If you had one cat in the home and introduced another, did they get along from the start? A friend gave me her cat (MIL w/ severe alergies is moving in) and for the first day she was here, she stayed under the bed. Now she will allow DD and I to pet her, but she does not get along at all with our othr cat. At first I think he tried to make friends, be she just hisses away. We've had her for almost a week now, and I am beginning to wonder if these two will ever be pals.
Sometimes it takes them awhile to warm up, but then there are cats who just plain do not like other cats. They are male and female? Are they both spayed/neutered? Is there an age gap? It's the female under the bed who doesn't like your male (original cat in the house), right? Because it could also be related to hormones if one or the other of them is *fixed* and not the other.
When DH and I moved in together, we each had two cats. It took them longer than a week to chill out. My two cats hung out toegether, and DH's two hung out.
I'm not sure how long it took them all to be "okay" with each other, maybe a month? At first, they would all hiss at each other, then they would just ignore each other. Finally, my male cat made friends with DH's female and then my female and DH's male started to tolerate each other better. Those two are still the two who get along the worst - they won't lay together, and will get into spats more frequently than any of the others. Two dominant personalities still trying to take charge, I guess.
But I wouldn't worry too much if it's only been a week, especially if you're introducing a new cat into your house. Give her a chance to adjust more to her new home and then see how things go. And they MIGHT never be friends, but that's not necessarily a bad thing - as long as they're tolerating each other eventually.
Good luck.
Kinsey
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beachin' it
SAHM to Will since April '03
Awesome UC - CallieAnne March '05
They are both fixed. They are about a year apart AFAIK. She lived at my friend's with another male and got along fine with him. They may be litetrmates though - have to ask my friend.
Yes, it does take time, but it sure can seem like forever when there's all that spitting going on! I do cat rescues (we have NINE right now, 7 of them looking for homes) and the best thing to do (in my experience) is to give them separate food bowls in the same room. Good luck!!
I was worried at first also when we adopted a stray. We had our kitty from a kitten alone for three years until then. So this was new to him. It took a few weeks,but now they are the best of friends.
Make sure, sure, sure that they each have their own litter box. You want to prevent any spraying or inappropriate urinating before it starts, trust me. (o;
And I have 7 indoor only cats, and yes, it can take months to get them all acclimated to one another. Slow but it will happen. (o:
__________________ "Custom will reconcile people to any atrocity."
George Bernard Shaw
We have lots of cats coming and going though our house, long story LOL, don't ask. It always takes several weeks for them to get used to each other...except for the rare cats that just seem to fit in with anyone. Older cats take longer then younger cats too.
One thing you can do if they just seem to be taking forever...I know this will sound strange...but give them both a bath...in the same sort of shampoo. You can even use something like a little vanilla exract mixed with water. Then they will both smell the same and it might help them not be so offended by the other.
Good luck, it just takes time.
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Blessed Be,
Kelly
proud mama to Seamus
We recently adopted a 3rd cat into our home..we have a female and a male who are neutered..naturally the female runs the household so we thought we'd better get another neutered male to come in. I adopted him from a cat rescue gal here in the area..she's the ONLY no kill rescue in this entire area Anyway, make a long story short, I got Charley (he came with a name) in the spring, he was a bout a year old and my other two are around 4 and around 5 (I adopt from shelters so age is iffy..though my husband adopted Harriet out of a home that was abusing her..i.e., kitty napped her). Both are outdoor cats who hunt, so Charley had to be OK to be an outdoor pet.
well..I keep trying to make this short..Harriet tolerated Charley pretty well, while Chance (the male) couldn't stand him, but since Chance is so used to being submissive to harriet (this is a cat that catches birds and I caught him chasing deer one night..mighty hunter) he didn't know what to do at first and was somewhat submissive..now, 6 months later, they play heavily..sometimes I wonder how much is play..and Harriet again runs the roost..Charley stood up for himself against them both but he is finding his way into the dynamic finally I think 3 is going to be our limit though!!
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Meg
Mama to Alexis, 21; Jacob, 18; and Elijah 11/20/02 and Sophia Jane, 11/20/04
Allison took this picture of my lovely girl:
We got our second cat about 7 months after our first. There was scuffling for about a week, until one of them established dominance over the other. We got our third cat a year later, and again, there were brief spars for about a week until the dominance issue was settled. This is completely natural for cats. It's also natural for them to avoid each other for a while.
Our three cats still spar occasionally (for amusement more than anything else) - it helps them maintain the pecking order within their small cat society in our home.
I do cat rescues (we have NINE right now, 7 of them looking for homes) and the best thing to do (in my experience) is to give them separate food bowls in the same room. Good luck!!
It always takes several weeks for them to get used to each other...except for the rare cats that just seem to fit in with anyone. Older cats take longer then younger cats too.
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