How long should it take cat to stop attacking new kitten?

[p87]

Hi all.

I posted the other week to say I had got a new kitten. I already have one cat, he is 1. He's always been a bit of a bruiser, stands his ground, keeps my collie in line, fights moving cars and wins... and he's got quite bad with this new kitten (10 weeks).

At first he was just curious, would bat at her then run off freaked out that she responded (she gives as good as she gets) but twice today he has pinned her down and she has squealed. They are never left unattended together, luckily when he has hurt her I've been there to chase him. I don't want to separate them completely, as they need to get used to being together. I should add that he hasn't left any marks on her, at most she just squeals out.

He goes outside most of the day and night anyway, but when he comes in he is almost demonic! Gone is my lovely snuggly cat who would purr and chirp at me before snuggling on me for a sleep... he has pretty much gone mute since kitten arrived, won't even miaow for his food, and looks at me with disgust if I try and stroke him before he stalks off in a rage. His eyes are like black saucers, I'm starting to wonder if he is possessed lol

He totally has it in for me, he lets my boyfriend stroke him and he sits on his knee lol, he is definitely punishing me!!

Any ideas?

 

[Meowy Catkin]

A week is still early days, so don't panic yet. You are doing the right thing by supervising them at the moment.

 

[cptrayes]

Mine was like this until the new female was neutered. Feliway helped, but he couldn't be left alone with her or he savaged her. We lost her at two, and the pair we got to replace her were much easier to introduce.

 

[AmyMay]

A good 6 weeks I would say.

 

[p87]

Thanks guys! Hadn't thought about neutering helping, will get that done as soon as she's old enough.

6 weeks?? Really that long! And what's the chances of getting my sweet, snugly boy back after he has calmed down, or have I lost him forever?!

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Your boy just needs more time. My sister's Siamese and her Burmese pretty much hated each other, but they learnt to rub along and relaxed again. Very occasionally they would sit together but only when it was very cold.

 

[twiggy2]

research has been done into the 'secret lives of cats' you may be able to view it on you tube. it was a tv documantary and the researchers were amazed at the multi cat households that worked well because all research showed that cats are by nature solitary creatures.

some of the households they looked into even the cats that appeared to cope well with a multi cat households were showing constant signs of stress-the cats were also doing everything they could to avoid coming into contact with each other even when they lived in the same house.

your original cat is not punishing you (he is a cat not human) maybe you smell of the kitten and he finds that stressful so is avoiding being near or he associates you with the kitten as you are always there when he sees the kitten.

not really sure where you go with this i suppose you try giving them some timeto settle but maybe you should think about what is best for the cats

 

[Meowy Catkin]

There's also a very interesting article about cats in the New Scientist.

 

[cptrayes]

Thanks guys! Hadn't thought about neutering helping, will get that done as soon as she's old enough.

6 weeks?? Really that long! And what's the chances of getting my sweet, snugly boy back after he has calmed down, or have I lost him forever?!

Mine came back and will now share the sofa with both of us and both the new pair. He loves a cuddle in the evening again now.

I don't agree with the 'all cats are solitary' mantra. Mine aren't and neither are all my friend's and relations' cats.

Two of mine are always together. All three are normally outside at the same time.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I agree with you CPT. The NS article says

Cats can be very affectionate, but they are choosy about the objects of their affection. This stems from their evolutionary past: wildcats are largely solitary and regard most other cats as rivals. Domestic cats' default position on other cats remains suspicion, even fear.

Domestication, however, has blunted some of their wariness. the demands of domestication - first the need to live cheek-by-jowl with other cats and then the forming of bonds with people - have extended cats' social repertoires beyond all recognition.

Social behaviour probably started to evolve as soon as cats began to congregate around granaries. Any cat that maintained it's antagonism towards other cats would have put itself at a disadvantage when exploiting this resource.

 

[p87]

Hadn't thought of him not liking me smelling of the kitten! I'm sure eventually they will get along just fine, I was just wondering if there was a rough time it would take, if/when I should start getting worried and anything I could do to help the situation!

 

[debsandpets]

My 2 year old cat took 3 years to stop attacking her new siblings .......... She lost her brother and I foolishly thought she would be lonely and got another 2 kittens (so if she didn't like them they would have each other instead), and she was evil as could be for 2 years, then mellowed slightly but still wouldn't tolerate them near to her. After the 3rd year she decided to suspend hostilities completely and started grooming them both - weird animal !!!!!

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Three years! :eek3: :eek3:

 

[debsandpets]

U

Three years! :eek3: :eek3:

Tell me about it - it was pure hell in the household until she decided otherwise :-/

 

[p87]

My 2 year old cat took 3 years to stop attacking her new siblings .......... She lost her brother and I foolishly thought she would be lonely and got another 2 kittens (so if she didn't like them they would have each other instead), and she was evil as could be for 2 years, then mellowed slightly but still wouldn't tolerate them near to her. After the 3rd year she decided to suspend hostilities completely and started grooming them both - weird animal !!!!!

Uh oh....

 

[debsandpets]

Hopefully yours won't be as bad as ours was ............. I hope she was an extreme case - we put it down to the trauma of losing her brother so some form of grieving maybe (if cats can/do grieve)

 

[baran]

We had two cats together for 15 years who could never be left alone in the same room. The younger cat was introduced to the household when the older cat was about two. They spent the 15 years avoiding each other as much as possible. They both had free access to the outdoors so they were rarely in the house at the same time. When the younger cat died, the older cat became much more relaxed. You may find they never accept each other.

 

[alainax]

When my new female kitten came my highly opinionated male korat who had lvied on his own for 4 years was not impressed to say the least!

He would hiss, growl and go for her. I do think with him it was a jealousy thing as he is very human orientated and didnt like the idea of sharing attention. So we made sure he got all the attention (poor baby kitten!) and tried not to be affectionate with her infornt of him.

She was fantastic with him in that she would back off, not challenge him over the space, and be gernally humble around him. Little darling.

It took a week, one day she walked up to him with a toy in her mouth. Dropped it before him. He didnt hiss. So she lay down beside him, then he started grooming her. I nearly cried! I had been so stressed all week thinking that they would always hate each other and what had I done! Since then they have been inseparable!

Obviously each cat will be different, but they will have to battle it out over hierarchy - don't let her get hurt! but maybe try not to intervene too much and make sure to fuss him a lot ( if he is used to that).

 

[HashRouge]

It took a good 3 or 4 months for our cat to get used to the new kitten! We had it the other way round (i.e. female cat, then introduced a male kitten) and she really, really hated him at first. The first time we brought him home, she hid behind the TV and wouldn't come out all evening, and hissed and growled if anyone went near her. And she is the gentlest cat I've ever met! She used to swipe at him or pounce on if he went near her, and he was really tiny (only 6 weeks) when we first got him, so we had to really watch her with him and never leave them unsupervised. Very very slowly she got used to him though, and it got a lot easier once he got bigger!
They get on just fine now, though they don't exactly go in for snuggling up together! But they do play together and do sometimes sleep on the same bed, so they might not be the best of friends but they do tolerate each other. Although sometimes the female will go for a cuddle, find the male got there before her and then go off in a huff