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Sir Ian (kitty mama)

We recently took in a 4th cat. He's been in the house for 6 months, but just isn't meshing with the other kitties.

I'm a 3 year old male Siamese, the other cats in the house are a 5 and half yr old female Tortie, and two 5 year old Tabbies (male & female), we've all been fixed.
I spend my time upstairs and the Tabbies sometimes charge upstairs to check on me. We now have gates at the bottom of the stairs to keep me more relaxed & feeling safe. Mork & I are the worst at getting along.
Feliway hasn't helped, what else can we try?


Asked by Sir Ian (kitty mama) on Mar 21st 2008 Tagged furpulling, stress, integratingnewcat in Socialization
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Best Answer

Schmoo

You cannot rush cats. Ideally, when Sir Ian first came into your home, you should have sequestered him in a room for several weeks, and let your 3 cats "meet" him by sticking their paws under the door, sniffing, etc. Integrating an adult cat into a household with 3 other grown cats is very, very difficult, especially if the newbie is not very sociable. If they are all males, they get along better; females and males (even neutered/spayed) have a tougher time. You may need to get adjusted to keeping Sir Ian sequestered from the other 3 cats, and put no timetable on merging them. The more you try to force the issue, the worse it will be.

Have you tried the Feliway plug-ins? They sometimes help when the spray itself doesn't.


Schmoo answered on Mar 21st.

Other Answers

Answers

Izadore (Izzie)

Schmoo is absolutely right. Imagine your spouse bringing home "someone else" and saying, "Honey, I'm bringing this person home with me. I am going to love them and take care of them and they are going to live with us. I still love you, but..." How would that sit with you? When I did cat adoptions, I always suggested giving the new resident a space of their own where he other kitties could hear and "smell" the new kitty but not interact yet. As Schmoo said, you can't rush animals and force them to get along. Give Mork a lot of attention when Sir Ian is not around and visa versa. When they're confident with each other and your love for them both ,you'll find they'll have a lot easier time tolerating the new situation.


Izadore (Izzie) answered on 3/22/08. Helpful? Yes/Helpful: No 2 Report this answer


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