Karen Chuplis
July 27th 03, 05:03 AM
in article , Don Swenson at
wrote on 7/26/03 10:50 PM:
> I've been studying about introducing a new cat to resident cat,
> reading articles on the web and old posts here. I've experienced
> something quite different from what I expected, and I'm curious if
> anyone has seen this happen before or knows what to do about it.
>
> We have a 2 year old fixed female resident cat who in the past has
> been fiercely territorial, injuring badly a neighbor cat who wandered
> into her fenced-in back yard last year. We recently introduced a
> (very small) 1 year old, fixed female into the household. Mindful of
> our resident "bully" trying to kill the new cat, we kept them
> separated as most suggest, and rationing their introduction to each
> other. At first, as we expected, our resident cat was quite angry and
> hissed and swatted at the new kitty. After several more days of slow
> introductions, our resident cat began to warm to the new kitty. We
> finally felt it was time to set them down next to each other and let
> them get to know each other (with supervision of course). Much to our
> shock and amazement, our new kitty went beserk, slapping our resident
> cat several times with her claws and then chasing her all around the
> house. Our resident cat cowered under the couch and wouldn't come out
> for hours. In the only other instance since when we've tried to put
> them together, the same thing happened. Our resident cat is now
> terrified of our new cat, who has seemingly turned into a bully.
> Where should we go from here?
> Donnie Swenson
> *************************
> "Free-ranging cats in the United States have an average lifespan in the
> general population of only 3 to 5 years; indoor cats have an average lifespan
> of 12 years and frequently live longer than 20 years..."
> (Karen L. Overall, M.A., V.M.D., Ph.D., Diplomate, American College of
> Veterinary Behavior; Department of Clinical Studies School of Veterinary
> Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
>
> "The hazards of the outdoors-automobiles, dogs, rival cats, poisonous plants,
> infectious diseases, and fleas, to name but a few-are compelling reasons to
> keep cats exclusively indoors."
> Dr. James Richards, Director, Cornell Feline Health Center,
> College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
>
> "Cats can be happily kept inside all the time"
> Robert J. Holmes, BVM&S, PhD, MRCVS, FACVSc,
> Cat Behavior and Training
> Animal Behaviour Clinic, Malvern Vie 3 144, Australia
I think you need to go back and start over and make the introduction even
longer and slower. I would also (I know, I know) invest in some Feliway
spray.
Karen
wrote on 7/26/03 10:50 PM:
> I've been studying about introducing a new cat to resident cat,
> reading articles on the web and old posts here. I've experienced
> something quite different from what I expected, and I'm curious if
> anyone has seen this happen before or knows what to do about it.
>
> We have a 2 year old fixed female resident cat who in the past has
> been fiercely territorial, injuring badly a neighbor cat who wandered
> into her fenced-in back yard last year. We recently introduced a
> (very small) 1 year old, fixed female into the household. Mindful of
> our resident "bully" trying to kill the new cat, we kept them
> separated as most suggest, and rationing their introduction to each
> other. At first, as we expected, our resident cat was quite angry and
> hissed and swatted at the new kitty. After several more days of slow
> introductions, our resident cat began to warm to the new kitty. We
> finally felt it was time to set them down next to each other and let
> them get to know each other (with supervision of course). Much to our
> shock and amazement, our new kitty went beserk, slapping our resident
> cat several times with her claws and then chasing her all around the
> house. Our resident cat cowered under the couch and wouldn't come out
> for hours. In the only other instance since when we've tried to put
> them together, the same thing happened. Our resident cat is now
> terrified of our new cat, who has seemingly turned into a bully.
> Where should we go from here?
> Donnie Swenson
> *************************
> "Free-ranging cats in the United States have an average lifespan in the
> general population of only 3 to 5 years; indoor cats have an average lifespan
> of 12 years and frequently live longer than 20 years..."
> (Karen L. Overall, M.A., V.M.D., Ph.D., Diplomate, American College of
> Veterinary Behavior; Department of Clinical Studies School of Veterinary
> Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
>
> "The hazards of the outdoors-automobiles, dogs, rival cats, poisonous plants,
> infectious diseases, and fleas, to name but a few-are compelling reasons to
> keep cats exclusively indoors."
> Dr. James Richards, Director, Cornell Feline Health Center,
> College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
>
> "Cats can be happily kept inside all the time"
> Robert J. Holmes, BVM&S, PhD, MRCVS, FACVSc,
> Cat Behavior and Training
> Animal Behaviour Clinic, Malvern Vie 3 144, Australia
I think you need to go back and start over and make the introduction even
longer and slower. I would also (I know, I know) invest in some Feliway
spray.
Karen