Well I have had Alfie for 6 months now. I have had him in the same room as the others without anyone attacking him or him attacking anyone else. I have done all the rubbing their smell on him and his on them. But I am stuck at the point that alfie now will hide under a piece of furniture and growl and spit at the others. In fact at the moment he is under the chair bed in the study while tippy sleeps on the chair above him. Any ideas on how to get passed this phase so the boy can feel safe enough to walk about the house and maybe go into the cat pen?
Someone please I have done everything that people say to do to introduce cats to each other and I am stuck at this point and really want to get the poor boy so he feels like the whole house is his home.
Hmm wouldn't know how to help you , maybe google? That show My Cat from Hell was amazing so maybe he has his own website ? It's awful when our fur kids aren't getting on. I would think maybe to separate them but have like a fly wire door in between them so they can see each other and then feed them on each sides close to the door , you know like positive things happen when they are closer together, maybe play with string and things to get some energy out so they can relax abit more ? Good luck I would google how to introduce cats into household
It is hard to give advice without knowing the whole situation. What is the issue that you are having with the cat? Is he being kept away from the food and/or the litter box? How many cats are there in the house? How long have the other cats been together? OK, from your post: the cats are not fighting. It seems the other cats are ignoring him. He is under the chair hissing at the cat above who is sleeping. Why not just relax a bit, and let him relax a bit and see if he settles down. Sometimes, all it takes is to remove the human element (and the stress you add) out of the equation and let them work out the pecking order.
I may have just been lucky all these years, but I've never made a big deal about introducing new animals. I start out with well behaved pets - which is probably the key - and when someone new comes in there is the usual sniffing, chasing, maybe a little hissing and spitting from the cats but otherwise its always been a non issue. One of my older cats takes a few weeks to stop hissing, we just ignore her. Cats seem to be pretty attached to 1. their food bowls 2. their litter box 3. their favorite spot to sleep. I'd suggest that you make sure there are plenty of litter boxes - at the very least 1 at each end of the house or 1 on each floor. Otherwise you're asking for someone to start 'voicing' their opinion of the new arraignments. Also have multiple feeding areas - again, WELL spaced out. Try not to let the new one crowd the established ones' favorite hiding/sleeping spots if at all possible. Sometimes just tossing a few empty boxes all around will solve the problem because suddenly EVERYONE has new favorite places. As long as no one is drawing blood and everyone is getting plenty to eat and drink, let them work it out.
