Help please: how do I make two cats coexist? (LONG)

You'll notice I didn't say "introduce a second cat", for which there are any
number of sites giving hints... My current problem is one that has crept up
on me unawares - if I had been *planning* to introduce a second cat, I'd have
done it the sensible way. But it's too late for that.

The situation is this: Aslan (who is female - don't ask; she's spayed, of
course) has been a spoiled only cat in my house for 7 years now. She does go
outdoors, but never for long, and in the past year or two she's spent more
and more time indoors.

I almost always have the door open when I'm home, and three of the
neighbourhood cats are regular visitors - Aslan is very used to this, and
tends to just ignore them. Every so often one accidentally stays the night
(e.g. if I don't realise they're inside when I shut the door before going to
bed - I find them patiently waiting to get out in the morning). They eat from
Aslan's dishes, and use her litter tray if they're shut in the house for a
while, and there's no problem - Aslan still eats normally, and will still use
the litter tray after one of the others has; there is no soiling elsewhere.

Two of these cats are from next door, and are very well looked after. They've
been coming in for years. The third, however, is a relative newcomer. I don't
know her name - I call her Angel (long story as to why). The people next door
don't know who she belongs to either, but last time I spoke to them they said
she'd been going in their house all the time too.

I think Angel has been mistreated. She was (until recently) extremely timid,
and would lash out if I tried to stroke her, or indeed go near to her at all.
Often I'd find her waiting at the door to be let in when I got up, on many
occasions when there was snow on the ground outside. And there are many times
I've not known she was in the house, but found her asleep in an armchair when
I went downstairs in the morning.

All well and good, so far. But things have changed in the past week or two.
Angel seems to have decided this is her home. She hardly ever leaves - if she
does, she's soon back. And she follows me round the house everywhere I go.
But at the same time she has started to be much more aggressive towards
Aslan, and Aslan appears to be terrified. If Aslan goes out, and when she
returns Angel is in the room, Aslan won't come through the door - she jumps
onto the windowsill and miaows at the window until I let her in that way
(she's never done that before). When she *is* inside, she hides behind an
armchair and won't come out. Angel ignores her for a while, but eventually
wanders over to investigate - and when Aslan sticks her nose out, Angel
chases her upstairs and she hides behind an armchair in my bedroom.

I've been worried for the past day or so that Aslan's not eating because
she's scared, so a few times I've put Angel outside for a bit and shut the
door, but even then I've had to pick Aslan up and take her to the food - she
takes a *very* long time to emerge from hiding places when she's scared. I've
also tried, a few times, shutting an interior door so as to divide the house
in two - but this isn't practical all the time. Also, it means one or the
other of them can't get to the food or litter tray. (I suppose I could get an
extra food and litter tray, but they have happily used the same one for
ages...)

Aslan has still been sleeping on my bed most nights as she always has, and
Angel has slept elsewhere - but last night I was awakened by the two of them
apparently chasing each other across my face! When I woke up properly, Angel
was asleep on the end of the bed (not Aslan's spot, but still...) and Aslan
was hiding behind the armchair.

I'm quite happy to take on Angel as my own (obviously I'll take her to the
vet and have her checked over and jabbed, and see if she's microchipped) but
not at the expense of Aslan. But I'd feel incredibly cruel rejecting Angel
now - she's really latched on to me. And they *can* get on - at this very
moment all 4 cats are in the house, and all is peaceful. But I think it's the
calm before the storm...

The obvious thing to do, I guess, is to try an amended version of the
"introducing a new cat" strategy, i.e. keep Angel in one room for a while and
introduce her into the rest of the house gradually. But I wonder how well
this would work, given that her scent is already all over the house and Aslan
is already scared, and in any case both of them always kick up a huge fuss if
there is a closed door...

Any thoughts?


--
'He stands not alone,' said Legolas, bending his bow and fitting an arrow
with hands that moved quicker than sight. 'You would die before your stroke
fell.'

Yes, I would re introduce them by restricting Angel to one room and
gradually exposing them to each other. You need to have at least two litter
boxes and more feed water dishes. They should not have to share these. I
think in time they will work it out. It is positive that neither is drawing
blood.
Gail
Gail
"Jocelyn Lavin" wrote in message
.uk...
You'll notice I didn't say "introduce a second cat", for which there are
any
number of sites giving hints... My current problem is one that has crept
up
on me unawares - if I had been *planning* to introduce a second cat, I'd
have
done it the sensible way. But it's too late for that.

The situation is this: Aslan (who is female - don't ask; she's spayed, of
course) has been a spoiled only cat in my house for 7 years now. She does
go
outdoors, but never for long, and in the past year or two she's spent more
and more time indoors.

I almost always have the door open when I'm home, and three of the
neighbourhood cats are regular visitors - Aslan is very used to this, and
tends to just ignore them. Every so often one accidentally stays the night
(e.g. if I don't realise they're inside when I shut the door before going
to
bed - I find them patiently waiting to get out in the morning). They eat
from
Aslan's dishes, and use her litter tray if they're shut in the house for a
while, and there's no problem - Aslan still eats normally, and will still
use
the litter tray after one of the others has; there is no soiling
elsewhere.

Two of these cats are from next door, and are very well looked after.
They've
been coming in for years. The third, however, is a relative newcomer. I
don't
know her name - I call her Angel (long story as to why). The people next
door
don't know who she belongs to either, but last time I spoke to them they
said
she'd been going in their house all the time too.

I think Angel has been mistreated. She was (until recently) extremely
timid,
and would lash out if I tried to stroke her, or indeed go near to her at
all.
Often I'd find her waiting at the door to be let in when I got up, on many
occasions when there was snow on the ground outside. And there are many
times
I've not known she was in the house, but found her asleep in an armchair
when
I went downstairs in the morning.

All well and good, so far. But things have changed in the past week or
two.
Angel seems to have decided this is her home. She hardly ever leaves - if
she
does, she's soon back. And she follows me round the house everywhere I go.
But at the same time she has started to be much more aggressive towards
Aslan, and Aslan appears to be terrified. If Aslan goes out, and when she
returns Angel is in the room, Aslan won't come through the door - she
jumps
onto the windowsill and miaows at the window until I let her in that way
(she's never done that before). When she *is* inside, she hides behind an
armchair and won't come out. Angel ignores her for a while, but eventually
wanders over to investigate - and when Aslan sticks her nose out, Angel
chases her upstairs and she hides behind an armchair in my bedroom.

I've been worried for the past day or so that Aslan's not eating because
she's scared, so a few times I've put Angel outside for a bit and shut the
door, but even then I've had to pick Aslan up and take her to the food -
she
takes a *very* long time to emerge from hiding places when she's scared.
I've
also tried, a few times, shutting an interior door so as to divide the
house
in two - but this isn't practical all the time. Also, it means one or the
other of them can't get to the food or litter tray. (I suppose I could get
an
extra food and litter tray, but they have happily used the same one for
ages...)

Aslan has still been sleeping on my bed most nights as she always has, and
Angel has slept elsewhere - but last night I was awakened by the two of
them
apparently chasing each other across my face! When I woke up properly,
Angel
was asleep on the end of the bed (not Aslan's spot, but still...) and
Aslan
was hiding behind the armchair.

I'm quite happy to take on Angel as my own (obviously I'll take her to the
vet and have her checked over and jabbed, and see if she's microchipped)
but
not at the expense of Aslan. But I'd feel incredibly cruel rejecting Angel
now - she's really latched on to me. And they *can* get on - at this very
moment all 4 cats are in the house, and all is peaceful. But I think it's
the
calm before the storm...

The obvious thing to do, I guess, is to try an amended version of the
"introducing a new cat" strategy, i.e. keep Angel in one room for a while
and
introduce her into the rest of the house gradually. But I wonder how well
this would work, given that her scent is already all over the house and
Aslan
is already scared, and in any case both of them always kick up a huge fuss
if
there is a closed door...

Any thoughts?


--
'He stands not alone,' said Legolas, bending his bow and fitting an arrow
with hands that moved quicker than sight. 'You would die before your
stroke
fell.'

Yes, I would re introduce them by restricting Angel to one room and
gradually exposing them to each other. You need to have at least two litter
boxes and more feed water dishes. They should not have to share these. I
think in time they will work it out. It is positive that neither is drawing
blood.
Gail
Gail
"Jocelyn Lavin" wrote in message
.uk...
You'll notice I didn't say "introduce a second cat", for which there are
any
number of sites giving hints... My current problem is one that has crept
up
on me unawares - if I had been *planning* to introduce a second cat, I'd
have
done it the sensible way. But it's too late for that.

The situation is this: Aslan (who is female - don't ask; she's spayed, of
course) has been a spoiled only cat in my house for 7 years now. She does
go
outdoors, but never for long, and in the past year or two she's spent more
and more time indoors.

I almost always have the door open when I'm home, and three of the
neighbourhood cats are regular visitors - Aslan is very used to this, and
tends to just ignore them. Every so often one accidentally stays the night
(e.g. if I don't realise they're inside when I shut the door before going
to
bed - I find them patiently waiting to get out in the morning). They eat
from
Aslan's dishes, and use her litter tray if they're shut in the house for a
while, and there's no problem - Aslan still eats normally, and will still
use
the litter tray after one of the others has; there is no soiling
elsewhere.

Two of these cats are from next door, and are very well looked after.
They've
been coming in for years. The third, however, is a relative newcomer. I
don't
know her name - I call her Angel (long story as to why). The people next
door
don't know who she belongs to either, but last time I spoke to them they
said
she'd been going in their house all the time too.

I think Angel has been mistreated. She was (until recently) extremely
timid,
and would lash out if I tried to stroke her, or indeed go near to her at
all.
Often I'd find her waiting at the door to be let in when I got up, on many
occasions when there was snow on the ground outside. And there are many
times
I've not known she was in the house, but found her asleep in an armchair
when
I went downstairs in the morning.

All well and good, so far. But things have changed in the past week or
two.
Angel seems to have decided this is her home. She hardly ever leaves - if
she
does, she's soon back. And she follows me round the house everywhere I go.
But at the same time she has started to be much more aggressive towards
Aslan, and Aslan appears to be terrified. If Aslan goes out, and when she
returns Angel is in the room, Aslan won't come through the door - she
jumps
onto the windowsill and miaows at the window until I let her in that way
(she's never done that before). When she *is* inside, she hides behind an
armchair and won't come out. Angel ignores her for a while, but eventually
wanders over to investigate - and when Aslan sticks her nose out, Angel
chases her upstairs and she hides behind an armchair in my bedroom.

I've been worried for the past day or so that Aslan's not eating because
she's scared, so a few times I've put Angel outside for a bit and shut the
door, but even then I've had to pick Aslan up and take her to the food -
she
takes a *very* long time to emerge from hiding places when she's scared.
I've
also tried, a few times, shutting an interior door so as to divide the
house
in two - but this isn't practical all the time. Also, it means one or the
other of them can't get to the food or litter tray. (I suppose I could get
an
extra food and litter tray, but they have happily used the same one for
ages...)

Aslan has still been sleeping on my bed most nights as she always has, and
Angel has slept elsewhere - but last night I was awakened by the two of
them
apparently chasing each other across my face! When I woke up properly,
Angel
was asleep on the end of the bed (not Aslan's spot, but still...) and
Aslan
was hiding behind the armchair.

I'm quite happy to take on Angel as my own (obviously I'll take her to the
vet and have her checked over and jabbed, and see if she's microchipped)
but
not at the expense of Aslan. But I'd feel incredibly cruel rejecting Angel
now - she's really latched on to me. And they *can* get on - at this very
moment all 4 cats are in the house, and all is peaceful. But I think it's
the
calm before the storm...

The obvious thing to do, I guess, is to try an amended version of the
"introducing a new cat" strategy, i.e. keep Angel in one room for a while
and
introduce her into the rest of the house gradually. But I wonder how well
this would work, given that her scent is already all over the house and
Aslan
is already scared, and in any case both of them always kick up a huge fuss
if
there is a closed door...

Any thoughts?


--
'He stands not alone,' said Legolas, bending his bow and fitting an arrow
with hands that moved quicker than sight. 'You would die before your
stroke
fell.'

Yes, I would re introduce them by restricting Angel to one room and
gradually exposing them to each other. You need to have at least two litter
boxes and more feed water dishes. They should not have to share these. I
think in time they will work it out. It is positive that neither is drawing
blood.

Thanks for the reassurance :-)


--
Buffy : I told you. I said end of the world and you¹re like 'poo-poo southern
California, poo-poo!'
Giles : I¹m so very sorry. My contrition completely dwarfs the impending
apocalypse.

Yes, I would re introduce them by restricting Angel to one room and
gradually exposing them to each other. You need to have at least two litter
boxes and more feed water dishes. They should not have to share these. I
think in time they will work it out. It is positive that neither is drawing
blood.

Thanks for the reassurance :-)


--
Buffy : I told you. I said end of the world and you¹re like 'poo-poo southern
California, poo-poo!'
Giles : I¹m so very sorry. My contrition completely dwarfs the impending
apocalypse.

... if I had been *planning* to introduce a second cat, I'd have
done it the sensible way. But it's too late for that.

Same here. My two nuetered males have had their space invaded by a
female who has adopted us and moved in. She wasn't exactly a stranger
as we have been feeding her for several months, thinking she lived
nearby. But when she moved in we took a picture of her and asked around
the neighborhood and nobody knew her.

She was obviously somebody's pet as she loves to be petted, purrs a
lot, uses the litter box, and sleeps with us on our bed. The other guys
have their own favorite sleeping spots so there's no conflict there.

All three of them are working out the territorial/dominance issues and
we ocassionally have some yowling, chasing, peeing, and spraying
problems. But we show them all lots of attention and affection and
things are getting better.

... if I had been *planning* to introduce a second cat, I'd have
done it the sensible way. But it's too late for that.

Same here. My two nuetered males have had their space invaded by a
female who has adopted us and moved in. She wasn't exactly a stranger
as we have been feeding her for several months, thinking she lived
nearby. But when she moved in we took a picture of her and asked around
the neighborhood and nobody knew her.

She was obviously somebody's pet as she loves to be petted, purrs a
lot, uses the litter box, and sleeps with us on our bed. The other guys
have their own favorite sleeping spots so there's no conflict there.

All three of them are working out the territorial/dominance issues and
we ocassionally have some yowling, chasing, peeing, and spraying
problems. But we show them all lots of attention and affection and
things are getting better.

On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 15:22:09 +0000, Fat Freddy wrote
(in message ):

... if I had been *planning* to introduce a second cat, I'd have
done it the sensible way. But it's too late for that.

Same here. My two nuetered males have had their space invaded by a
female who has adopted us and moved in. She wasn't exactly a stranger
as we have been feeding her for several months, thinking she lived
nearby. But when she moved in we took a picture of her and asked around
the neighborhood and nobody knew her.

She was obviously somebody's pet as she loves to be petted, purrs a
lot, uses the litter box, and sleeps with us on our bed. The other guys
have their own favorite sleeping spots so there's no conflict there.

All three of them are working out the territorial/dominance issues and
we ocassionally have some yowling, chasing, peeing, and spraying
problems. But we show them all lots of attention and affection and
things are getting better.


Glad to know it's not just me!

Also glad to hear that the situation has been known to end well. Thanks.


--
They said there¹d be snow at Christmas.
They said there¹d be peace on Earth.
Alleluia, Noël, be it Heaven or Hell -
The Christmas we get, we deserve.

On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 15:22:09 +0000, Fat Freddy wrote
(in message ):

... if I had been *planning* to introduce a second cat, I'd have
done it the sensible way. But it's too late for that.

Same here. My two nuetered males have had their space invaded by a
female who has adopted us and moved in. She wasn't exactly a stranger
as we have been feeding her for several months, thinking she lived
nearby. But when she moved in we took a picture of her and asked around
the neighborhood and nobody knew her.

She was obviously somebody's pet as she loves to be petted, purrs a
lot, uses the litter box, and sleeps with us on our bed. The other guys
have their own favorite sleeping spots so there's no conflict there.

All three of them are working out the territorial/dominance issues and
we ocassionally have some yowling, chasing, peeing, and spraying
problems. But we show them all lots of attention and affection and
things are getting better.


Glad to know it's not just me!

Also glad to hear that the situation has been known to end well. Thanks.


--
They said there¹d be snow at Christmas.
They said there¹d be peace on Earth.
Alleluia, Noël, be it Heaven or Hell -
The Christmas we get, we deserve.

In article et,
enlightened us with...
Yes, I would re introduce them by restricting Angel to one room and
gradually exposing them to each other. You need to have at least two litter
boxes and more feed water dishes.

I agree. Even though my cats get along, the girls often prefer to use
their own box while Jeffrey primarily uses the other. Also, sharing a
litterbox takes on a whole new meaning to a cat when the territory is no
longer "theirs" and becomes "mine".
Jeffrey was initially submissive to both girls. He has gotten much more
dominant over time; though he still remains submissive to Rowan, he
pushes her a lot more and she even sometimes gives in now. He is
completely dominant over Isis. He will probably be the dominant cat in
another year. As his dominance increases, the girls use "his" box less
and less. And they never use it if he has defecated in it and I haven't
scooped.

It is positive that neither is drawing
blood.

Agreed. It is much easier to work with them when they aren't trying to
seriously hurt each other (less stalking behavior, etc). If they aren't
drawing blood, it is, IME, much easier to handle for both cats and
humans.

--
~kaeli~
A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless
interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an
otherwise dull day.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace