PM

Thank you louisdog and walwin (the 'thank you' button still isn't appearing)

To answer your question louisdog - there's been no aggression so far. Not that they've come very close at all. Our existing cat has simply been very wide-eyed and fearful-looking whenever she's caught a glimpse of Norman, and often run away up the stairs, and Norman hasn't reacted at all (so far, at least).

louisdog · 2 July 2007 at 4:43PM

That sounds quite promising to me then. Long story but seven years ago I tried to introduce a stroppy 13 year old cat to my lovely four and she sat halfway up the stairs growling, two of my cats were stuck upstairs and two downstairs, when they tried to pass she went for them, they soon learned to give her a wide berth but after just a couple of nights I could see that the other four were really unhappy, in fact one had the most dreadful and disgusting diarrhoea I have ever seen, all over the hall and all over himself, ugh. So I thought that the stress was too much for him, and took stroppy cat back home, where she went on to live happily for another seven years (she just died last year) and my four immediately perked up.

I guess what I am trying to say is, it could be much worse, and you will know if your first cat is really unhappy or stressed.

Are you feeding them separately? It's good to provide several food bowls and beds / sleeping places as they like to have their own territory. When I still had all four cats, three would happily eat together and one always preferred to be fed separately.

Cheers

joggyb · 2 July 2007 at 5:00PM

Yep, Norman (the newbie) has all his stuff (litter tray, bowls, basket) in the kitchen with him.

Our first cat has all hers in the living room (to which she's still nervous of coming, even though the kitchen door is firmly closed). Her stuff is normally in the kitchen, but we've put them in there so as to keep the 2 cats separate for now. She's also had her stuff in the living room before - when we've had building works going on - and she hasn't previously had a problem with it.

oldandhappy · 3 July 2007 at 6:29AM

Because smells are so important to Cats...try putting a small blanket that has been around your new addition and put it with your other Cat to get him use to getting really close to his smell. Feliway plug-ins have been used here very successfully for our little one who cannot put up with young children.. it seems she sees them as a threat and treats them as such by hissing at them!!!!
Our twosome where 1st kept apart (because of size difference) by the means of a glass panelled door and it really did help that you can see me, smell me, but not touch me....They soon became great buddies but the little female Puss remains the Big Boss of the household. Mrs Happy

'old' cat fearful of new cat - advice please!

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