Problems with rescue cat

[Millys Mum]

If you really dont want to give him up then find yourself a decent behaviourist and have them visit in person not over the phone/email.
What they suggest may well cost and will involve multiple of all important things eg litter trays, feeding points, beds, hiding areas etc their general rule is one per cat plus one.
Theres no quick fix but if you stick with it, it can often work

[catkins91]

My husband has said he is tempted to put them in a room together and let them get on with it but I really do not think that is a good idea. 

Definitely don't do that - its a recipe for disaster and will make a bad situation even worse.

You could try the crating method with the new cat, a large dog crate with room for a litter tray, bed and food and water bowls. Have the crate in the main room, so that the other cats are able to walk around freely, able to see your new cat, but knowing they are safe from any physical confrontation. This would be for short amounts of time, not all the time. The rest of the time, distraction methods, as others have mentioned, could work, but you need to be on the ball and ready to intervene.

have you got Feliway diffusers plugged in around the house? If not I'd give those a go too. 

We have got feliway  - they don't seem to be making much difference at the moment.  The crate sounds a good idea but we do not have one so would have to buy one.  I think they are pretty expensive and we would not have any other need for it so not sure about that although will look into it.

[Gillian Harvey]

My husband has said he is tempted to put them in a room together and let them get on with it but I really do not think that is a good idea. 

Definitely don't do that - its a recipe for disaster and will make a bad situation even worse.

You could try the crating method with the new cat, a large dog crate with room for a litter tray, bed and food and water bowls. Have the crate in the main room, so that the other cats are able to walk around freely, able to see your new cat, but knowing they are safe from any physical confrontation. This would be for short amounts of time, not all the time. The rest of the time, distraction methods, as others have mentioned, could work, but you need to be on the ball and ready to intervene.

have you got Feliway diffusers plugged in around the house? If not I'd give those a go too. 

[Kay and Penny]

have you tried getting them involved in play at the same time? I have found that when two warring cats get really into playing they will ignore proximity and trample over each other without a second thought

which shows them both that they can interact without hostility

[catkins91]

Did you speak to the rescue centre puss came from?

Sometimes a puss just needs to be a only cat. The behaviour you describe is very territorial. It wouldn't suprise me if this match was not meant to be. 

Yes the rescue knew we already had two cats.  This did not seem to bother them as they said he seemed to be ok with other csts - just really ignored them.

We really do not want to give up on him but are just stuck with what to do.  As I say, our moggie is now living in our bedroom and only goes out if we put him out and then we have to bring him back in.  It's not fair on him and, to be honest, I do not want him in the bedroom.  I am a light sleeper and am getting practically no sleep at all present.  Also not happy about the litter tray in our room!

My husband has said he is tempted to put them in a room together and let them get on with it but I really do not think that is a good idea.  We are going away just for one night at the end of this month and were going to put one of the cats in the cattery.  Maybe we should put moggie and the new cat and ask for them to be next to each other?

[Pinkbear (Julie)]

Did you speak to the rescue centre puss came from?

Sometimes a puss just needs to be a only cat. The behaviour you describe is very territorial. It wouldn't suprise me if this match was not meant to be. 

[snarf]

when i took on the 2nd of mine she was very aggressive to my first bullied him, guarded trays and food etc, chased him about. she never went for me though. i thought the situation was impossible and as i had only taken her in to find her owner (she was stray but wearing and old too tight collar when she was found) resolved to rehome her. before i could, christmas arrived and they both went to the cattery for a few days, seperate pens but next to each other. when i picked them up she was better but still obviously intimidated my first but over time (2 years!) they have gotton to know each other and now play together, defend the garden together and do occasionaly sleep together. i think the change started when she realised this was home, that he wasnt going anywhere whatever she did and that there was enough food for them both, enough soft warm places to sleep etc.
it depends on personality and how determined they are to get their way but i wouldnt allow the new cat to guard and if i saw her, removed her to allow my first cat to go where shed been stopping him. and when he saw me step over her when she was sleeping on the stairs he started jumping over her.
i think some cases no solution can be reached but some of the books ive read suggest some things-
you could try distractng him with a toy when he looks like hes about to do something you dont want (guard/chase/attack)
i would be segregating the aggressor if you feel you need to segregate one- at the moment hes winning as the cat he doesnt like has gone away. this might not be possible if the only room available is your room and you feel threatened.
his aggression to you might be based on the stress hes feeling trying to remove your other cat. or if you are feeling unhappy with his behaviour your body language might have subtely changed to something less welcoming.
alot f cat books emphasise inteactive playing to relieve stress, promote positive feeling, distract from battles

Some books suggest restarting introductions from scratch, going at a slower pace and paying more attention to positive experiences in the others prescence (nice food, play, affection)

[Dawn F]

sometimes it just doesnt work - two of ours came as a pair from a rescue but it soon became clear they can't stand each other - we couldn't send one back as we knew they pts hard to home animals so just did everything we could for them  to live apart, various litter trays, food in different places etc, its been over three years and they now tolerate each other and will sit in the same room but sometimes a look will say everything!  if you really think you can't work the situation out don't beat yourself up over it

[catkins91]

We got a rescue cat about 3 months ago. We fell in love with him as he is very good looking. He is a very big cat grey and white with different coloured eyes. The rescue centre had no history on him as he was found as a stray and was not neutered. They think he is about 4 years old.

We already had 2 cats, a rescue moggie and an oriental both aged nearly 7 both males.

We kept the rescue cat in a room on his own for the first 3 weeks then gradually introduced all cats to each other. At first things seemed fine although there was a bit of fighting and a lot of hissing and swearing. Over the last 4 or so weeks the rescue has been really bullying the moggie. He is a lot bigger and is making the moggie's life a misery. He won't come in through the cat flap - one of us has to go out and pick him up and bring him in. The rescue cat then ends up chasing him out again. We have had to keep the moggie in our bedroom along with food and a cat tray. This obviously is not ideal.

We have bought a feliway plug in and have been using this for almost a 3 weeks. We are not sure how long it could take to work. We just feel sorry for our other cat and don't know what to do for the best.

Also when we first got the rescue he was very affectionate to us and loved sitting on our laps and purred like mad. We thought he must at some time have had a home. Now he is not quite so friendly and if you try and do anything like wipe his eyes he swipes at you. Being such a big powerful cat he has scratched both us quite badly. The other morning I told him off for chasing our moggie and he literally attacked my legs - I was in my dressing gown with bare legs so it was not nice!

He seems to have mad moments - running round the living room and up the stairs for no reason. He has toys and we play with him but it seems as though he has so much energy and does not know what to do with it. He has free access to outside but only really goes out to do his business. Oh yes and he quite often sits by the cat flap as though guarding it.

We have thought about taking him back to the rescue place but we don't like giving up on animals. We have had quite a lot of rescue dogs and cats over the years and have always persevered with them. We are also worried that if we say that he can be a bit vicious it will limit who he could be homed with (obviously no one with children).

Has anyone any ideas or thoughts about how to stop him bullying the other cat and also what to do about him being funny to me and my husband?