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#1
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Is this normal behaviour?
Hi group, looking for advice on problems integrating a new cat.
A week ago my older cat passed away (he was the alpha of my two neutered males, the only two cats). I went to the rescue and adopted a 8 YO female which was aparently used to other cats and friendly etc. For the first 2 days they studiously ignored each other aside from a few touch-noses but this morning the new cat attacked Worf and has been hunting & chasing him around the house (not just out of the immediate vicinity) to the point where he cowers in fear and growls whenever she is in sight. I now have her shut in a spare room with toys, bed, litter tray, food etc and Worf has gone outside & not come back yet Worf is a sociable cat and used to others, there are a number of cats in the neighbourhood and they all come in and out of each others houses with no trouble between them. As he was not the previous 'alpha' of the house, he is generally passive in nature and therefore is not attacking back although he is physically twice the size. Would this behaviour be normal with a new cat asserting herself or does it look like her nature has been mis-described as I was also told that she'd been in the shelter for an extended period of time without finding a home which is strange as she is a pretty little cat. She's also bitten my neighbour who came in to see her, and after a couple of minutes of petting also tried to claw & bite me. She's a Turkish Van if her breed gives any clues. -- I.P.Freely |
#2
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A week ago my older cat passed away (he was the alpha of my two neutered males, the only two cats). In the cat world, there is no such thing as an "alpha" cat. A cat in a two cat household may at some point be considered "dominant," but cat heirarchy often changes. I went to the rescue and adopted a 8 YO female which was aparently used to other cats and friendly etc. For the first 2 days they studiously ignored each other aside from a few touch-noses but this morning the new cat attacked Worf and has been hunting & chasing him around the house (not just out of the immediate vicinity) to the point where he cowers in fear and growls whenever she is in sight. I now have her shut in a spare room with toys, bed, litter tray, food etc and Worf has gone outside & not come back yet Separating the cat is what should have been done to begin with, and it was wise for you to put the new cat in a separate room. Allowing fighting to happen can make introductions *more" difficult, and since you've had a breakdown in the process of introduction, it would be wise for you to keep the new cat in the room with NO contact with the other cat for at least a week or so, let things settle down, then begin a *very slow* introduction. You can read why this is so important and how to do one he http://www.catsinternational.org/art...roduction.html Worf is a sociable cat and used to others, there are a number of cats in the neighbourhood and they all come in and out of each others houses with no trouble between them. As he was not the previous 'alpha' of the house, he is generally passive in nature and therefore is not attacking back although he is physically twice the size. Would this behaviour be normal with a new cat asserting herself or does it look like her nature has been mis-described as I was also told that she'd been in the shelter for an extended period of time without finding a home which is strange as she is a pretty little cat. What you need to keep in mind is that this cat has gone from being abandoned, to living for a long time in a stressful shelter situation, to coming into a new home with strange people and a strange cat. This many changes in such a short time is very stressful for cats, and she's feeling very vulnerable and defensive. Going on the offensive and attacking the resident cat is likely to actually be a defensive move designed to scare him off because she's unsure and scared herself. The right thing to do for her is to keep her separated in a room of her own and give her time to make the adjustment to you and get used to her new surroundings before exposing her to the rest of the house and the resident cat. No doubt Worf could also use a break from her. ;-) She's also bitten my neighbour who came in to see her, and after a couple of minutes of petting also tried to claw & bite me. Some of this could be related to too much, too soon, but you also need to understand that some cats get easily overstimulated from petting and the biting is a warning that the cat has had enough and you need to back off. Cats do give warning signals, and you'll need to learn to recognize the body language she exhibits that precedes the biting. Signals include the ears flicking, the tail lashing, or even subtle muscle twitches on the body. Immediately stopping physical contact when the cat exhibits any of these warning signals will virtually eliminate incidences of you getting bitten. The best approach for integrating this cat successfully into your home is to give her some time, don't rush and instead take things very slowly. A good rule of thumb is if you think she's ready for the next step, wait one more day. HTH. 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 Zuzu's Cats Photo Album: http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22 "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
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A week ago my older cat passed away (he was the alpha of my two neutered males, the only two cats). In the cat world, there is no such thing as an "alpha" cat. A cat in a two cat household may at some point be considered "dominant," but cat heirarchy often changes. I went to the rescue and adopted a 8 YO female which was aparently used to other cats and friendly etc. For the first 2 days they studiously ignored each other aside from a few touch-noses but this morning the new cat attacked Worf and has been hunting & chasing him around the house (not just out of the immediate vicinity) to the point where he cowers in fear and growls whenever she is in sight. I now have her shut in a spare room with toys, bed, litter tray, food etc and Worf has gone outside & not come back yet Separating the cat is what should have been done to begin with, and it was wise for you to put the new cat in a separate room. Allowing fighting to happen can make introductions *more" difficult, and since you've had a breakdown in the process of introduction, it would be wise for you to keep the new cat in the room with NO contact with the other cat for at least a week or so, let things settle down, then begin a *very slow* introduction. You can read why this is so important and how to do one he http://www.catsinternational.org/art...roduction.html Worf is a sociable cat and used to others, there are a number of cats in the neighbourhood and they all come in and out of each others houses with no trouble between them. As he was not the previous 'alpha' of the house, he is generally passive in nature and therefore is not attacking back although he is physically twice the size. Would this behaviour be normal with a new cat asserting herself or does it look like her nature has been mis-described as I was also told that she'd been in the shelter for an extended period of time without finding a home which is strange as she is a pretty little cat. What you need to keep in mind is that this cat has gone from being abandoned, to living for a long time in a stressful shelter situation, to coming into a new home with strange people and a strange cat. This many changes in such a short time is very stressful for cats, and she's feeling very vulnerable and defensive. Going on the offensive and attacking the resident cat is likely to actually be a defensive move designed to scare him off because she's unsure and scared herself. The right thing to do for her is to keep her separated in a room of her own and give her time to make the adjustment to you and get used to her new surroundings before exposing her to the rest of the house and the resident cat. No doubt Worf could also use a break from her. ;-) She's also bitten my neighbour who came in to see her, and after a couple of minutes of petting also tried to claw & bite me. Some of this could be related to too much, too soon, but you also need to understand that some cats get easily overstimulated from petting and the biting is a warning that the cat has had enough and you need to back off. Cats do give warning signals, and you'll need to learn to recognize the body language she exhibits that precedes the biting. Signals include the ears flicking, the tail lashing, or even subtle muscle twitches on the body. Immediately stopping physical contact when the cat exhibits any of these warning signals will virtually eliminate incidences of you getting bitten. The best approach for integrating this cat successfully into your home is to give her some time, don't rush and instead take things very slowly. A good rule of thumb is if you think she's ready for the next step, wait one more day. HTH. 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 Zuzu's Cats Photo Album: http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22 "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 |
#4
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wrote in message
... A week ago my older cat passed away (he was the alpha of my two neutered males, the only two cats). In the cat world, there is no such thing as an "alpha" cat. A cat in a two cat household may at some point be considered "dominant," but cat heirarchy often changes. My bad choice of words. Q was always the dominant cat, I had them both from kitten but Q was a year older and was with me for a year with no other cat. I was told I had imprinted on him and he became a 'one animal cat' whereby he would get jealous and start spitting if I petted another cat and even spat at girlfriends though was generally OK with other male humans. For some reason he always tolerated Worf though was never cuddly with him as cats can be. What you need to keep in mind is that this cat has gone from being abandoned, to living for a long time in a stressful shelter situation, to coming into a new home with strange people and a strange cat. This many changes in such a short time is very stressful for cats, and she's feeling very vulnerable and defensive. Going on the offensive and attacking the resident cat is likely to actually be a defensive move designed to scare him off because she's unsure and scared herself. The right thing to do for her is to keep her separated in a room of her own and give her time to make the adjustment to you and get used to her new surroundings before exposing her to the rest of the house and the resident cat. No doubt Worf could also use a break from her. ;-) Thanks, have done. Took me half an hour to 'walk' Worf through the house when he came back in last night to assure him she was not going to jump out on him, poor mite. Some of this could be related to too much, too soon, but you also need to understand that some cats get easily overstimulated from petting and the biting is a warning that the cat has had enough and you need to back off. Cats do give warning signals, and you'll need to learn to recognize the body language she exhibits that precedes the biting. Yep, have recognised that - she sort of yaps before attacking. The best approach for integrating this cat successfully into your home is to give her some time, don't rush and instead take things very slowly. A good rule of thumb is if you think she's ready for the next step, wait one more day. HTH. Megan Thanks for the advise, will see how it goes. -- I.P.Freely |
#5
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wrote in message
... A week ago my older cat passed away (he was the alpha of my two neutered males, the only two cats). In the cat world, there is no such thing as an "alpha" cat. A cat in a two cat household may at some point be considered "dominant," but cat heirarchy often changes. My bad choice of words. Q was always the dominant cat, I had them both from kitten but Q was a year older and was with me for a year with no other cat. I was told I had imprinted on him and he became a 'one animal cat' whereby he would get jealous and start spitting if I petted another cat and even spat at girlfriends though was generally OK with other male humans. For some reason he always tolerated Worf though was never cuddly with him as cats can be. What you need to keep in mind is that this cat has gone from being abandoned, to living for a long time in a stressful shelter situation, to coming into a new home with strange people and a strange cat. This many changes in such a short time is very stressful for cats, and she's feeling very vulnerable and defensive. Going on the offensive and attacking the resident cat is likely to actually be a defensive move designed to scare him off because she's unsure and scared herself. The right thing to do for her is to keep her separated in a room of her own and give her time to make the adjustment to you and get used to her new surroundings before exposing her to the rest of the house and the resident cat. No doubt Worf could also use a break from her. ;-) Thanks, have done. Took me half an hour to 'walk' Worf through the house when he came back in last night to assure him she was not going to jump out on him, poor mite. Some of this could be related to too much, too soon, but you also need to understand that some cats get easily overstimulated from petting and the biting is a warning that the cat has had enough and you need to back off. Cats do give warning signals, and you'll need to learn to recognize the body language she exhibits that precedes the biting. Yep, have recognised that - she sort of yaps before attacking. The best approach for integrating this cat successfully into your home is to give her some time, don't rush and instead take things very slowly. A good rule of thumb is if you think she's ready for the next step, wait one more day. HTH. Megan Thanks for the advise, will see how it goes. -- I.P.Freely |
#6
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wrote in message
... I went to the rescue and adopted a 8 YO female which was aparently used to other cats and friendly etc. For the first 2 days they studiously ignored each other aside from a few touch-noses but this morning the new cat attacked Worf and has been hunting & chasing him around the house (not just out of the immediate vicinity) to the point where he cowers in fear and growls whenever she is in sight. I now have her shut in a spare room with toys, bed, litter tray, food etc and Worf has gone outside & not come back yet Separating the cat is what should have been done to begin with, and it was wise for you to put the new cat in a separate room. Allowing fighting to happen can make introductions *more" difficult, and since you've had a breakdown in the process of introduction, it would be wise for you to keep the new cat in the room with NO contact with the other cat for at least a week or so, let things settle down, then begin a *very slow* introduction. You can read why this is so important and how to do one he http://www.catsinternational.org/art...roduction.html Update: She's been 6 days in the spare room and generally has become accepting of me and accepts petting just like any other cat would from her keeper. For the last 3 days I've been opening the door slightly to allow her and Worf to have a sniff at each other and there was no adverse reactions. Today I picked her up and carried her to where Worf was lying on a chair, he made no move to run away or be aggressive but as soon as she saw him she 'yapped' a kind of meaw, put her ears back and tried to launch herself out of my arms at him - fortunately I was ready and held her back. Lost cause? -- I.P.Freely |
#7
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wrote in message
... I went to the rescue and adopted a 8 YO female which was aparently used to other cats and friendly etc. For the first 2 days they studiously ignored each other aside from a few touch-noses but this morning the new cat attacked Worf and has been hunting & chasing him around the house (not just out of the immediate vicinity) to the point where he cowers in fear and growls whenever she is in sight. I now have her shut in a spare room with toys, bed, litter tray, food etc and Worf has gone outside & not come back yet Separating the cat is what should have been done to begin with, and it was wise for you to put the new cat in a separate room. Allowing fighting to happen can make introductions *more" difficult, and since you've had a breakdown in the process of introduction, it would be wise for you to keep the new cat in the room with NO contact with the other cat for at least a week or so, let things settle down, then begin a *very slow* introduction. You can read why this is so important and how to do one he http://www.catsinternational.org/art...roduction.html Update: She's been 6 days in the spare room and generally has become accepting of me and accepts petting just like any other cat would from her keeper. For the last 3 days I've been opening the door slightly to allow her and Worf to have a sniff at each other and there was no adverse reactions. Today I picked her up and carried her to where Worf was lying on a chair, he made no move to run away or be aggressive but as soon as she saw him she 'yapped' a kind of meaw, put her ears back and tried to launch herself out of my arms at him - fortunately I was ready and held her back. Lost cause? -- I.P.Freely |
#8
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Separating the cat is what should have been done to begin with, and it
was wise for you to put the new cat in a separate room. Allowing fighting to happen can make introductions *more" difficult, and since you've had a breakdown in the process of introduction, it would be wise for you to keep the new cat in the room with NO contact with the other cat for at least a week or so, let things settle down, then begin a *very slow* introduction. You can read why this is so important and how to do one he http://www.catsinternational.org/art...roduction.html Update: She's been 6 days in the spare room and generally has become accepting of me and accepts petting just like any other cat would from her keeper. For the last 3 days I've been opening the door slightly to allow her and Worf to have a sniff at each other and there was no adverse reactions. Today I picked her up and carried her to where Worf was lying on a chair, he made no move to run away or be aggressive but as soon as she saw him she 'yapped' a kind of meaw, put her ears back and tried to launch herself out of my arms at him - fortunately I was ready and held her back. Lost cause? -- I.P.Freely Oh, no, it's not a lost cause. Six days isn't very long really. I never offer a face-to-face meeting of the new cat till after at least 3 weeks. You just gotta be patient. Sherry |
#9
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Separating the cat is what should have been done to begin with, and it
was wise for you to put the new cat in a separate room. Allowing fighting to happen can make introductions *more" difficult, and since you've had a breakdown in the process of introduction, it would be wise for you to keep the new cat in the room with NO contact with the other cat for at least a week or so, let things settle down, then begin a *very slow* introduction. You can read why this is so important and how to do one he http://www.catsinternational.org/art...roduction.html Update: She's been 6 days in the spare room and generally has become accepting of me and accepts petting just like any other cat would from her keeper. For the last 3 days I've been opening the door slightly to allow her and Worf to have a sniff at each other and there was no adverse reactions. Today I picked her up and carried her to where Worf was lying on a chair, he made no move to run away or be aggressive but as soon as she saw him she 'yapped' a kind of meaw, put her ears back and tried to launch herself out of my arms at him - fortunately I was ready and held her back. Lost cause? -- I.P.Freely Oh, no, it's not a lost cause. Six days isn't very long really. I never offer a face-to-face meeting of the new cat till after at least 3 weeks. You just gotta be patient. Sherry |
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