# Desperately need help; new cat attacking my other cat...



## LisaLisa (Dec 19, 2009)

Hello,

This is my first time here.

I recently adopted a young spayed female from the Humane Society; last Saturday, to be exact. I have 4 other cats; 3 females (all spayed) and 1 male (neutered; had adopted him from the Humane Society this past February).

I've kept the new cat, Bitsy, in her own room since getting her.....but gradually over the past few days I've been allowing her out of the room so that she can mix with my other cats. The females have taken to her but she (new cat - she's estimated to be between the age of 1-2 yrs) has a thing for my male. The minute she sees him, she runs for him and voraciously chases him through the house. Now he, Hobee, is a very sociable, docile cat. He is the nicest cat and my other cats loved him instantly. HE is not the problem at all, it's the new cat. She'll see him from across the room and she'll run 90 miles and hour after him, he runs, she follows, until he's almost cornered........and he's growling and hissing. She's relentless. I feel so sorry for him, he looks so dumbfounded. Today I found him hiding in my walkin closet. I think he's starting to become afraid of her.

My fear is that one of them will get real hurt (scratched cornea, etc) or one of them will start spraying (is that possible? neither have before, but I just thought that if one of them feels the other is in their 'territory' that this could start and that would be devastating!).

I feel horrible locking her up all day but I feel equally horrible when he's hiding because of her. 

Is this something that will just take time?

She did this the first time I let her out; the minute she saw him, she took off like a lightening bolt after him. She's half the size of him (she's very tiny, at 6.5 lbs, he's 2 yrs old and 12.5 lbs) and obviously too big for her britches.

What on earth can I do to facilitate them getting along, or at least, her stopping this crap of tearing after him and cornering him. 

He's never had an issue with her, he doesn't initiate anything. But now when he sees her, he's on edge, watching her like a hawk and then she sees him looking at her and she tears after him. 

Do I just let them figure things out on their own?

I did originally put her in her carrier and sit her in the living room so that the other cats could 'sniff her' and she them.....there was no hissing between them through the carrier. 

I just don't know what to do here.

Would greatly appreciate any advice.

Lisa


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I'm afraid you rushed the introduction. It should last about 2 weeks, more or sometimes a day or two less. Start over. Put her in a separate room for about a week to ten days, changing bedding with your other cats, rubbing the new cat and the established cats with the same towel. Then exchange rooms. Allow her to spread her scent in the room they are in most of the time. 

Then allow them to see each other. Either put the new cat in a carrier, or prop the door open a crack. Interactive toys and treats will help witih this step. The next step would be to put her and your other cats in the same room, but keep her in a carrier or animal playpen. This is the time when you will see if they have accepted each other somewhat. 

When all goes well, and they are not hissing, allow your new kitty out of the carrier or playpern and supervise their meeting. If this does not work, go back a step. I would continue to supervise their meetings until you are sure they have accepted one another.

I wish you and kitties success!


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Welcome to CF, and I hope we can help you.
First, I think you need to back up and start over again with the intro-process. And go veeeeerrrrry slowly. It will take as long as it takes, there is no set time limit, the kitties will let you know when they are ready to progress further. HoofMaiden has a thread here, about intro-ing her kitten Jonah to her kitty-family and it has a lot of great information. I think you could also benefit from using pheromones, like Feliway or Rescue Remedy in their water. It also could be that your boy-cat looks like a cat the new kitty didn't like previously. Our orange-guy BooBoo was harassed by a tabby kitty before we got him and it took him a long time to warm-up to our Louie, who is a mackerel tabby.
Best of luck!
heidi =^..^=


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## LisaLisa (Dec 19, 2009)

Thanks so much, both of you, for your replies.

I guess I've always been lucky when it came to introductions. Anytime I've introduced a new stray or adopted cat into the fold, everyone was fine within 2 days. Even when I got Hobee, I adopted him on a Saturday afternoon; I kept him in my spare bedroom until midnight; he was desperate to get out so I let him, there was a bit of hissing but by the next day everyone was fine and he gets along famously with them; grooms them, they love him (and they're senior cats, he's young). 

She did this stalking / chasing behavior with my 3 females initially but it just suddenly stopped, fortunately. Maybe she's a man-hater LOL

I guess I'll keep her in her room for a week or 2.

Is it okay for me to let her out to roam around when I'm there, and put him into the basement for that period of time? It's only him she has an issue with, not the other cats.


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## catfever (Dec 20, 2009)

HI Everyone,

I just joined 5 minutes ago. I also need help desperately for this exact same reason. My problem is that I have 3 females that don't get along. But there's one in particular (Maya) who is the nicest of the three but the other two (Dixie & Shanni) who CANNOT STAND HER. Why, I don't know. And these other two tolerate each other but there are a few cat fights.
I used to have a cat shelter at home and never had this problem. I've had Maya (the last one which I found) for a little over a year and I still have to keep them separated. Maya sleeps with us at night (the other two are in different rooms) and is in my computer room during the day (the other two are in the rest of the house together hoping all goes well.
Sometimes I will bring Dixie in my arms to Maya and sit down beside her. She doesn't stay very long beside us. When this happens, Dixie is calm as if nothing is wrong. But... the instant they are in the same room and she can attack, she will! Poor Maya!
I've decided it's less trouble for me (and for Maya) not to place them in the same room. I know Dixie and Shanni will never be her best friend. But it's strange that certain cats are not accepted. I've found 73 adoptive homes for cats that were abandoned and never have I had this problem. Oh, well, there's always a first.
I thought of finding a new home for Maya but being so scared of everything, I think she's better off in this situation than taking another risk.


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## LisaLisa (Dec 19, 2009)

I've always found that male cats are friendlier when it comes to the introduction of a new cat into the home. Don't ask me why but that's just been my personal experience. I've also found, too, that females will often develop an attitude with the new female but they're much more accepting of a new male. Of all the cats I've rescued/adopted over the years, I've always found that the females "loved" the male; he got along with everyone. Go figure. LOL

UPDATE: so things have taken a very good turn. 

I'd decided that I'd have no choice but to keep my new young female Bitsy, separated from the crew, particularly from Hobee (who she seemed to be stalking/chasing).....but then decided to give it a little more time. Yesterday was like a different day! He was no longer hiding. She wasn't chasing him. She spent much of the day playing with a zillion cat toys, keep herself very busy LOL. Today he seems to love watching her play, he seems to be fascinated by her and I suspect they'll soon be playing together. He's full of zip and spunk himself, not even 2 yrs old so I think they'll end up being good companions, which is part of the reason I even adopted a cat so young (her); he's nearly 2 and my other 3 females are all older and don't have his energy (think he was starting to get bored from having nobody to play with). 

They seem to be spending a lot of time in my basement, nobody's fighting (this is where he hangs out a lot in the day, he's got himself a bed down there).

she's made herself quite at home, in only a week. She's using their litterboxes now, eating from the same dishes they eat from (they don't care), curling up in the same spots they sometimes do. 

I go back to work tomorrow, to be safe I'll keep her in my spare room during the day when I'm not home....will likely do that all week, much to her dismay.........but I'm off work from Dec 25 to Jan 4 so will have plenty of time to let her out and keep a good eye on her and hopefully by the time I go back to work on Jan 4, I can leave her out and not have to worry about fights while I'm gone.


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## hoofmaiden (Sep 28, 2009)

My Jonah Intro Thread:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=62659

It will give you some ideas. Given that you have multiple cats, I VERY highly recommend using the baby gates and taking some serious time w/ this intro. Speed is NOT your friend.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

Hey! I think that is great news that it seems as if they've been able to work things out. I would still be cautious and attentive to their moods, but it does seem to be going well. We've had some cats that needed a long intro-process and others that were just plunked right in and everyone accepted them immediately. I should caution, I do NOT think that (everyone accepts right away) is normal at all. _I think I just happen to keep a 'transient' household and my crew have become accustomed to large numbers of kitties living together and a constant stream of new fosters coming in/out of our home._


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## LisaLisa (Dec 19, 2009)

Things have continued to go really, really well. So well that for the past 4 days I've left Bitsy free to roam while I've been at work. I did this only after very carefully observing them in the evening, to ensure things were okay. They've all been getting along tremendously. Her and Hobee (the one she was initially stalking/chasing) get along famously. They both have the same level of energy so they're constantly playing. Where one goes, the other goes and vice versa. It's super cute to watch them. He seems a lot happier to now have a buddy. My other older females don't mind her at all. No hissing, no aggression, nothing. I've noticed, too, that my older girls are now really interested in the cat toys they've long since found no interest in. I think they see Bitsy going nuts with them, almost from dusk 'til dawn, and now they want to play with them too. lol. It's been a very long time since I heard what sounds like a herd of elephants running up and down my stairs, and it brings back memories


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

LisaLisa said:


> It's been a very long time since I heard what sounds like a herd of elephants running up and down my stairs, and it brings back memories


It is comments like these that make me wish I had a two-story house for our kitties to rocket up/down the stairs.  I'm very glad everything has gone so well with the kitties. That is awesome!


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## LisaLisa (Dec 19, 2009)

> It is comments like these that make me wish I had a two-story house for our kitties to rocket up/down the stairs.  I'm very glad everything has gone so well with the kitties.


No, no Heidi. It's not all that it's cracked up to be LOL. You should see my stairs. My house was new 7 yrs ago, carpeted stairs. The cats, from day one, have firmly believed that the stairs are really the world's best scratching post. Has made me seriously wonder WHY they make cat posts that are covered in carpet; all this does is cause kitties to believe that every carpeted object (stairs) is a play thing. 

It is nice to hear them play, though. But I have to walk very carefully; when they get going chasing each other, I have to be careful they don't trip me, which has come close a few times LOL


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

LisaLisa said:


> It is nice to hear them play ... I have to walk very carefully; when they get going chasing each other, I have to be careful they don't trip me, which has come close a few times LOL


 8O That would be my only concern: killing me on the stairs. 8O I just don't bounce like I used to! :lol:


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