After following Yahoo answers to: How do you introduce two male cats? My follow up question is how do you make the alpha cat stop pestering his new house mate? we have tried seperating them for short periods (putting the offender in time out) and even a squirt gun, but so far the alpha persists in chasing and stalking. It looks playful, but the one cat keeps hiding out in a bathroom until the other cat is otherwise occupied. So far there hasnt been any biting or bloodshed, but there has been some hissing by the beta cat and he wants to stay in his bathroom. I want to remove the food, litter etc from my master bathroom so that we can begin to live a little more normally. They are very sweet cats but I want them to have equal share of their new home. Any suggestions would be greatly appreceated...
2006-06-10 04:10:06 · 8 answers · asked by decor823@sbcglobal.net 1 in Pets ➔ Cats
I have three male cats in my home, and before we had any of these three, we had a different male who has since passed away. In each case, the older male teaches the younger one. The younger one pesters the older one, but that's cat nature. The oldest one takes on a surrogate dad role in the kitten's life.
I have to tell you that punishing the older one is the wrong move. The older one will not hurt the younger one if he does not feel threatened by his position in the house.
As the older male, he is the one who wants to know from his human that he is in charge. Give him plenty of attention, and lots of love right now. He needs that from you, not scolding and squirt guns. Love and attention and lots of reassurance from you that he is still your big boy, is the only way you will change his behavior. An occasional swat on his behind if he gets too carried away, will also let him know that this little guy belongs here. The message here is: You are in charge of the little guy, but I am still in charge of you. Your cat will understand, trust me.
Cats have a pecking order, and your cat feels as though you are going to change that. The cause for this is the little fellow that you just got. Allow the pecking order to exist, and don't scold your cat for it, he does not understand. It's human nature to want things to be fair, but in the real animal world, thoughts are simple and it's the way of the jungle. They are still animals, not humans.
So the best suggestion I can give you, is change your behavior with the alpha cat, and the beta cat will come around a little more because you alpha cat will be behaving better.
2006-06-10 04:39:41 · answer #1 · answered by SuzyQ9363 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I have 4 cats...got 2 each time...all males and all brothers. You would think they would love each other....wrong answer!! They are a year apart. My 2 older thugs would harrass the 2 younger ones constantly. We had 2 separate liter boxes (1 in the downstairs bathroom and the other in our bedroom). The big boys had a run of the house and the little guys practically lived in our bedroom. If we let the little guys out, we had to put the big boys in the downstairs basement and shut the door so there was no encounters between them all. It took a few months before they accepted each other. There was constant hissing between them. Time and patience is needed and is very important. We would hold on to the young ones and let the big guys sniff them out so they can get use to their scent....yes, hissing still went on....but you just need to assure them it's okay. Do this everyday...before you know it, your cat will get use to his "new" playmate's scent and it will not be an issue anymore with him. Like I said, patience, time and lots of love will be rewarding to you in the end with BOTH of your cats. Good luck!
2006-06-10 04:37:42 · answer #2 · answered by tiger_cub777 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Time...some cats will be buddies right off. Some take time. My male cat is friends with anyone new. People and other cats. 2 of my girls take a few weeks to get used to people or other cats. But my first kitty (female) takes months. She's finally getting used to and playing with my latest cat. And I brought her in 6 months ago. So, that's alot of time there. But when I first introduced her to the male, it only took a couple weeks. Don't know if it was because he is the opposite sex or because she was a lot younger then. Who knows. Every cat is different. It will probably take longer for cats of the same sex to get used to each other. I guess the fight for their status in the home. My females got along with my male within a week. But took forever with the other females. Don't know if it was because my male was friendly or if it was because he was opposite sex. A little of both I guess. Just give it time. They will eventually be best friends.
I would hope you have them both neutered already. That will help a bit on their attitude and control for their home. And they should be anyways. I'm guessing you already have them fixed because you didn't mention them peeing/marking anywhere in the home. But if not, doing so will help a bit and help keep them from trying to mark their territory. Doesn't always stop it, but it helps.
2006-06-10 08:42:52 · answer #3 · answered by zenkitty27 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They will adjust in time, trust me on this. When my husband and I first set up housekeeping together, we both had adult male cats who had to learn to share, and it was pretty bad at first, but ended up peaceful eventually. If your males aren't yet neutered, get them that way ASAP, that alone will help. Aside from that, allow the pecking order to be decided by the cats, and then abide by what they've decided. Feed the alpha first, pet him first, greet him first when you come home, etc. It's the same as when you have two dogs living together. Once the alpha male feels like he's getting his due, things calm down remarkably.
2006-06-10 04:28:03 · answer #4 · answered by chrisndylansmom 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There will always be an alpha in any species.Give them time to adjust and soon theyll be playing together.I work for a vet .As for the litter use 2 boxes in seperate areas of the house.Ladypet
2006-06-10 04:18:18 · answer #5 · answered by ladypet 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It takes time. They have to establish their "pecking" order, but cats in general tend to be very social animals. If you want to ease their anxiety in this time of stress, you can find a product called Feliway (by abbott labs) which is an analog to a pheramone cats give off naturally and it is anti-anxiety in nature. Most vets offices and petstores carry this product.
- a concerned dvm
2006-06-10 04:47:20 · answer #6 · answered by rabbitwhisperer 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
give them some time i have female cats and when we brought a new one home the other 2 didnt take it very well ....i believe it was at least 3 weeks before they started getting along gl it will happen just give it some time
2006-06-10 04:16:20 · answer #7 · answered by jenny 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No you can only do so much. They'll have to work it out.
2006-06-10 04:14:26 · answer #8 · answered by renhoez 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋