The cat flap or even an open door or window could potentially allow strange cats to invade the home and this can lead to aggressive behaviour from both parties. Add your voice! Surprisingly there are occasions when the invading force gets no opposition from the resident cat, but this is probably largely down to fear rather than a positive acceptance of the encounter. Break up any fights immediately by spraying the fighting cats with water. Bless you for taking in the two new additions to your home! Good luck and best wishes for your fur family. New Cat Aggression. If there is not neutral space in your home, consider taking them to your car or to a friend's home for the introduction. Cats tend to prefer consistency over change. If your cats are being aggressive, try to separate them and take the introduction process slower. I've rescued and kept many cats during almost forty years and for about 1/3rd of those years there were up to three or four indoor babes at a time. In some cases, cats may even attack resident cats that were previously accepted but were away from the home, such as for a hospital stay. (You mentioned the other two were fixed.) Spraying m… Separating the aggressive cat from the other cat. Resident cat still hates new cat after four months. If the cats start becoming aggressive once you have started to introduce them, go back to keeping them in separate spaces. Get your cats spayed or neutered. The cats need to be kept separate for a period. Posted by 3 years ago. Problems often occur when a new cat is brought home, a young kitten reaches maturity, or a cat sees or encounters neighborhood cats outside. Use cardboard boxes, paper shopping bags, packing paper and toys that encourage the cat to investigate. Introducing a new cat into your home can be more complicated than you might think. This can significantly reduce aggression in cats. All except one lived happily and healthily to be the ripe old ages of 14 through 16. This will give your new cat time to become settled in the new environment and reduce aggression between the cats. They are both mature, around 2 or 3 years, and are fixed. The male still tries to come out and explore, but seems to have no intention of attacking my cat. Once this pattern begins, it can continue if you don't intervene. (They will usually go to separate corners and ignore each other as they lick to dry off! Confine your new cat to one medium-sized room with her litter box, food, water and a bed. Do not allow them to paw at or smell each other through a door. Answer: It needs time. Territorial problems often occur when a new cat is brought into a household, when a young kitten reaches maturity, or when a cat encounters neighborhood cats outside. Let the resident cat come into the room and give it attention and calm reassurance. Encourage the cats to smell each other. I love, love, love the cats, but since they are solitary animals (versus dogs which are normally pack animals) the three of them may never become best buds. Some became best pals, others were loaners but they always worked it out amongst themselves for peaceful coexistence. They seem to tolerate each other if I bring the shy cat out and keep her in my lap, but I'm afraid my cat might attack her again. Close. NOTE: Clicker training your cats may reduce the time frame of the introduction. This includes such changes as renovating your kitchen, ripping up carpeting, or having a party with fireworks in the backyard. This behavior can range from cats who hiss and avoid the target of their hostility to cats who full on attack their target. Aggression is complicated and refers to a variety of behaviors that are triggered for different reasons under diverse circumstances. Treating Aggression Towards Other Household Cats. Brush the cats with the same brush. Print. Adding a new cat to a household can take a lot more time than adding a new dog. The female is "very" shy. Sometimes unusual things that scare a cat will cause it to show displaced aggression toward a new kitten. Keep an eye on the cats for the first few days. My cat has had one run-in with the shy female, which was when I brought my cat in my room and she saw the female, and they got in a small fight. Inter-male aggression The new kitten is 3 months old and the older kitten is 6 months old. Fill a water bowl, food dish and litter pan for the new cat. For the same reason, moving to a new house may be very disruptive. When adding a new feline family member to your household, keep the new arrival in her own room, away from your resident cat. Toddler Being Aggressive Towards Younger Sibling. Place the new cat or kitten in the pen/carrier and let the resident cat come into the room. Each new introduction took about a month before they worked out their particular details and differences no matter how long territory had been established by the existing babes. Allow the cats to sniff each other under the door of the new cat's room. Move all cats to a neutral space for their first face-to-face introduction. The cats have been here 2-3 weeks now, and I'm not sure what to do. The older pre-teen kitten is being extremely aggressive and violent towards the new kitten. So we took her in 3 days ago. Copyright 2020 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Media, All Rights Reserved. POD-CAT AGGRESSION. But the new kitty is still very aggressive towards the resident cats. This is not scientific nor fail safe advice, just a bit of "been there, tried that, this worked. I agree with KansasCindy except for placing their litter boxes, food and water in separate areas. The one who only made it to age six was not because of trauma or a stressful coexistence but because she had tummy cancer. Fighting Cats is near the top of the list of questions about cats behavior I receive every day. The room should have a door that latches securely so that the new cat will stay in and the household cats will stay out. The fearful cat may initially attempt to avoid the fear stimulus if that is an option. In fact, she barely even acknowledges my husband and I. If the dog is extremely predatory or aggressive towards cats, you may even need to reconsider if bringing a cat into your home is a good idea and safe for the cat. They are both mature, around 2 or 3 years, and are fixed. Fearful cats will typically hiss, spit, growl, pilo-erect (fur stands up), flatten their ears against the head and show a low or crouched body position. The male has began to come out and explore the house, but my cat, a female, is aggressive towards him and hisses, growls, and sometimes chases him. Your concerns are real and legitimate, but not see each other as they to. 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