4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[BeckyBoo]

Hi there, you may remember I took on two new cats, well that was three weeks ago tomorrow and although they are perfectly happy and lovely and friendly they still basically refuse to come downstairs. One, Freddie, comes down and goes outside, his mum Lulu, still prefers to be upstairs. And whilst she's happy up there I'm not - I don't like having litter trays at all, never mind upstairs and their food is upstairs. The main obstacle in all of this is Frank, my ferocious tabby tiger. Whilst Freddie and Lulu are getting used to the dog (who has behaved SO beautifully around them ) Frank acts like the Tasmanian devil if he sees so much as a ginger whisker! He yowls, spits, hisses, chases them, he is the devil incarnate. So what can I do? I've tried giving him lots of attention, no attention, I have now put one of the new cats feeding bowls downstairs but Frank just thinks he's getting extra portions and in the meantime there's cat litter all along the landing and my bedroom smells like Whiskas extra fishy

 

Any advice gratefully received, I was thinking of giving them another week so they'd had a month and if there wasn't even a sniff of acceptance or improvement then I might have to say to the woman who gave them to us that she would have to have them back. I mean Frank has adapated to the other cat he came with, to Delilah, to the chickens. to Harrison, maybe this was one change too many....

 

BeckyBoo

Edited April 29, 2009 by Guest

[Yolky]

I have found that the only thing that works is time. My old girl was not happy both times I bought new cats home, after a while she did tollerate them.

 

Good luck, it is hard work isn't it.

[Couperwife]

someone told me that you need to swap bedding so that they get used to the other cats smell swap it every couple of days so that they chill out.

 

I suppose that this only works if the cats sleep in beds (our piper kit sleeps in a cat bed, mums cat sleeps where she wants to )

 

I dont know if it works, but it might be worth a try

 

good luck

 

cathy

x

[BeckyBoo]

someone told me that you need to swap bedding so that they get used to the other cats smell swap it every couple of days so that they chill out.

 

good luck

 

cathy

x

 

Hmmmm, sadly I'd have to swap the super-kingsize duvet for the back of the sofa But I might put down a blanket where they both sleep and then swap it round. I have to say I'm not as stressed about it as I might sound, just sort of getting resigned to the fact that it just might not work out, which would be a real shame as Freddie and Lulu are SO lovely and SO friendly and SO happy upstairs in my room! It's just ME that won't let them stay up there forever - meany me! (bearing in mind the whole idea was that they come here so they COULD go out having had to move to a flat on a very busy main road )

 

BeckyBoo

[Aunty e]

Hi Becky,

 

I had a very difficult introductory period with Cleo, our rescue mau, and while it seems like a good idea to let them split the house into two, it really really isn't. We only got anywhere with our integration when we stopped Arthur (the one cat Cleo really hated and wanted to kill) from hiding upstairs the whole time and brought him down and stroked him and played with him in front of Cleo. At the moment by trying to reassure Frank, you're reinforcing that he is top cat, when of course YOU are. So try to dominate him a bit and give the other two some status in his mind, and he won't be so ready to chase them off as intruders.

 

We do spread the feeding stations around the house, but then we only feed dried food (so much easier and nicer and better for them - wet food is essentially cat crack) so the smell isn't a problem. And we keep it all downstairs.

 

Is there any chance of letting them all go out if they don't? A bit more space might help some, and feliway spray everywhere or a diffuser if you haven't already.

 

The other thing we did was to pack our dominant pusscat off to a friends house for a couple of days, so that the others could reassert their territory, which helped a fair bit too.

 

Good luck with it, but sometimes it doesn't work out - Cleo would have been far better as an only cat, but we couldn't rehome a psychotic slightly incontinent cat who bites and scratches people - she would have ended up being put to sleep, so we had to persevere and it took us a good year and a half to get a happy feline household.

[Gem_Seb]

Hi there

 

I notice you say they came from a flat?? they are used to being in small spaces then and having a small terriotry of their own so i guess it may take a while longer than usual to settle in, our old cat used to stay in our room most of the time but eventually he did come down to eat and drink and use the litter tray! litter trays are something i have had to except as both my old cat and my 2 new kittens would not go outside!!

 

I guess there is no easy answer, just time! but it just doenst work out sometimes, try and stick with it but i know its hardwork! Sorry cant be more help!!

[Trish]

Getting your scent onto the new cats may help, also you could try your vet for the plug in pheromene thingies (Feliway) [/url]http://www.feliway.com/gb

I've never used them but a friend has and with good results, they made her cats really chill out so that they could get them in the same room. Once they started feeding near each other the problem seemed to be over.

Cats do take time with changes though, stubborn so and soes

Hope they accept each other soon

[chrisnrob]

All good advice from everyone so far. Cats Protection has a leaflet called "Welcome Home" that gives some good tips and advice on introducing new cats to existing resident cats.

 

I did try and copy the relevant section to here but the document is protected You can, however, download it from http://www.cats.org.uk/catcare/leaflets/EG02-Welcomehome.pdf

 

Rob

[Olly]

That's a brilliant leaflet, Rob - some really good tips in that.

[chrisnrob]

That's a brilliant leaflet, Rob - some really good tips in that.

 

I know Glad to help.

 

Rob

[Falkor]

A SOCK!!!!!

 

When we intro'd Oscar to molly we kept them seperate for about a week.....didn`t even see each other but we stroked them with socks over our hands which picked up the cats scent. We then went with our sock to the other cat and did the same thing Scent transferred Then we did supervised introductions for a week and then they kind of learnt to co-exist

 

Molly still hates Oscar and tolerates him rather than loves him, she would rather have us all to herself but at least there is no fur flying

[BeckyBoo]

Well, we gave it a month, tried everything suggested (apart from actually sending Frank away to knock him down a peg or two, just couldn't do that to the old boy! But after a month of full on yowling cat fights at four in the morning, including chasing across my bed, the childrens beds, physical fights (and I mean FIGHTS, real cat destruction stuff, like two Tasmanian devils colliding ) Lulu only came down and went out once, Freddie came and went provided I left small boys bedroom window open (which I could only do when we were out as it goes onto a flat roof and H would have followed Freddie out there!) and in the end I had to concede defeat and ring the woman I got them from. I'm gutted, Freddie especially was such a lovely boy and they were both quite happy up in my bedroom. But I couldn't live forever with two stinky litter trays in the bathroom and cat food at the top of the stairs, and the whole idea was that they had somewhere to go with a garden so they could get out - and they weren't. I've not failed with taking on animals before (well, actually I did once with a rescue dog from the RSPCA who let me take on an animal TOTALLY unsuited to what I could provide for him but that's another story) and middle daughter cried her eyes out. But peace has been restored although Frank doesn't really believe me when I tell him they're gone

Next time I'd better think with my head not my heart.

 

BeckyBoo

[Tessa the Duchess]

Sounds as though you have been through a month of cat hell You tried your best and it wasn't meant to be. Try not to feel bad, I am sure the cats will find a home without a resident cat, and at least you can get back to 'normal'

 

Tessa

[Seagazer]

Oh I'm sorry it didn't work out. It is hard as you so want it to work out. I tried to take on MIL's elderly cat but my two just made her life hell, so I know how hard it can be.