Well I am trying not to be too concerned as I think time can do a while lot of great things but wondered if any of you lovely people had any suggestions for helping the bonding process. Mojo is a lovely, lovely boy but really quite timid (he's a right scaredy cat in fact!) and so, he isn't too great with the other cats, really not good in fact.
Jasper especially has really tried to be his friend (probably a bit too much!) and the other 2 are used to him and remain quite indignant to him and ignore him. There's no serious agression and Mojo is very happy and affectionate around OH and I. The thing is, he does everything he can to avoid the other cats and if he does end up near them, he either heads upstairs (he thinks of upstairs as his territory as that's where his safe room is.) hisses or grumbles fairly loudly. Oscar and Monty will completely ignore him if he makes any kind of noise towards them but Jasper has become a little bit scared of him and will hide from him if he gets verbal from him.
The facts of the case are:
*Mojo has been with us now for around 5 weeks.
*Mojo has a safe room and the cats didn't meet until Mojo indicated he wanted to come out of his room (By almost scratching the door down and moaning his head off 24/7!- he wanted to be part fo the family!) and we'd done quite a bit of scent swapping and the cats had stopped reacting to the scent of each other.
*Initial introductions were OK and no agression at the time.
*We have feliway in the house all the time.
*When the cats are together in the garden, they get on well, so I can only assume Mojo gets worried when he thinks he's in an enclosed space and then reacts. In the garden he would just be able to run away if he got worried.
*We have 5 litter trays in different locations (no competition) and all cats happily use the trays- Mojo occasionally misses but I am told that has always been the case. (I think it's his big bum!)
*The hissing/ growling is not all the time but most times Mojo comes face to face with the other cats.
*Mojo is quite territorial about the upstairs area and occasionally chases the other cats away if they go up when he is up there.
*Mojo has swiped at Jasper a couple of times when he's tried to pass him on the landing (again, upstairs)
*Whenever there's a negative interaction, I make a loud noise to distract and he quickly stops.
*I withdraw attention from Mojo if he is agressive towards Jasper when I am stroking/ ineteracting with him as I know any response will be rewarding the bahaviour. I also don't fuss him when he appears scared as I know this will be telling him that the fear is rational.
*Mojo loves the outside world and spends hours playing and enjoying the garden, where as the other cats comes and go more frequently.
*The cats have more than one area where they can eat or drink.
*Mojo is the biggest of the cats and definitely seems to be the most dominant.
*The other 3 cats are all quite laid back an very social- they all get on with neighbouring cats too as well as being very close with each other.
*All cats have outside access uring the day via a cat flap and are locked in at night.
*There are plenty of beds, resting places, toys, scratching posts etc- there is no competition for resources.
*There are lots of places to hide when Mojo wants to get away from things.
*Mojo is used to living with 2 other cats but may possibly have been the dominant one.
*Mojo appears to want to be 'topcat' and at times has tried to intimidate the other cats by blocking the entrance to the kitchen where one of the food sources is. He has then become annoyed when the other cats haven't reacted and just tried to walk past him.
*All 4 cats receive fairly equal amounts of attention, based on what they want.
*I think most of Mojo's grumpiness towards the other cats come from him being scared, they say that attack is the best form of defense.
I think that's mostly it at the mo. As I said, I know time is great and I know I need to be patient and give them time. My main concern is that I don't want what was a very content, happy cat household to become a stressed one where behaviour issues develop. While, I am also someone who does a lot of research and has a strong interest in feline behaviour, I am in no way an expert and know some of you may be able to make some suggestions to help things along.
While I know they may never be best friends, I do want them to live happily and not react negatively when they see each other. After all, beinging Mojo into the household was so that Jasper could have a young boy to rough and tumble with and we also thought Mojo would enjoy this too.
I absolutely adore Mojo and he really has been turning into my special boy who I really do adore but his bully boy behaviour has got to chill or I fear we could come into some real trouble. I am determined to do everything I can to make it work and have happiness in the house so all tried and tested things to try and welcomely received!
