Cat people I need your help ASAP

[JennSLK]

I will give you the short version since I am on my phone at work. I can answer specifics when I get home.

Right now in our home we have 3 cats. Thea who is 14 and has been deaf since birth. She has always been the mothering type and any kittens I brought home from our farm she mothered and took to unroll I found them homes. She is de clawed and not the brightest of cats.

Then their is Sammy. I call her the evil B!tch cat. She is 7-8 yrs old. She is not a nice cat. One of those that bites and bullies Thea. She does have a soft spot for Katie though. Personally I ignore her for the most part since I don't like her. I'm never mean to her. De clawed as well

Then we have kitten. Name is still a work in progress so we are calling her Maggie (yuck lol). I found Maggie a week and a half ago on the street. She's about 9 weeks old best guess. So far typical kitten.

Both adults hate her. Thea just hisses and walks away. No big deal but odd. Sammy on the other hand is horrible. I lock Maggie up in the bathroom since mom has custom draps and Maggie has claws. I also don't want Sammy to hurt her. A few times I have sat down beside Sammy and pet her nice when she can see the kitten. I have been giving Sammy attention so she doesn't feel left out or worse start marking. Well three times now she has stalked the kitten. Maggie doesn't help matters because she thinks its play. Twice now though she has ran after her and full on attacked Maggie.

Getting rid of this kitten is not really a option. Katie and I are so bonded to Maggie but getting rid of Sammy isn't a option either. We do have a plug in pharamone thing that helps Sammy not bullying Thea but isn't helping this.

And ideas? I'm moving next July and will take Maggie with me but locking her in the bathroom until then is not going to work either. She does get a lot of out time too when I'm home.

 

[JennSLK]

Blame it on the phone. Can a mod move this? Lol thanks

 

[sassafras]

After only a week and a half, I would still be keeping a 9 week old kitten mostly separate from my resident adult cats and introducing them suuuuper slowly, especially when one of the adult cats is kind of a bully. Together just 10-15 minutes at a time and supervising heavily. Swap everyone's positions a couple of times a day for 10-15 at a time, too (eg Sammy in the bathroom) so they can explore each other's smells without face to face confrontation. Sometimes putting the kitten in a carrier and allowing the adult cats to approach and investigate can work, but if Sammy is going to flip out and attack the carrier that might be counterproductive for Maggie.

Cats hate change. And if they must endure change, it needs to be as gradual as possible and they need to feel as much in control as possible. It can take a couple of months for cats to truly adjust to having a new cat/kitten in the home.

 

[JennSLK]

Right now Sammy and Thea's food and litter box is in the laundry room where it has always been. Just Maggie is in the bathroom. Good idea about the carrier though

 

[Romy]

I'd do what Sassafras suggested. She could have a XXL wire crate to hang out in too when nobody is there to supervise.

 

[Sparrow]

Cats take a long time to adjust, and it is probably worse with a kitten that has less sense of defining personal/"property" boundaries. If you can get a ferret cage, these can work well for kittens to play in as well as sleeping/everything else to keep them separate and still stimulated.

 

[JennSLK]

Would a be wrong to disispline Sammy for growling at the kitten?

 

[sassafras]

I wouldn't, personally. Cats IME seem to respond to punishment far worse than dogs do and make those negative associations more easily. The growl is just an expression of discomfort, she has a right to be uncomfortable.

 

[JennSLK]

True enough. What about a full out attack? Just this
Morning Sammy was at the top of the stairs when I came up. I had Maggie in my arms so I sat down beside Sammy petting her so maybe she would get some positive association with Maggie. I did this for a few minutes then let Maggie go. Sammy was no happy when Maggie was in my lap. It was a fixed stare. I broke the stare before I put Maggie down. Sammy immediately fixed on Maggie and proceed to stalk her. I had to physically pick her up to break the stalking pattern. She wanted Maggie dead.

 

[sassafras]

I had Maggie in my arms so I sat down beside Sammy petting her so maybe she would get some positive association with Maggie. I did this for a few minutes then let Maggie go.

Don't do this. This falls under "forced interaction" and it's very counterproductive in introducing cats to one another IMO. Sammy is not ready to have that close of an interaction with the kitten, and she's trying to tell you so. Keep them separated!

It is human nature to want to help things along faster as far as the cats getting along, but cats need the exact opposite - to do things at their own pace in their own way. It takes as long as it takes and we can't really make it go faster, it's just not the way cats' brains work. If Sammy can't even be in the same room with Maggie without immediately staring and stalking, then you need to back everything off.

 

[Maxy24]

What do you have for cat trees/cat "property"?. The more secure Sammy feels in her territory the less likely she'll be to have a problem with the kitten. If she can watch the kitten from a safe place up high that may be better. The number one reason cats don't like each other is they feel they are loosing their territory, so you want to make sure Sammy has lots of attractive places she can go so she feels she has lots of territory.


Do not let them interact for now. Bad initial intros can make things take WAY longer, better to be safe than sorry. For now the only time I'd let them see each other is while they are eating. I'd feed meals on opposite sides of a gate, with supervision to make sure no one tries to jump it. You may need to start with a little distance, but eventually you'll want them happily eating each right up against the gate.

Then maybe you can start letting Sammy watch Maggie if Sammy is resting up somewhere high. Bring Maggie out on the floor and pet her or play with her (as long as it won't entice Sammy down). If Sammy looks distressed or aggressive then take Maggie away. But she may just watch from the safety of up high, and that's exactly what you want.


You may want some poster boards around if they do happen to get too close and you need to stop Sammy. A poster board can be used to break the sight line and guide Sammy away. Without you getting your hands involved and potentially getting scratched or bitten.


Just like in dogs, female-female interactions can be the most aggressive, so take your time. The more spats they have the harder it will be for them to ever get along.

 

[JennSLK]

Thanks. The cats don't have trees. I've been trying to get my parents to buy one. The big cats do have the laundry room where they go on top of the fridge or ontop of the cupboards. The kitten cants get up there and I done let her in there. The big cats are all free fed and don't get meals but Sammy loves yogurt so I will try to feed her that while the kitten eats. Sammy is more like a Tom than female some days. I've never has this issue but then I have never had a cat as mean as Sammy.

 

[JennSLK]

Well some progress I guess. Sammy was in the living room watching the kitten play. She watched very intently but not stalking or atacking. I was there to re direct Sammy's attention or what ever was needed

 

[Shakou]

Give it more time. Unless they are physically HURTING her, things should work themselves out in time. They may never grow to like her, but they will accept her eventually.

 

[JennSLK]

Yeah I don't care if Sammy ever likes her or not. Thea hisses and walks away. That's acceptable to me. Sammy actually was attacking with te intent to hurt. She did actually hurt her the first time. It wasn't bad though. So I'm happy things are getting better. I just want it so I can leave the house without locking the kitten in the bathroom or I may come home to her dead

 

[Shakou]

I'm glad to hear things are getting better :3