Author Topic: Old Cat Has Become Hostile; Hissing At New Cat After 10 Months - Help!  (Read 2956 times)

Offline jezebel

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Re: Old Cat Has Become Hostile; Hissing At New Cat After 10 Months - Help!
« Reply #10 on: November 04, 2010, 10:24:14 AM »
I've just remembered something I read a while ago.

Rub the cat (the one that's not liked) all over with a teatowel and then put the teatowel underneath the food bowl of the other cat, which will then start to associate the smell of the cat it dislikes with something nice (food!).

I have no idea if this works, BTW!
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Offline Fire Fox

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Re: Old Cat Has Become Hostile; Hissing At New Cat After 10 Months - Help!
« Reply #9 on: November 04, 2010, 00:33:46 AM »
Just wanted to say  :welcome:
:'( My beautiful Noah rescued 13/02/09, adopted 11/10/09, taken 11/02/11 :'( You deserved so much more.
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Offline Sootyca

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Re: Old Cat Has Become Hostile; Hissing At New Cat After 10 Months - Help!
« Reply #8 on: November 03, 2010, 23:13:27 PM »
Robbie and Sky have recently got a bit snippy with each other and it's gradually escalating.  Got some Feliway today, plugged it in and Robbie has calmed down instantly with her and gone very mellow.  She's still a bit confrontational with him but he isn't reacting any more. 

I don't usually have it plugged in but it worked quickly the first time as well.   It's expensive but has worked well for us.  Also, if you go to the Feliway website and sign up and then you buy it from a vet you can get a free travel spray - it's more expensive than shopping online but the free spray made up for it. :)

Offline Pinkbear (Julie)

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Re: Old Cat Has Become Hostile; Hissing At New Cat After 10 Months - Help!
« Reply #7 on: November 03, 2010, 21:32:31 PM »
If the Feliway works it buys you time for them to learn to live with each other. You'll have to keep it up for a couple of weeks at least, maybe longer. Then you can try removing it to see what happens. When it does work for folks, it's pretty much concidered a miracle.  :evillaugh: Sometimes you can get away with using it for a short period while relationships settle, sometimes you just have to keep using it. There's only one way to find out which it will be in your case.  :shy:

Definitely don't lock them in a room together.  :Crazy: Think of it in terms of that very annoying, loud mouthed, nattering and nattering away old lady who is ALWAYS in front of you in the queue at the post office/chemist/doctor's surgery. Given time, enough space (and perhaps something soothing and calming in a glass  :naughty: ) you may forgive her for all the hours of your life she's wasted. But how long would she last if you stone cold sober and were locked in a broken lift with her.  :shify: :doh:

Rule out anything to do with hormones or gender. Cats size each other up by smell. Once they've been neutered, they are no longer sending out those signals.  ;) The only ways scents can be a factor is if she is socialising with a full Tom and his scent is getting on to her. If she's spayed though, a full Tom would have no interest in her.  :innocent:

I still think there's a smell she's bringing in that's upsetting him OR she could be a nasty bully on the quiet who beats him up if she can corner him when you're not looking.  :tired:

Offline RingoTiny

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Re: Old Cat Has Become Hostile; Hissing At New Cat After 10 Months - Help!
« Reply #6 on: November 03, 2010, 21:09:24 PM »
Thanks everyone for their comments and suggestions.

Have you tried playing with them or fussing them both together (difficult, if they can't be in the same room together I suppose!)?

Yes we have tried, but with no success. You are right, its very difficult for Ringo to even be in the same room as Pickle. I have suggested to my partner to lock them in a room together to sort out their own cat problems, but she doesnt think this is a good idea...

Another thought (and possibly a wrong one) is how is Ringo in himself? Im asking as I know with elderly cats (and I wouldnt say he was) if they get ill a youngster can become an annoying nightmare.

I wont tell Ringo that you referred to him as elderly! We havent taken him to the vet, but Im pretty sure he not ill. The mere presence of the younger cat seems to annoy him rather than anything that she actually does to him.


when did you have pickle spayed? sometimes a vet visit can cause a bit of a problem to kick off.

Pickle was spayed many months before the problems occured, so Im not sure if this reason.

Hiya...  :welcome:

It's not often I get a chance to be first to say what everyone else is going to say.  :naughty: But you need to try a plug-in defuser called Feliway.


I had a look at Feliway and it looks interesting. The only problem is that if it does work for us, then we are going to be committed to using it forever?!

Do you any of you think that it could be because she is now pretty much full size? Tiny (as the name suggests) is a small adult cat, Ringo is a large ginger and white and Pickle looks like she will almost be as big as him. Could her size be a threat? Or, could it be he fancies her and has been rejected??  There is a massive neighbourhood cat who bullies them all outside (I think he is a tom) who, like Pickle, is a mackerel tabby could this be a factor?

All of your comments are greatly appreciated, thank you.  :shy:

Offline jezebel

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Re: Old Cat Has Become Hostile; Hissing At New Cat After 10 Months - Help!
« Reply #5 on: November 03, 2010, 10:12:30 AM »
Another possibility: perhaps something frightened Ringo or he hurt himself (maybe he fell off a window sill or something - can happen!) and Pickle just happened to be around - in the wrong place at the wrong time - and now Ringo associates Pickle with something nasty happening to him.

I wouldn't spray water at him, it could make things worse. Have you tried playing with them or fussing them both together (difficult, if they can't be in the same room together I suppose!)?
« Last Edit: November 03, 2010, 10:13:27 AM by jezebel »
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Offline tab

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Re: Old Cat Has Become Hostile; Hissing At New Cat After 10 Months - Help!
« Reply #4 on: November 02, 2010, 18:51:50 PM »
Like Angie my first thought was has Pickle been to the vets recently as I know that used to upset mine.

Another thought (and possibly a wrong one) is how is Ringo in himself? Im asking as I know with elderly cats (and I wouldnt say he was) if they get ill a youngster can become an annoying nightmare.

I second the feliway diffuser though as I have one for Amber and Im really impressed with how laid back shes become.

I hope you can sort it out
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Offline Angiew

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Re: Old Cat Has Become Hostile; Hissing At New Cat After 10 Months - Help!
« Reply #3 on: November 01, 2010, 23:44:07 PM »
when did you have pickle spayed? sometimes a vet visit can cause a bit of a problem to kick off.

Offline Pinkbear (Julie)

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Re: Old Cat Has Become Hostile; Hissing At New Cat After 10 Months - Help!
« Reply #2 on: November 01, 2010, 23:22:25 PM »
Hiya...  :welcome:

It's not often I get a chance to be first to say what everyone else is going to say.  :naughty: But you need to try a plug-in defuser called Feliway. You can get them online or via your vets. It scents the room with a calming pheromone only detectable to cats.  ;) Not cheap exactly but some people report brilliant results.  :)

Something about her must have changed, maybe the way she smells or the way she behaves toward Ringo when you are not around that has caused him to take offence.  :sneaky:

But unless they are ripping each other to bits or spraying urine everywhere, it doesn't seem a mahoosive problem.  :hug:


Offline RingoTiny

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Old Cat Has Become Hostile; Hissing At New Cat After 10 Months - Help!
« Reply #1 on: November 01, 2010, 23:11:56 PM »
Hello,

We are new to the forum and although we have kept cats for many years we have never experienced a problem like this. We hope that your knowledge and experience can help us with this difficult situation.

We have 3 cats. Tiny is 8, Ringo is 5 and Pickle is 1 (all spayed.) We got Pickle (female) when she was 10 weeks old and for the first 9 months all was well. There were initial teething problems between Tiny (older female) becoming annoyed with the kitten's playful nature but this has sorted itself out and they are now good friends and regularly clean each other (awwwww).

The problem is with the Ringo (male) the middle cat. At first, Ringo got on very well with Pickle when first introduced. They would play and sleep together and everything was great. Unfortunately, for the last 4 months Ringo has taken a real disliking for Pickle. He hisses at her when she comes in the room and often leaves. It seems he cannot be in the same room as her. We have given him extra attention but even when he is being stroked if she comes in the room he will hiss, leap off and run away.

We have tried spraying him with water at times and making a fuss. Tiny does not get involved and is friendly with both.

We've seen lots of information about introducing new and existing cats and followed most of the ideas when we got Pickle, and indeed years ago when introducing Ringo to Tiny. There is, however, a lack of any information on cats suddenly taking a dislike to each other. Any advice, suggestions or insights would be greatly appreciated.

 


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