My old cat is stressed by new cat

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Thats great 

[Janeyk]

That is good to hear Andy 

[Dawn F]

that's good news!

[Tiggy's Mum]

That's good to hear 

[andybain]

It's been a few months but to anyone reading this with the same issue the answer is "don't give up".  Thanks to the advice on here and the use of Feliway our cats now tolerate each other.  They have the occasional scrap last thing at night but most nights they sleep about 2ft apart on our bed (which doesn't leave us much room!). 

Obviously when food is on offer they are very well behaved and will happily sit next to each other waiting for it to be served

[Dawn F]

I've used feliway and do think it helps

[andybain]

They're being kept apart as much as possible, the older cat is spending more time outside at the moment however it is hot in the house and nice and cool outside so that's not too unusual.  They did "meet" by accident yesterday in the kitchen and where the older cat previously did a runner immediately, this time they sniffed each other for about 20 seconds before the older cat walked off looking not as upset as he had done previously (although he still looked a little upset).

The new cat is kept in a separate room now whilst the old cat is in the house.  If the old cat goes out, the new cat can go anywhere in the house, when the old cat comes back, the new cat is in his room again.  Our old cat, if picking up the scent of the new cat, doesn't seem to be showing any signs of being upset with any new scents which I guess is a good thing. 

What is strange is that about 10mths ago a new cat moved into the area and started coming in our house and pinching our cats food - he'd even go as far as sitting down, wanting attention, and falling asleep.  The old cat took to him almost instantly (they even sit down close to each other and play fight now), yet with this new cat that is being completely not threatening it's not quite the same.  I guess it's true that you can never really understand what a cat is thinking!

Has anyone tried things like Feliway and have opinions on it?

[nutzy]

How are things going now?  My cats, now about 15 and 16 years old, who live with my dad in South Africa, had a very fiery introduction when they were younger but are now inseparable.  Then I didn't know anything about careful introductions, I just opened the carrier containing Chester, and said "get on with it".  It started off with Jasmine immediately going into attack mode, and Chester being the gentleman he is, did not respond with aggression neither did he try and assert his dominance, he just took it all in his stride.  She didn't hurt him at all, but after a day or two of hissing and posturing, it all settled down, and now they live in perfect harmony.  They are the best company for my dad, who lost my mom about 20 or so months ago, and he treats them like his babies. 

[Kay and Penny]

cat number one needs to know that nothing has changed as far as food and fuss are concerned - once he is satisfied of this he will start to relax

if neither cat shows overt agression towards, or fear of, the other you will be OK, I think, though they may learn only to co-exist

[andybain]

I've got home from work tonight and they've seen each other once, no real signs of stress except a chatter of the teeth from my cat.  The younger one seems to be staying upstairs at the moment whilst the older one is downstairs.  I keep stroking one then the other to hopefully rub some scent off.  The older cat seems a bit more relaxed with this tonight where as last night he hated it.

I'll see how it goes over the next few days.

thanks

[Dawn F]

is there anyway you could keep the new cat separate for some of the time so that your old cat can have some down time?   A  few of us on here have used a scent swapping method (keeping them separate but swapping them over so they can smell each other but not actualy meet until they are comfortable with the smell) - If not I find having litter trays, food, water and sleeping places dotted around the house means they don't actually have to deal with each other until they feel like it

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

The two cats should not have seen each other yet if you are going to do proper introductions.

 That may have destroyed any chance of them getting on.

I suspect that a two year old maybe too young dor your 8 yrs old.

I suspect if you look in our guidence sheets you will find one covering introductions.

[andybain]

This may be a over reaction but I've just got a new rescue cat aged 2 to go with my 8 year old cat.  As expected, things aren't great immediately but I can see that the older cat is appearing anxious and stressed.  He's fine when the other cat is not around but as soon as he see's him he tries to get away either into another room or run outside.

I know cats can take weeks or months to get used to each other and I'm only into the first couple of days but how long should I wait before deciding whether things will improve?  If my cat is the same after a few more days should I be concerned - should I expect to see a little progress in a few days?  I don't think I could go through seeing my cat upset for weeks in the hope that they're eventually tolerate each other.  The last thing I want is for my older cat to feel unwanted in the home and I've read lots of articles about stress affecting cats

Thanks for any help