Acclimate New Cat to Old Cat??

Hi, All.....

We have a new cat in our home, she adopted us. She apparently was
abandoned nearby, and she just showed up on our doorstep.

Problem is, our original cat will not accept the new kitty into the
household. He fights with her at every opportunity, so we keep them
separated at all times....(one cat in, the other out, and vice-versa.)

Original cat is neutered male, adopted and bottle-fed by us when he
was an orphaned feral infant. He is bonded closely to my wife and me,
but always shys away from other people.

New stray cat is 5 to 7 years old, spayed and healthy, very sweet
people-loving kitty, very accepting of strangers.

Are we forever going to have these conflicts going on, or is there a
way to get our original cat to lighten up and accept the new kitty?

We're hoping someone here can offer some constructive advice!

Thanks,

Mark

"Guitarmakermark" wrote in message
...
Hi, All.....

We have a new cat in our home, she adopted us. She apparently was
abandoned nearby, and she just showed up on our doorstep.

Problem is, our original cat will not accept the new kitty into the
household. He fights with her at every opportunity, so we keep them
separated at all times....(one cat in, the other out, and vice-versa.)

Original cat is neutered male, adopted and bottle-fed by us when he
was an orphaned feral infant. He is bonded closely to my wife and me,
but always shys away from other people.

New stray cat is 5 to 7 years old, spayed and healthy, very sweet
people-loving kitty, very accepting of strangers.

Are we forever going to have these conflicts going on, or is there a
way to get our original cat to lighten up and accept the new kitty?

We're hoping someone here can offer some constructive advice!

Thanks,

Mark

Generally, these problems sort themselves out with time. Keep putting the
two together, and shout at them when they fight and/or hiss at one
another.....Pretty soon they will learn to at least tolerate one another. We
have had this problem with each new cat we got, and now we have 5 of them.
The newest one took a year before she was accepted into the group. It helps
if there is some outside the group threat that they can fight, or be
frightened by together.....We have wild raccoons that we feed, and the cats
refuse to allow the raccoons into the house, so they guard the cat doors at
night for this purpose, and they take turns doing this. The two who had the
most trouble accepting one another were sharing the same inside hall one
night during a thunderstorm.....Threats like this tend to draw them
together.

"Bill Graham" wrote in message
...

"Guitarmakermark" wrote in message
...
Hi, All.....

We have a new cat in our home, she adopted us. She apparently was
abandoned nearby, and she just showed up on our doorstep.

Problem is, our original cat will not accept the new kitty into the
household. He fights with her at every opportunity, so we keep them
separated at all times....(one cat in, the other out, and vice-versa.)

Original cat is neutered male, adopted and bottle-fed by us when he
was an orphaned feral infant. He is bonded closely to my wife and me,
but always shys away from other people.

New stray cat is 5 to 7 years old, spayed and healthy, very sweet
people-loving kitty, very accepting of strangers.

Are we forever going to have these conflicts going on, or is there a
way to get our original cat to lighten up and accept the new kitty?

We're hoping someone here can offer some constructive advice!

Thanks,

Mark

Generally, these problems sort themselves out with time. Keep putting the
two together, and shout at them when they fight and/or hiss at one
another.....Pretty soon they will learn to at least tolerate one another.
We have had this problem with each new cat we got, and now we have 5 of
them. The newest one took a year before she was accepted into the group.
It helps if there is some outside the group threat that they can fight, or
be frightened by together.....We have wild raccoons that we feed, and the
cats refuse to allow the raccoons into the house, so they guard the cat
doors at night for this purpose, and they take turns doing this. The two
who had the most trouble accepting one another were sharing the same
inside hall one night during a thunderstorm.....Threats like this tend to
draw them together.

**Your cats have quite a responsibility and trust to keep those raccoons out
of the house.
I'm sure the cats know it is great to have such a qualified job.

**My two cats' only responsibility seems to be to go into all the nooks and
crannies "dead" areas of the house, sit down there, and liven things up,
if that makes any sense.

Bill Graham rote:

Generally, these problems sort
themselves out with time. Keep putting
the two together, and shout at them
when they fight and/or hiss at one
another.

That is terrible advice. Keep the new cat in a room by herself for a
week at least. Then put a baby gate at the door so the two can see each
other - this for another week. Then try letting them get together.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

"---MIKE---" wrote in message
...
Bill Graham rote:

Generally, these problems sort
themselves out with time. Keep putting
the two together, and shout at them
when they fight and/or hiss at one
another.

That is terrible advice. Keep the new cat in a room by herself for a
week at least. Then put a baby gate at the door so the two can see each
other - this for another week. Then try letting them get together.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

Mike is right. "Bill Graham" is here to upset the stupid, softhearted cat
people.

"Bill Graham"
snipped

ARE YOU AN IDIOT????


You never force any animal to be with one another. Man I hope you aren't in
an area where there are rabies concern. Raccoons are one of the number one
carriers where I am.

On Dec 10, 3:06*pm, Guitarmakermark wrote:
Hi, All.....

We have a new cat in our home, she adopted us. *She apparently was
abandoned nearby, and she just showed up on our doorstep.

Problem is, our original cat will not accept the new kitty into the
household. *He fights with her at every opportunity, so we keep them
separated at all times....(one cat in, the other out, and vice-versa.)

Original cat is neutered male, adopted and bottle-fed by us when he
was an orphaned feral infant. *He is bonded closely to my wife and me,
but always shys away from other people.

New stray cat is 5 to 7 years old, spayed and healthy, very sweet
people-loving kitty, very accepting of strangers.

Are we forever going to have these conflicts going on, or is there a
way to get our original cat to lighten up and accept the new kitty?

We're hoping someone here can offer some constructive advice!

Thanks,

Mark

They may not ever be best friends, but they'll learn to tolerate each
other,
if they're introduced properly and slowly. (I'm sure others have
already
given you lots of info. about that)
My advice would be to target Resident Cat with a lot of extra
attention, while
he's getting used to the idea of an interloper. Sometimes even
neutered cats
can get all territorial and start showing their displeasure by peeing/
pooping
inappropriately. Some neutered males even start spraying.
I think it's awesome that you took in the stray. The best cats I ever
had were
strays. It's almost like they're....*grateful* or something.

Sherry

"---MIKE---" wrote in message
...
Bill Graham rote:

Generally, these problems sort
themselves out with time. Keep putting
the two together, and shout at them
when they fight and/or hiss at one
another.

That is terrible advice. Keep the new cat in a room by herself for a
week at least. Then put a baby gate at the door so the two can see each
other - this for another week. Then try letting them get together.

---MIKE---

No, THAT is terrible advice.....The first step in training any animal (or
human) is to let them know what you want them to do. If they don't know
that, then there is no hope of them ever doing what you want.

"Matthew" wrote in message
g.com...

"Bill Graham"
snipped

ARE YOU AN IDIOT????


You never force any animal to be with one another. Man I hope you aren't
in an area where there are rabies concern. Raccoons are one of the number
one carriers where I am.

Idiots are those who have trouble reading.....Where did I ever say that I
force my cats to associate with raccoons? My cats are outside cats. They
will be exposed to the raccoons whether I like it or not. We feed squirrels,
raccoons, birds, possums and stray cats, as well as our own cats. The
raccoons don't bother with my cats because they don't compete for the same
food.....The raccoons eat dog kibbles, and my cats eat cat food which they
get inside my house. Unfortunately, the cats get outside through two cat
doors that we have in both sides of the house, and the smaller raccoons can
fit through these doors also, so the cats keep the raccoons out of the
house, as a simple exercise in territorial imperative.

"Sherry" wrote in message
...
On Dec 10, 3:06 pm, Guitarmakermark wrote:
Hi, All.....

We have a new cat in our home, she adopted us. She apparently was
abandoned nearby, and she just showed up on our doorstep.

Problem is, our original cat will not accept the new kitty into the
household. He fights with her at every opportunity, so we keep them
separated at all times....(one cat in, the other out, and vice-versa.)

Original cat is neutered male, adopted and bottle-fed by us when he
was an orphaned feral infant. He is bonded closely to my wife and me,
but always shys away from other people.

New stray cat is 5 to 7 years old, spayed and healthy, very sweet
people-loving kitty, very accepting of strangers.

Are we forever going to have these conflicts going on, or is there a
way to get our original cat to lighten up and accept the new kitty?

We're hoping someone here can offer some constructive advice!

Thanks,

Mark

They may not ever be best friends, but they'll learn to tolerate each
other,
if they're introduced properly and slowly. (I'm sure others have
already
given you lots of info. about that)
My advice would be to target Resident Cat with a lot of extra
attention, while
he's getting used to the idea of an interloper. Sometimes even
neutered cats
can get all territorial and start showing their displeasure by peeing/
pooping
inappropriately. Some neutered males even start spraying.
I think it's awesome that you took in the stray. The best cats I ever
had were
strays. It's almost like they're....*grateful* or something.

Sherry

I agree....The best cats are the strays that you take in and save from a
miserable life eating garbage and living in the cold. Smokey, our feral cat,
and B-K, our Burger King parking lot cat, are the most appreciative cats we
have. B-K really learned how to get along with people in that parking lot.
Today, he is known by everyone on our block, and goes in all their houses.