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New clan members...............clash of the kitties!!!!!



 
 
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  #1  
Old October 19th 03, 08:02 AM
Blue__Oval
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Default New clan members...............clash of the kitties!!!!!

I'm pretty new to this group and I've only been lurking. Today's story
I'd like to share.......................

After saving a little brown tabby lately that we wanted to adopt, we found
out he was FelV+. We have 2 other healthy kitties and didn't want to mix
them in together.

So, we decided that we would adopt a kitty that we COULD mix in with our
boys. So we found a brown tabby to go with the black cat and the black and
white cat. We drove about 60 miles to see him. My wife wasn't sure he was
the right cat for us. I just wanted to help by giving a third cat a good
home. The people at the shelter named him Tommy. We decided to re-name him
Harley (after the toy I've been wanting so badly). So we head towards home
with the intention of stopping at petsmart to get Harley a new collar and a
ID tag..............and toys of course.
We walk in the place and right up front is a shelter org there with cats.
My wife (whose arm I had to twist to get the third cat) spots another brown
tabby and tells me she wants him too. She has this soul mate thing about
cats. When we got our first two, it was love at first site for a dog person
who "didn't really like cats all that much". Anyway, she pulls him out of
the cage and the rest is history. Oh yeah, one more thing; the name that
the second cat was given at his shelter................Harley. As we left
the petsmart store, I told her we should be proud that of our four cats,
none of them came from pet stores.

So now we have cat 1 and 2 (Boo and Spookee) and cats 3 and 4 (Harley and
Springer). Boo is doing the normal minor hissing as is Springer. But
Spookee the 3 year old 15 pound black cat has turned into devil cat whenever
he sees the two new cats; especially Springer the 6 Mo. old 3 pound tabby
(who also knows how to growl and hiss). We definitely can't leave the four
of them alone together yet.

Any suggestions for getting the two to behave? I have the feeling that
time will heal all wounds, but any suggestions would help.

Thanks,
Dave


  #2  
Old October 19th 03, 08:38 AM
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You need to separate the new cats NOW, and put them each in different
rooms, allowing the two resident cats the run of the house with as
little change to their routine as possible. If you don't do this, you
are headed for disaster. Introducing new cats into the house must be
done very slowly, especially when there are *two.* It is not fair to
force them to have to deal with new cats and a new environment when they
are just coming out of the shelter, and is very stressful for all the
cats. You need to give them time to settle in and get used to their new
surroundings and people before you even start to think of bringing the
resident cats into the equation, and the resident cats should be allowed
to get used to the sounds and scents of the new cats before any kind of
face to face introduction is attempted. If things get off on the wrong
foot it is very difficult if not impossible to rectify. Expect the
introduction of new cats to take a few weeks or more, and don't make the
mistake of rushing things as more often than not it results in setbacks
or all out war. Read the following article and follow the instructions
to the letter:
http://www.catsinternational.org/art...roduction.html

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

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"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray


  #3  
Old October 19th 03, 04:10 PM
Iso
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Remember that cats do not need to be social creatures - unlike the
pack-orientated dog; they function happily on their own without a social
structure around them. They are unlikely to feel the 'need' for a companion
even though you would wish to have another cat around. You cannot force cats
to like each other - some will live with a newcomer easily, others will
never relate, or they may just manage to live alongside each other in an
uneasy truce - you can only try. However, if there is no competition for
food or safe sleeping places (as in most good homes) then cats will accept
each other eventually and some will even seem to form close bonds with one
another.



While it may be a matter of feline choice as to whether cats relate, how you
introduce a new cat or kitten into your home and to a resident cat or cats
can make the difference between success and failure. Once a relationship
becomes violent or very fearful and the cat feels threatened, it can be very
difficult to change the behavior patterns. Thus, careful introductions which
prevent excessive reactions and take things slowly are vital. So far from
your description of how you introduced the kitten to the cat, you have done
everything correct. Either it accepts the kitten or it doesn't. You can't
force the relationship. I hope this helps...







 




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Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
New clan members...............clash of the kitties!!!!! Blue__Oval Cats - misc 6 October 19th 03 07:18 PM
New clan members...............clash of the kitties!!!!! Blue__Oval Cat health & behaviour 2 October 19th 03 04:10 PM


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