Socialising cats - one for the cat owners
Discussion
We've kept cats for over 25years now, and thought we knew a fair bit about them, but we're struggling a bit here.
We've two old mogs, a neutered tom and a speyed female, both about 9 years old. They were introduced to one another late in life and get on fine together. We've had them about 2-3 years.
Being suckers for a sob story, a couple of months ago, we were persuaded to take on another two cats. They are another neutered tom and amother speyed female. This couple are 3 year old twins and have been together since birth.
We've plenty of space and garden and a cat flap for them all to come and go as they please. In the 10 weeks or so that we've had them, the youngsters seem to have sttled in well
The problem we're having is that the older cats are frightened of the newcomers. The youngsters are fairly aggressive towards the older cats, who appear to be complete cowards, and seem to be making their life a bit of a misery. When the youngsters are about, the older cats hide wherever they can, but there's some sort of moderately violent confrontation most days, with the young cats invariably getting the upper hand (or should that be paw).
The younsters get locked in one room every night so the oldies can gat a bit of peace and to stop us being awoken by cat fights.
Any tips as to how we can bring some harmony to the household would be appreciated
We've two old mogs, a neutered tom and a speyed female, both about 9 years old. They were introduced to one another late in life and get on fine together. We've had them about 2-3 years.
Being suckers for a sob story, a couple of months ago, we were persuaded to take on another two cats. They are another neutered tom and amother speyed female. This couple are 3 year old twins and have been together since birth.
We've plenty of space and garden and a cat flap for them all to come and go as they please. In the 10 weeks or so that we've had them, the youngsters seem to have sttled in well
The problem we're having is that the older cats are frightened of the newcomers. The youngsters are fairly aggressive towards the older cats, who appear to be complete cowards, and seem to be making their life a bit of a misery. When the youngsters are about, the older cats hide wherever they can, but there's some sort of moderately violent confrontation most days, with the young cats invariably getting the upper hand (or should that be paw).
The younsters get locked in one room every night so the oldies can gat a bit of peace and to stop us being awoken by cat fights.
Any tips as to how we can bring some harmony to the household would be appreciated
It may never work. This is a big gamble and you run a high risk of one or more of them starting to spray in the house due to stress.
Have you plugged Feliways in the house?
You may want to try Zylkene on the most nervous cats
Make sure you feed them well away from each other. Technically you should have one more litter tray than cats in the house (if you use them) Competition over feeding areas and toileting areas can be big problenm areas.
We had 2 mature closely bonded cats (male and female neutered) I took on a mature female cat I had 6 months of conflict before they sorted there boundaries etc. It was never perfect, have to be honest I think moving house helped!! All on neutral ground for a while! We did take a younger female neutered 4th cat and this actually seemed to be a much easier introduction all round, so it can definitley be down to the individual cats nature.
You do need to give it quite a bit longer to be sure but it may not be sucessful. Doubling the numner of cats you own overnight is a big step.
How did you introduce them all too each other?
Have you plugged Feliways in the house?
You may want to try Zylkene on the most nervous cats
Make sure you feed them well away from each other. Technically you should have one more litter tray than cats in the house (if you use them) Competition over feeding areas and toileting areas can be big problenm areas.
We had 2 mature closely bonded cats (male and female neutered) I took on a mature female cat I had 6 months of conflict before they sorted there boundaries etc. It was never perfect, have to be honest I think moving house helped!! All on neutral ground for a while! We did take a younger female neutered 4th cat and this actually seemed to be a much easier introduction all round, so it can definitley be down to the individual cats nature.
You do need to give it quite a bit longer to be sure but it may not be sucessful. Doubling the numner of cats you own overnight is a big step.
How did you introduce them all too each other?
Thanks for the reply Becks. I had to google the products you mentioned as I'd not heard of them.
I may well give them a try.
The new cats were kept in a spare bedroom for a couple of weeks after they arrived. The bedroom is on the ground floor and so we have kept feeding them in there and have kept a litter tray in there for them since. It's where they are secured at night.,
The old mogs have their feeding bowls in the kitchen. They do their toilet out of doors and don't use a litter tray.
As I've said, we kept the newcomers confined to the one room for a couple of weeks, so the residents had got used to their scent before they were released. After this period , they were introduced to the other cats one at a time. The old girl was passive and curious and the old boy growled and hissed a bit but was fairly passive. We hoped it might go ok as we'd previously introduced cats into the house like this. We had a third cat which passed on earlier in the year, so it's not like the oldies weren't used to other residents.
However the youngsters at present seem very aggressive towards the older cats. The young female more so than the male. She ambushes them and attacks them whebever she can.
I'm optimistic that things may improve with time, I just wondered what I could do to improve the chances of success.
I may well give them a try.
The new cats were kept in a spare bedroom for a couple of weeks after they arrived. The bedroom is on the ground floor and so we have kept feeding them in there and have kept a litter tray in there for them since. It's where they are secured at night.,
The old mogs have their feeding bowls in the kitchen. They do their toilet out of doors and don't use a litter tray.
As I've said, we kept the newcomers confined to the one room for a couple of weeks, so the residents had got used to their scent before they were released. After this period , they were introduced to the other cats one at a time. The old girl was passive and curious and the old boy growled and hissed a bit but was fairly passive. We hoped it might go ok as we'd previously introduced cats into the house like this. We had a third cat which passed on earlier in the year, so it's not like the oldies weren't used to other residents.
However the youngsters at present seem very aggressive towards the older cats. The young female more so than the male. She ambushes them and attacks them whebever she can.
I'm optimistic that things may improve with time, I just wondered what I could do to improve the chances of success.
sparkythecat said:
Thanks for the reply Becks. I had to google the products you mentioned as I'd not heard of them.
I may well give them a try.
The new cats were kept in a spare bedroom for a couple of weeks after they arrived. The bedroom is on the ground floor and so we have kept feeding them in there and have kept a litter tray in there for them since. It's where they are secured at night.,
The old mogs have their feeding bowls in the kitchen. They do their toilet out of doors and don't use a litter tray.
As I've said, we kept the newcomers confined to the one room for a couple of weeks, so the residents had got used to their scent before they were released. After this period , they were introduced to the other cats one at a time. The old girl was passive and curious and the old boy growled and hissed a bit but was fairly passive. We hoped it might go ok as we'd previously introduced cats into the house like this. We had a third cat which passed on earlier in the year, so it's not like the oldies weren't used to other residents.
However the youngsters at present seem very aggressive towards the older cats. The young female more so than the male. She ambushes them and attacks them whebever she can.
I'm optimistic that things may improve with time, I just wondered what I could do to improve the chances of success.
To be honest you took a good length of time over the introdutions (prob more than I would've done or have done!) It may be the female just isn't destined to get on with the older 2 however she may realise soon enough they are not a threat. Cats use lots of sublimal mesaages that we don't always notice so it's not always easy to know what the trigger factors are. I may well give them a try.
The new cats were kept in a spare bedroom for a couple of weeks after they arrived. The bedroom is on the ground floor and so we have kept feeding them in there and have kept a litter tray in there for them since. It's where they are secured at night.,
The old mogs have their feeding bowls in the kitchen. They do their toilet out of doors and don't use a litter tray.
As I've said, we kept the newcomers confined to the one room for a couple of weeks, so the residents had got used to their scent before they were released. After this period , they were introduced to the other cats one at a time. The old girl was passive and curious and the old boy growled and hissed a bit but was fairly passive. We hoped it might go ok as we'd previously introduced cats into the house like this. We had a third cat which passed on earlier in the year, so it's not like the oldies weren't used to other residents.
However the youngsters at present seem very aggressive towards the older cats. The young female more so than the male. She ambushes them and attacks them whebever she can.
I'm optimistic that things may improve with time, I just wondered what I could do to improve the chances of success.
I would use the Zylkene on her and the really nervous cats, it's not a drug, so no side effects but have seen some positive responses with it, you will prob know after just a few days (though should trial it for 2 weeks) if it is helping. Not the cheapest thing to use so if a limited budget try and decide which cats would benefit most, personally whilst the older ones are more nervous the young female may need more help in relaxing more so may be worth just using on her to start with and relying on the Feliway to help the others.
Good luck, but if it doesn't work, you are not a failure it just wasn't meant to be and you need to think of your older cats.
Mobile Chicane said:
You could try squirting the aggressive cat with a water pistol every time it attacks the more timid one. This sounds daft, but it works wonders for keeping cats off furniture etc, and could be worth a try. Certainly a lot cheaper than Feliway.
The feliway is to help all the cats not just the aggressor.The aggressor is stressed so whilst spraying her may help it may also add to her stress behaviour and she may start spraying in the house as a result, there is a risk she may do this anyway.
I''m not against spraying cats with water, it can be a very useful tool! but you do need to be careful not to make a situation worse by forcing her to use other forms of 'stress relief' instead.
You may just have to put up with it.
We have 3 moggies, two (Boy & Girl) are from the same litter, the 3rd (Girl) came along about 6 months later and was 3 months old (all three are rescue cats)
Since then the two girls have been constantly fighting, cannot go within 2 feet of each other without the youngest spitting and she is always spitting at the boy. Just in her nature.
They are still this way after 8-9 years and 3 house moves.
We have 3 moggies, two (Boy & Girl) are from the same litter, the 3rd (Girl) came along about 6 months later and was 3 months old (all three are rescue cats)
Since then the two girls have been constantly fighting, cannot go within 2 feet of each other without the youngest spitting and she is always spitting at the boy. Just in her nature.
They are still this way after 8-9 years and 3 house moves.
Sadly modern society means we force cats to live in situations they would never choose to do if in the wild. A lot of the behaviour we live with, accept etc means cats lives are very stressed.
Many of us are guilty of causing this (myself included) but what we should try and do is understand why our cats act in negative ways and try and reduce those causes. A lot of research/ work is being done on this (as many health problems, behavioural problems have been created due to the lifestyles we impose on our moggy friends)
Unfortunately the most obvious option (rehoming to separate feuding cats) is often not well recieved when suggested so thats why products such as Feliway and Zylkene are needed.
Many of us are guilty of causing this (myself included) but what we should try and do is understand why our cats act in negative ways and try and reduce those causes. A lot of research/ work is being done on this (as many health problems, behavioural problems have been created due to the lifestyles we impose on our moggy friends)
Unfortunately the most obvious option (rehoming to separate feuding cats) is often not well recieved when suggested so thats why products such as Feliway and Zylkene are needed.
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