Why do my cats hate the newly brought in the house cat ?

Question

I have 2 cats that are going rampage when they see the small and cute cat i bought in the house a few days ago. Whats wrong with them ? Why do they hate her so much, any remedy ?

Answer 1

Because it's Their house and u just brought in an outsider...how dare u ;-)

Answer 2

Because they know each other, and not this stranger you've bought in. Cats are very territorial, and they also like there to be some sort of heirarchy in multi-cat households. You've introduced a new cat to the house in the wrong way. You have to do so slowly. Especially if it's a Kitten, b/c if any bickering occurs or any fights break out, then that small kitten could get seriously hurt. Keep the new kitten in a seperate room (where they can hurt themselves) with their own food & water for a few days up to a week. the old cats will smell her and vice versa, and probably poke around under the door trying to get at her/him.

After the small seperation, introduce them to ea ch other for small amounts at a time SUPERVISED. Overtime, they should eventually get used to him/her, but will probably be a little bossy still since it's a baby. But in some cases, they never do get along, which sucks. Some people don't care and just let them all fight, but again, the new Cat could get hurt seriously, or any of them for that matter so be careful. Google the topic and you'll there are many sites that have guides to introduicng new cats to houses that already have some. Good Luck!

Answer 3

Because the kitten is an intruder. This was their space, now they have to share it with someone else. Imagine if your boyfriend brought another woman home to live with you. (Or girlfriend & guy, as the case may be).

The solution is time and careful management of the cat's exposure to the kitten. We did the same thing about 4 years ago.

Put the kitten in a spare bedroom with the door shut. The other 2 cats will smell it under the door, and get used to it after a few days.

Then bring the kitten out so that all cats can see each other, but don't let them get close enough to hurt the kitten if it looks like they might try to. Do this a couple of times each day, starting with a few minutes, and stretching it out for maybe 30 minutes at a time by the end of a week. During this time, put the adult cats in a bedroom and close the door, and let the kitten roam the house to explore it. This lets the adults see the kitten, and lets the kitten learn what its new home is like.

After another week or so, let them all get together and smell each other. There will still be spitting and hissing, but probably no fighting by this time. Expect the older cats to keep the kitten from eating with them for awhile, so you'll have to feed her in another corner.

You may have to keep the kitten isolated for awhile yet while you're at work or school, but once you can leave everyone out and together for a weekend, things should be OK. It takes time. It took 2-3 months to get ours to the point where they wouldn't hiss whenever they came together unexpectedly. There's still dominance games going on now after 4 years. But they will at least be civil to each other.

Oh, one other thing - you need to set up at least 3 litter boxes. Our vet recommended one box per cat, plus one other one, just in case. Cleaning litter boxes is a lot easier and cheaper than cleaning up a mess on the carpet, or your best leather sofa.

Answer 4

About a year ago my family rescued a kitten that was tossed outside the car in my neighborhood. We also had some issues with the new arrival and my old house cats.

Cats are territorial. When they rub their cheek up against you, it's not for cute sake, they are marking you. Because of this it's often safer to introduce a new arrival slowly. Keep the little one in a separate room. Let the old cats get used to the new smells. Unfortunately this can take a long time depending on your older cats personalities.

I did not have this option and had to just role with the punches. As long as we paid plenty of attention to our older house cats the jealousy and fighting was not so bad.

It takes time. Don't expect a miracle. Like I said it has been a year and everyone once in a while the dominate cat hisses at our little one. Just be sure to give all your cats love and attention. Do not get angry if they fight. And if it gets too rough break them up. Do not yell at them. It is the cats away of establishing dominance.

It will fall into place soon enough. Don't push them together. And if they won't eat near eachother, seperate the feeding area so your cats are comfortable. It's stressful for them too. This goes for sleeping areas and kitty pans as well.

Answer 5

Its an invasion of territory. YES, there is a remedy. You have to give the new cat her own food bowl and litter box away from the other bowls and litter boxes. This is just temporary thing if you do that. They need space and some time. They will be buddies after a while and protect each other when they are outside.

EDIT: oh yeah, protect if she's a kitten!
EDIT: Since you have more than 1 adult cat in the home, this should take about a month at the most because they influence each other.

~peace

Answer 6

I already have two cats in my house. Both of them are female. Last night I just got 3 male kittens (only 3 from the litter). Neither of my female cats are taking to them yet. They haven't been in the house for 24 hours yet. More or less, the kittens are invading the older cats domaine which is why they are not friends yet.

Let the cats make the first move. My cats have hissed at the kittens several times already asserting their authority. The kittens back down immediately. The older cats aren't too sure of the kittens yet but in a day or two, they will become great friends.

Good luck!

Answer 7

Territorial aggression may be exhibited toward people or other animals (usually cats) that approach or reside on the pet’s property. Aggression can occur towards outside cats and also to cats that live in the household, especially new cats coming into the territory. This can occur with the addition of another cat, or when resident cats reach social maturity at 1-2 years of age. Another situation is when one cat is removed from the household (perhaps for routine surgery or boarding), and aggression is exhibited when the cat is brought back into the home. This may be either one or both of territorial and fear aggression (perhaps the returning cat smells, looks or acts unfamiliar in some way).

Territorial aggression can manifest as stalking, chasing and aggressive encounters, which may lead to injury. At times the aggressor will prevent the victim from having access to certain areas of the home resulting in a cat that lives on top of furniture or bookshelves or under beds. This may in part be related to the social relationship (status) of each cat (see our article on Aggression – introduction to aggressive behavior in dogs and cats).

How can territorial aggression be prevented?

Territorial aggression can be prevented or minimized with early socialization, patient and slow introductions of new cats and adequate space, litter boxes and food bowls for cats. However, when a new cat is introduced (or reintroduced) into a household with existing cats, problems can best be prevented by slowly introducing the new cat to the environment, by keeping the new cat in a separate room with water and kitty litter, and supervising all interactions. If both cats have had adequate socialization with other cats, and are not too timid or fearful, it is usually only a matter of time before the cats work things out on their own, and are able to share the territory with little or no aggressive displays. However, in some homes, the aggression between cats persists and a more formal desensitization and counter-conditioning program may be required.

check out the source i put for more information.

Answer 8

Did you introduce them properly in the first place? The thing to do would have been to keep them seporate in two different rooms, with everything they need. take a damp cloth, wipe the new cat gently on her side (where her scent points are), and let your cats sniff the cloth. If they become aggressive, try again the next day,etc. until they accept, and you can let them meet with the new cat.
Introducing them the way you did,you let a strange almost cat "invader" into your house. I would advise you to leave the situation alone, unless they become aggressive with her. Then I would try what I just told you.
Try playing games with them as a whole to let them get used to one another. But remember- older cats are normally less open to change, and they may never be "best friends".

Answer 9

Sorry, but YOU just upset the applecart by bringing in an intruder! Your existing cats KNOW that this is THEIR home. Let's just put this in perspective and assume that that you are quietly sitting on the sofa enjoying one of your favorite TV programs, music, etc., and this person off the street all-of-a-sudden enters your home, plops themselves down in another chair, grabs himself a handful of popcorn and makes himself totally at home there. Wouldn't YOU be a little upset? It's no different with your existing cats. To them, this is a total intruder in THEIR home.

As far as any remedies--there are very few at this stage of the game. If you had gone about this properly, and brought the new kitten in the house inside a cat carrier, and left her there for a while and allowed your existing cats to investigate this new one, get her scent, and gradually get used to her, you may have been lucky enough to have your existing cats accept her. But, to just bring her in and allow her to have run of the house like your other cats do--NO, they do NOT like this, and I'm sorry to say, but the situation will probably escalate into all-out fighting, and it won't be pretty. So, if you're determined to adopt this little one, your best bet is to start over. Remove this kitten from your home (see if a friend/relative, someone) can keep her for a week or 2. Then, try to re-introduce her to your existing cats (as I described above), and keep them separated for a week or two. Some of the most important things are: keep her in a separate room for a while. Provide her with her own food & water dishes, and her own litter box. If you do NOT provide a separate litter box for this kitty, I'm afraid that you may start finding various messes all over your home--done by your existing cats as they display their dis-pleasure with this intruder. Finally, if this gradual introduction method doesn't work very well either, how 'bout finding another nice home for her? She deserves a nice home too--just NOT YOURS! Best of luck to you with this situation.

Answer 10

Cats are really territorial. The new cat has disturbed the delicate cat power equilibrium of the house. Did you do a gradual intro over a week or so? Keep them separated and introduce gradually? You may want to start over and try that. Eventually they will all get along but they may never accept the new kitty and they'll just coexist.

Answer 11

Cats are territorial and don't automatically accept newcomers. It will take time, sometimes lots of time and occasionally won't work at all. For now, supervise all interactions to make sure no one gets hurt.

A vet friend told me it sometimes takes up to a year to acclimate a new cat into a home - you should see improvement well before that time but don't expect everything to be all OK right away.