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2-year-old cat is slugging the new kitten



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 1st 03, 06:26 PM
Marilyn & Glenn Spence
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default 2-year-old cat is slugging the new kitten

I agree with Lynn K's response.

We started with 2 Maine Coons (Jasper & Jasmine) who came from the same
cattery and were about the same age. They got along great. A couple of
years later we added another Maine Coon kitten (Molly) and it took a month
or so for the hissing and swatting to subside. Jasper accepted Molly early
on and Jasmine tolerated Molly and ultimately would lick her head.

We lost Jasmine to the heart problem last year and the breeder replaced her
with Mittsee. The now familiar acceptance by Jasper and the
hissing/swatting by Molly repeated itself. As Mittsee grew in size there
seems to be a harmony developing between Molly and Mittsee.

Mittsee enjoys wrestling with Jasper and sometimes there is a lot of noise
involved and small clumps of fur lying around. Nobody runs and hides though
so I think that is a good barometer. I'm waiting for the time when Mittsee
decides to challenge Molly as Mittsee has no fear and Molly is about 16
pounds. (I'm not actually looking forward to this but I anticipate there
will be a challenge sometime).

Regards, Glenn

"Lynn K." wrote in message
a...
"VF" wrote in message
om...
| Hi, all--
|
| I'm trying to get a feel for the behavioral stages I can expect while
| introducing a new 9-week-old kitten (Icarus) to our 2-year-old cat
| (Odysseus).
|
| When we got him last weekend, we kept Icarus in a separate room with
| his own litter box, dish, etc. The next day, we cracked the door so
| he and Odysseus could see each other--Odysseus was a bit tense (highly
| alert) at the presence of a new kitten, but not truly upset. After
| another day or so, we let them in the same room together, and Odysseus
| growled and hissed a bit but there wasn't any physical interaction.
| It's been a couple of more days now, and actually they get pretty
| close (though both have the run of the house at this point) and the
| growling has almost completely subsided. Icarus has used Odysseus's
| litter box and drinks from his water bowl and has eaten from his food
| bowl (though we always move him to his own since it's got the kitten
| chow), all without direct objection from Odysseus (though he's a bit
| jealous, I think, that Icarus has appropriated our laps).
|
| Odysseus will lie down near Icarus and gives every appearance of being
| relaxed--pretty much up to the point when Icarus should directly
| approach him. Then Odysseus jumps up and will circle around and
| sometimes chase Icarus, eventually cornering him. He'll then often
| proceed to swat Icarus several times and jump away, sometimes
| repeating the swatting/jumping several times.
|
| I expect it has to do with the establishment of hierarchy, so I'm
| inclined to let it continue until they've gotten their relationship
| worked out as long as nobody's getting physically injured. But on the
| other hand, I don't want any truly bad patterns established--the main
| reason we got Icarus (we rescued him when his feral mother had a
| litter in our back yard) was to give Odysseus a pal since my wife and
| I are often gone until mid- or late evening.
|
| Should I go back to separating them and try a slower introduction?
| Should I just let things work themselves out, now that they're in the
| situation they're in? Over all, I've been pleased with how Odysseus
| is apparently getting used to the idea (in that he's lolling on his
| back again, he's stopped growling, he's gone more back to his own
| routines, and has let Icarus get progressively closer). But now that
| physical contact is being made in the form of this "bullying," I want
| to make sure things keep trending the right way.
|
| Any and all advice is MOST appreciated!
|
| --VF
|
| p.t. The whole situation is made more difficult by the fact that my
| wife and I will be gone in a week and a half for six days. We're
| hoping for resolution of all this by then so it's not a factor for the
| cat-sitter, but we know that cats work on their own timetables.

It sounds like Odysseus is just letting Icarus know that he's the boss of

the house. He
is not trying to really hurt him, or there would be lots of growling and

hissing going
on.....not to mention the all-out fighting. He appears to be just swatting

harmlessly to
maintain his "position" of top cat in HIS household.

I recently went through the same thing with my boys. I had a Siamese for a

few years,
then rescued a Maine Coon in January. With very limited space to work

with, both boys
were immediately placed in the same living area. For the first week or

two, it was pretty
tense, but the managed to work things out between them. I'm still not

entirely certain
which one has deemed himself "top cat," but they are the best of friends

now. Then again
they are boys and the wrestling continues regularly. Now, though, it is

more in fun and
no one gets hurt.
--
Hugs,
Lynn


*strip CLOTHES to reply*





  #2  
Old July 1st 03, 06:26 PM
Marilyn & Glenn Spence
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I agree with Lynn K's response.

We started with 2 Maine Coons (Jasper & Jasmine) who came from the same
cattery and were about the same age. They got along great. A couple of
years later we added another Maine Coon kitten (Molly) and it took a month
or so for the hissing and swatting to subside. Jasper accepted Molly early
on and Jasmine tolerated Molly and ultimately would lick her head.

We lost Jasmine to the heart problem last year and the breeder replaced her
with Mittsee. The now familiar acceptance by Jasper and the
hissing/swatting by Molly repeated itself. As Mittsee grew in size there
seems to be a harmony developing between Molly and Mittsee.

Mittsee enjoys wrestling with Jasper and sometimes there is a lot of noise
involved and small clumps of fur lying around. Nobody runs and hides though
so I think that is a good barometer. I'm waiting for the time when Mittsee
decides to challenge Molly as Mittsee has no fear and Molly is about 16
pounds. (I'm not actually looking forward to this but I anticipate there
will be a challenge sometime).

Regards, Glenn

"Lynn K." wrote in message
a...
"VF" wrote in message
om...
| Hi, all--
|
| I'm trying to get a feel for the behavioral stages I can expect while
| introducing a new 9-week-old kitten (Icarus) to our 2-year-old cat
| (Odysseus).
|
| When we got him last weekend, we kept Icarus in a separate room with
| his own litter box, dish, etc. The next day, we cracked the door so
| he and Odysseus could see each other--Odysseus was a bit tense (highly
| alert) at the presence of a new kitten, but not truly upset. After
| another day or so, we let them in the same room together, and Odysseus
| growled and hissed a bit but there wasn't any physical interaction.
| It's been a couple of more days now, and actually they get pretty
| close (though both have the run of the house at this point) and the
| growling has almost completely subsided. Icarus has used Odysseus's
| litter box and drinks from his water bowl and has eaten from his food
| bowl (though we always move him to his own since it's got the kitten
| chow), all without direct objection from Odysseus (though he's a bit
| jealous, I think, that Icarus has appropriated our laps).
|
| Odysseus will lie down near Icarus and gives every appearance of being
| relaxed--pretty much up to the point when Icarus should directly
| approach him. Then Odysseus jumps up and will circle around and
| sometimes chase Icarus, eventually cornering him. He'll then often
| proceed to swat Icarus several times and jump away, sometimes
| repeating the swatting/jumping several times.
|
| I expect it has to do with the establishment of hierarchy, so I'm
| inclined to let it continue until they've gotten their relationship
| worked out as long as nobody's getting physically injured. But on the
| other hand, I don't want any truly bad patterns established--the main
| reason we got Icarus (we rescued him when his feral mother had a
| litter in our back yard) was to give Odysseus a pal since my wife and
| I are often gone until mid- or late evening.
|
| Should I go back to separating them and try a slower introduction?
| Should I just let things work themselves out, now that they're in the
| situation they're in? Over all, I've been pleased with how Odysseus
| is apparently getting used to the idea (in that he's lolling on his
| back again, he's stopped growling, he's gone more back to his own
| routines, and has let Icarus get progressively closer). But now that
| physical contact is being made in the form of this "bullying," I want
| to make sure things keep trending the right way.
|
| Any and all advice is MOST appreciated!
|
| --VF
|
| p.t. The whole situation is made more difficult by the fact that my
| wife and I will be gone in a week and a half for six days. We're
| hoping for resolution of all this by then so it's not a factor for the
| cat-sitter, but we know that cats work on their own timetables.

It sounds like Odysseus is just letting Icarus know that he's the boss of

the house. He
is not trying to really hurt him, or there would be lots of growling and

hissing going
on.....not to mention the all-out fighting. He appears to be just swatting

harmlessly to
maintain his "position" of top cat in HIS household.

I recently went through the same thing with my boys. I had a Siamese for a

few years,
then rescued a Maine Coon in January. With very limited space to work

with, both boys
were immediately placed in the same living area. For the first week or

two, it was pretty
tense, but the managed to work things out between them. I'm still not

entirely certain
which one has deemed himself "top cat," but they are the best of friends

now. Then again
they are boys and the wrestling continues regularly. Now, though, it is

more in fun and
no one gets hurt.
--
Hugs,
Lynn


*strip CLOTHES to reply*





  #3  
Old July 1st 03, 07:57 PM
VF
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Outsider wrote in message . ..

Well what do you expect?! Icarus needs to learn not to get too close to
the (original) son!


Hey, that's pretty good!

And that's about right, too. Thanks for the advice, one and all.
Looks like things are proceeding apace, with Odysseus becoming
increasingly tolerant. He did bop Icarus a little yesterday, but they
also chased each other a bit. And Icarus jumped out at Odysseus from
under a piece of furniture like a cuckoo from a clock, which I think
startled Odysseus to no end. He didn't actually expect the kid to get
that uppity, I think!

I love the names!


Odysseus loves to wander, and has a mark on his leg that could be
interpreted as a scar. Icarus is a dark toasted brown color--so it
made sense!

Thanks again, everybody.

--VF
  #4  
Old July 1st 03, 07:57 PM
VF
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Outsider wrote in message . ..

Well what do you expect?! Icarus needs to learn not to get too close to
the (original) son!


Hey, that's pretty good!

And that's about right, too. Thanks for the advice, one and all.
Looks like things are proceeding apace, with Odysseus becoming
increasingly tolerant. He did bop Icarus a little yesterday, but they
also chased each other a bit. And Icarus jumped out at Odysseus from
under a piece of furniture like a cuckoo from a clock, which I think
startled Odysseus to no end. He didn't actually expect the kid to get
that uppity, I think!

I love the names!


Odysseus loves to wander, and has a mark on his leg that could be
interpreted as a scar. Icarus is a dark toasted brown color--so it
made sense!

Thanks again, everybody.

--VF
  #5  
Old July 6th 03, 10:08 PM
MARTY AND SAM MASTRUSERIO
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I am having a similar issue. I had 1 cat, brought in 2 together from a
breeder. All was great, everybody got along right off after a few days of
hissing. Now my dad gave me a kitten and one of the cats won't stop hissing
at him and the other keeps standing over him, biting him on the back of the
neck hard and holding on. The vet gave me a triple no chew spray to put on
the kitten but it doesn't deter the cat. I have fashioned a "sweatshirt"
from an ankle sock but it is just a buffer.

Any advice? The kitten screams when the cat does it, I squirt the cat with
water, give him a time out, nothing works. After I get the cat to release
the kitten, the kitten chases back after him?

Please advise.
thanks,
Sam

"VF" wrote in message
om...
Outsider wrote in message

. ..

Well what do you expect?! Icarus needs to learn not to get too close to
the (original) son!


Hey, that's pretty good!

And that's about right, too. Thanks for the advice, one and all.
Looks like things are proceeding apace, with Odysseus becoming
increasingly tolerant. He did bop Icarus a little yesterday, but they
also chased each other a bit. And Icarus jumped out at Odysseus from
under a piece of furniture like a cuckoo from a clock, which I think
startled Odysseus to no end. He didn't actually expect the kid to get
that uppity, I think!

I love the names!


Odysseus loves to wander, and has a mark on his leg that could be
interpreted as a scar. Icarus is a dark toasted brown color--so it
made sense!

Thanks again, everybody.

--VF



  #6  
Old July 6th 03, 10:08 PM
MARTY AND SAM MASTRUSERIO
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I am having a similar issue. I had 1 cat, brought in 2 together from a
breeder. All was great, everybody got along right off after a few days of
hissing. Now my dad gave me a kitten and one of the cats won't stop hissing
at him and the other keeps standing over him, biting him on the back of the
neck hard and holding on. The vet gave me a triple no chew spray to put on
the kitten but it doesn't deter the cat. I have fashioned a "sweatshirt"
from an ankle sock but it is just a buffer.

Any advice? The kitten screams when the cat does it, I squirt the cat with
water, give him a time out, nothing works. After I get the cat to release
the kitten, the kitten chases back after him?

Please advise.
thanks,
Sam

"VF" wrote in message
om...
Outsider wrote in message

. ..

Well what do you expect?! Icarus needs to learn not to get too close to
the (original) son!


Hey, that's pretty good!

And that's about right, too. Thanks for the advice, one and all.
Looks like things are proceeding apace, with Odysseus becoming
increasingly tolerant. He did bop Icarus a little yesterday, but they
also chased each other a bit. And Icarus jumped out at Odysseus from
under a piece of furniture like a cuckoo from a clock, which I think
startled Odysseus to no end. He didn't actually expect the kid to get
that uppity, I think!

I love the names!


Odysseus loves to wander, and has a mark on his leg that could be
interpreted as a scar. Icarus is a dark toasted brown color--so it
made sense!

Thanks again, everybody.

--VF



 




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