New cat in the house, won't stop scratching at our door!

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JayCartay
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Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 9:33 am

New cat in the house, won't stop scratching at our door!

Post by JayCartay »

Hi all, I have just registered as I could do with some help/advice. My partner and I are experienced cat owners and have just taken in a cat who was a bit of a rescue. Basically, his previous owners decided they didn't want to take him when they moved house and were planning to just dump him on the street and go.

Luckily, he was taken by a lady who works for a vet and put up for adoption after being chipped and neutured. He's just a year old and is a lovely cat. He's very comfortable with people and has become very friendly with us, very quickly.

Here's where it gets complicated: We have two other cats. One is a 2.5 year old neutured male and the other is a 13 year old female. It has taken us two years to get to the point we are at with those two, where there's only occasional spats. Our first boy is quite aggressive towards cats he doesn't know. When I got him, I got him from a poor excuse for a breeder, who was selling cross breed cats and had a house full of different moggies. In hindsight, I should have reported her I think, but I digress.

Hauser, our bombay/BSH cross was 12 weeks old when I got him. I never got to see his mother because she was "out". He had a lot of little white hairs here and there which we later discovered can be caused by scabs/scars etc. and it became clear that his first weeks consisted of being attacked a lot. I think his mother had died, personally, and there was nobody protecting him. I believe this has tainted his behaviour towards unfamiliar cats.

Anyway, I am rambling now! Since bringing Kimble into the house a couple of weeks ago, when the opportunity has arisen, they have both chased the other at different opportunities. Neither is very keen on the other. Our girl is also not very keen ont he new arrival, but is much easier to work with. I can feed her and Kimble near the door that currently separates the cats and she will get on with it, as will he. Hauser, the bombay, won't take part. He prefers to just stay behind the door and look through the gap :lol:

The problem we have got with Kimble is that he really needs attention. He needs more attention than any cat I have ever known, and meows endlessly from behind the door if he is shut away from us. It makes us feel terrible, but we can't leave the door open until the cats have integrated a bit more. The major problem comes at night and early morning. He scratches like hell at the bedroom door, rips up and damages the carpet etc. and he doesn't get bored. He can keep this up for a very long time. It's making us both very stressed and causing us to lose a heck of a lot of sleep.

I ordered some Sticky Paws over a week ago, to try and stick on the bottom of the door to put him off scratching there, but it hasn't turned up yet. I'm just interested in finding out if anybody else has any suggestions for how to deal with him? We will not give up on him. It's not his fault that he's the way he is and we will persevere and give him all the love and attention he needs.
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Lyn from Australia
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Re: New cat in the house, won't stop scratching at our door!

Post by Lyn from Australia »

I'd say as Kimble knows there are other cats and yet is yowling to have the door opened, I would open it part way, so that he can leave if he wishes but has somewhere to run back to if he becomes scared. I have done 8 intros in the past 7 years and only one required a closed door - and then only for a matter of a week. I've interpreted yowling at the door as a willingness to get out and explore, and have been right each time. The cats have sorted themselves out and all get on well to varying degrees, with only occasional spats. I hope you can be as lucky as I have been. By the way, thank you for adopting this little chap, who meant so little to is previous "owners", poor puss. :(
JayCartay
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Re: New cat in the house, won't stop scratching at our door!

Post by JayCartay »

Oh it's unbelievable that they were going to do that to him. We hadn't been looking for another cat at all, but it just seems that every week there is a message on Facebook from a Cat Rescue centre saying they are full etc. and we just wanted to help.

My concern with leaving the door open is that sometimes he aggressively chases Hauser and then the next time it will be the reverse.

Perhaps that is a good thing though, as it won't result in one cat being bullied relentlessly?
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Lyn from Australia
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Re: New cat in the house, won't stop scratching at our door!

Post by Lyn from Australia »

Yes, I suppose leaving the door open could result in bullying, but then again you won't know until you try. To a point hissing and chasing is quite normal behaviour and helps them establish how each fits in to the new dynamic. You'll know if either cat goes overboard. Does Hauser have somewhere high he can escape to to survey his home? Many cats feel much safer and happier up high - they are "tree dwellers", as Jackson Galaxy calls them. ;)
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