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Help!! Catfight 1st day!! What do I do now???

sherrybp Jul 22, 2004 07:17 PM

It appears that I've done everything wrong introducing our new 2 year old cat (Fancy) to our 1 year old cat (Cassie) (we've had her since she was 8 weeks old / a little over a year) As soon as we brought her home, Cassie went CRAZY! I had no idea there was so much to introducing a new cat. I've done it before in the past with very little drama. We are now keeping Fancy in our bedroom with her own litter box, food and water. But since we were off to such a bad start, I'm so afraid they will never be able to co-exist. They are both female and I have since read that it is harder for the same sex to be introduced and that males are more accepting. Have I meesed everything up beyond repair? If not, how can I repair the damage? Thank you so much for any advice.

Replies (6)

JaimeMarie Jul 23, 2004 06:36 AM

No you didn't mess everything up. We have all done that at one point or another. Just start over. Read threw these forums. Which it seems you have. Also try getting a Feliway Comfort zone plug in that will help calm Cassie down. You can also try putting Bach's Rescue Rememdy in their water (a couple drops) or rubbing it in their eartips. Eartips is hard because they don't like the smell. But if your quick it's doable.
-----
Jaime owned by
Mya the dog
and the cats:Crash, Moxie, Gabby and sometimes Tucker

DestanyF Jul 23, 2004 10:02 AM

I'm sorry your kitties aren't getting along, sometimges it just takes time. Some longer than others. Myrtle never accepted our dog, no matter what we did to try and get her to, but that's a different breed.
When we brought Ringo home and introduced them, Myrtle would hiss and growl at him and clearly wanted to hit him, but held back for some reason. He also hissed and growled at her. Since she wouldn't harm him, we just let them be. Within two weeks, we found her grooming him. She has adopted him as her own kitten, and holds him down and licks him and even plays with him. I like Jaimes advice about the comfortzone and other rememdies, I've heard they work wonders for stressed out animals. I'm sure with time, they will be able to coexist just fine

Destany

sherrybp Jul 23, 2004 01:26 PM

Thanks so much to the both of you for your advice. I'll try the suggestions and hopefully, eventually we can be one big happy family!! Thanks again!!

gocatgo Jul 26, 2004 10:56 PM

Jaime and Destany both had great suggestions. I have tried the Feliway Comfort Zone with my cats and feel it works wonders. Also I've heard many praises for the Bach's Rescue Remedy but haven't had any reason to try it. I have 4 cats and once brought in a little stray kitten that I'd found which had been dumped (after vet check). My big cat all acted like I'd brought in a big monster and hissed at the poor little kitten. The kitten was very bold and just walked up to them like she didn't notice anything and after a week or two, they all got used to her and most of them started playing with her.

You might try exchanging their body odors by rubbing one with a hand towel and then rub that hand towel on the other cat so that they both smell the same. But it will take time, maybe a couple of weeks. They will eventually learn to tolerate each other and in the meantime, keep an eye on the smallest one so that he/she doesn't get hurt by the bigger one.

You didn't do anything wrong or mess anything up. What happened with your two cats is the usual cat behavior. Cats react to anything that smells different.

-----
Ruby and the Kitties
Simba, Samantha, Katrina & KatyKatt
Meow!! Meow!! Meow!! Meow!!

How wonderful to do nothing and then rest afterwards. Meow!

seter16 Jul 27, 2004 09:16 AM

Are those products you list safe for the cats? do they have any side effects? If they are totally safe I might be interested in trying it on my cat! Thanks!

JaimeMarie Jul 27, 2004 04:53 PM

Yes they are. I would not try the rescue rememdy on your kitten. He is a little young yet. The feliway plug in would be ok. But with your kittens being so young give it a week. They should be playing just fine by then.
-----
Jaime owned by
Mya the dog
and the cats:Crash, Moxie, Gabby and sometimes Tucker

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