OK, I have a 15 week old kitty (frasier) and an 8 week old kitty (Niles), I'm trying to introducethe two, but frasier continually hisses at NIles. Niles has only been in my apartment for a day, so I don't know what to do. How do I integrate th ese two kitties ? Are they gonna fight alot ? ------------------ "norm, would you like to buy an indian scalp ? This deal isn't gonna make or break me Norm, so don't jerk me around." Harry Carey "Norm, if I had a mohawk scalp, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you."
Well, you know how those Cranes act. ------------------ Ceo of the Walt Williams and Lisa Malosky fan club. atheistalliance.org
GREAT NAMES To tell you the truth - I don't know -- Frasier has had his run of the house for a while, and so he will feel intruded upon by a new animal. However, if you leave the two alone for a while, they may begin to get along. ------------------ "Up and down, inside out, outside in, some you lose some you win" -- DMB -> "Sweet Up and Down"
Here is what you must do. Smother Frasier (the old cat) with attention. Totally ignore Niles. Since Niles is new, he will be freaked out by the new surroundings for a while anyway, so he won't notice the lack of attention. Ignore Niles and eventually Frasier will see that he isn't a threat and will come to accept him. Don't ignore both of them. Only ignore the new cat. ------------------ My dream job is to be a Houston Rockets towel boy.
I have had this problem a lot (I have 4 cats), so I might can help. Many times, the older cat gets a feeling that he's no longer the baby or the primary one in the house, so he gets jealous. Only natural for most cats. If you can, try and find a glass door that you can see through, and puts Niles on one side and Frasier on the other. You go on Niles side, because he is the one getting hissed at and he might feel compelled to run away. Talk very nicely to both of them, so they feel comfortable, and then open the door just a crack so they can put their noses together and smell each other. This typically gets them a little more adjusted. After that, don't try more than that for the day. You can't accomplish complete bonding in a day in most cases. After you let them see each other and smell each other for 10-15 minutes, put them in seperate rooms (if this is possible) until the next day. Then repeat the process again for that day and for as long as it takes to get them to like each other. They should integrate; it just takes some time. ------------------ President of the Mo Taylor, Jason Collier, and draft Richard Jefferson fan club! Draftsource.net-- the premier source for draft info. Profiles, rankings, mock drafts, and more! Sign up for season 2 of the CC.net NBA Sim League! http://bbs.clutchcity.net/ubb/Forum12/HTML/000328.html
ignore??? The new cat is terrified, I wouldn't ignore him. dang fadeaway is a meanie. gr8-1, don't worry about it. There'll be a little bit of a learning curve whenever you introduce your kitty or kitties to a new kitty. One of the things that you can do is to leave your new kitten in one room, and give the run of the house to frasier. That way frasier can get used to niles' odor before they have to many confrontations. Or, if you're like me... you can just shove 'em both together. In my situation I had two 'bigguns' Marta and Gretel, both 5 years old, and I introduced them to Stella (5 weeks old at the time) last year. I just made sure that we could usually monitor them together and that Stella slept in our room at night (b/c you never really know w/ Gretel b/c she suffers from dumbasskittyitis). Now that I think about it when we left the house, we did keep them separated for about 4 or 5 days( just b/c of the huge difference in weight (Marta and Gretel weight 10-13 lbs. and Stella weighed about 6oz.)). I'm not too sure that that will be important for you... I had some friends that introduced two boys last year (Yeti and Chopper) and they just did the "here, how are you" and let 'em go at it. I figure that you can find a nice middle ground... based on the way the boys are acting now. ------------------ women love me, fish fear me.
ibid was forever changed when introduced to Petite Chien ... that's "Little b****" in French... some cats just don't play well with others, and run with scissors.
The glass door thing works. If you don't have one of those, just put Niles in a cat carrier and introduce them that way the first time or 2. Then supervise their playing together until you are confidant that they won't kill each other. As a kitten, Fransier's not likely to be upset too long. The benefit (another cat to play with) far outweighs the territory infringement. Any cats though will get over it quickly. I've never seen it take more than a few days for cats to acclimate - usually only until the first cat realizes the new one isn't going anywhere. ------------------ Bingbong was set up, led to an untimely death in the prime of his life for no other reason than pure malice. Things like that do not go unavenged. Sometimes it spills out onto the field of play.
The new cat needs time to get acclimatized to the new surroundings, so it won't notice the lack of attention. Meanwhile, the older cat needs assurance that the newbie is not a threat. ------------------ My dream job is to be a Houston Rockets towel boy.
Catnip. All Cats get along when they're high. ------------------ The Protrolls.com message boards! Protrolls.com! Don't visit my site.
I guess Frasier finally came out from under the fridge? Just throw em together, that's my advice. A 15-week-old kitty ain't going to do too much damage to anything. He probably couldn't hurt the other one if he tried. ------------------ Rock Rock Til You Drop
GR8 - We have a LOT of cats and not all of them get along but it is RARE for any of ours to have an all out fight. Part of having multiple cats is allowing them to determine the heirarchy of the house. I'm not suggesting you let them kill each other but, at that age, that is VERY unlikely anyway. Supervise their time together and let them growl, hiss and even fight some - they have to do that to set boundries for each other. Keep them separate at times when you can't be there to watch them - at night, when you work, etc. It should take a couple of weeks to gradually get them to, if nothing else, hiss and swat only occassionally. It can take as long as 6 weeks for them to work out their boundries but I've never seen it take that long especially with kittens. They are still VERY young. By the time they are one, they will either be best buds (my assumption) or just ignore one another. Best of luck. ------------------ The internet is about the free exchange and sale of other people's ideas. - Futurama
By the way, it is MUCH MUCH easier to get to kittens to cooperate than it is two adult cats. I've done both and kittens are much easier, so you should be in good shape. ------------------ The internet is about the free exchange and sale of other people's ideas. - Futurama
One other thing and this is VERY important for all cat owners... The best solution for cats doing ANYTHING that you don't like - fighting, scratch, whatever - is to squirt them with a water gun. I've never found anything more effective than that. You hit them with one shot and they run like hell. ------------------ The internet is about the free exchange and sale of other people's ideas. - Futurama
Wow.. this is a pretty cool coincidence. I just found out today that we'll be taking care of my cousin's cat for three weeks. It (Nick: a ten year-old female) arrived early this morning. Now she has to learn to get along with our existing cat (Belle: a two year-old female). So far Belle has been stalking Nick all over the house. It's funny. They'll be sitting on the floor, facing each other. Then, Nick will look down at the carpet for a moment and Belle will creep forward, freezing when Nick looks back up. It's like Mission Impossible or something. When they get really close to each other (1 foot or closer) they will both start growling and will trade hisses. Then, eventually, one of them will back away (usually Belle). I actually tried the glass door trick but they just end up hissing at each other through the glass. I also tried my own suggestion of totally ignoring the new cat, but that doesn't seem to work very well either. But then again, that could just be because Belle is a r****ded freak. I just thought this was pretty neat, considering the timing of this message and all. OMG, Jeff, I'm dying laughing at your water gun suggestion (and Achebe called my idea mean ). I know for a fact that it works because I used to "hunt" our first cat around the house with a water pistol when I was little. Later in life, I always wondered why it didn't like me. Oh, and I have a new signature ---- worship it! heh heh.. ------------------ All hail Fadeaway's Cyberfish -- your 2000-2001 BobFinn* Fantasy Basketball League Champions!
Suprisingly, a mother in GA. recommended the water gun trick w/ babies as well. The first time the kid throws a tantrum *squirt*. You say no, s/he says yes *squirt*.
I have a feeling my girlfriend is going to tear into you when she reads what you wrote. ------------------ burp
Might have to get out the Super-Soaker to fend off that attack. ------------------ All hail Fadeaway's Cyberfish -- your 2000-2001 BobFinn* Fantasy Basketball League Champions!
TheCat, the glass door thing, could that have the same effect as the beta fishes ? Frasier is substantially larger then Niles, so I'm a little weary about them playing together right now. I don't know if it's playing or fighting, and I don't know when I should pull them apart ? ------------------ "norm, would you like to buy an indian scalp ? This deal isn't gonna make or break me Norm, so don't jerk me around." Harry Carey "Norm, if I had a mohawk scalp, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you."
I'm not sure why. I don't mean you need to soak them, but it is better than yelling or hitting them. Actually, it is the method recommended by both the Humane Society and SPCA for disciplining your cat. We only have one cat that does not respond to it. He is impervious to water for some reason. He gets a "timeout" just like a kid when he is doing something out of line. We just put him in the bathroom for 15 minutes and he is fine when he gets out. ------------------ The internet is about the free exchange and sale of other people's ideas. - Futurama
