Passive cat and confident kitten fighting and hissing all the time

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chrome123
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Passive cat and confident kitten fighting and hissing all the time

Post by chrome123 »

Hi there,

I've been reading a lot of posts on here and was looking for some suggestions ontop of the previous ones that I have read on how to help my cats. Unfortunately, things are getting worse by the day. I adopted a new kitten recently several months ago and unfortunately my cats are not getting along despite multiple litter boxes/food bowls, a slow introduction, a re-introduction, Feliway, and redirection of energy.

My younger confident cat will constantly try to attack my older cat, who is more shy and docile/passive. This causes my cat to hiss and whack him each time. Every single interaction between the two results in my older cat hissing, which is breaking my heart. I've tried burning off the younger cats energy but it is to no avail. He will still try to harass my older cat by not letting him use a litter box, getting him to leave his favourite spots (i.e. in a cat tree), or eating his food (I separate them when eating now).

I've been trying to reinforce positive interactions (i.e. if they are near each other and no fighting) with treats, but it doesn't seem to be helping. It seems things are getting progressively worse everyday. I am thinking of trying anti-anxiety medication for the more shy and skittish cat or medication for aggressive behaviour in the younger cat.

Also, getting a third kitten is not an option due to housing landlord issues.
Sniper1
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Re: Passive cat and confident kitten fighting and hissing all the time

Post by Sniper1 »

Having multiple cats we have had lots of personality clashes over the years but are fortunate to have space indoor and out including large secure outdoor space and fre roam oppurtinity for our lot but have always taken the view that if a newcomer arrives and really doesn't fit in they can't stay and I would suggest that if your considering medicating your cats to help them get along who are actually doing that for them or you as it's clearly not working out with all your efforts maybe adopting a second cat was not the right choice or maybe an older more placid cat would have worked out better I would be seriously considering re homing the youngster
rachelmi
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Re: Passive cat and confident kitten fighting and hissing all the time

Post by rachelmi »

Hey, I'm really interested to know how you've been getting on since your post.
We adopted a kitten in July and our resident cat hasn't taken well to it, despite making careful introductions and re-introductions like you did.
Things have improved but our elder cat is still 'grumbly' when he's around. He often tries to approach her which results in a good swat from her.
Have you found anything that works at all? We're considering clicker training with the kitten so we can recall him when we catch him approaching her a little too swiftly.
Grinchy
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Re: Passive cat and confident kitten fighting and hissing all the time

Post by Grinchy »

Hey,

I'm wondering if you're okay and things going well?

I'm going through the same.

Had a successful introduction. No fights or fur flying

But the new younger ones won't leave the resident adult cat alone.

Don't know how to stop them.
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Mollycat
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Re: Passive cat and confident kitten fighting and hissing all the time

Post by Mollycat »

I don't have much help to offer as I never have introduced a kitten into a household, but you guys have to realise what you're dealing with. Kittens are kittens! Kittens are learning about the world and the other characters in it, including humans, other cats and other pets. Anything that moves or reacts when attacked is FUN and an opportunity for learning. It's all part of socialisation to have them experience that not everyone loves them or wants to play with them 24/7 so a certain amount of hissing and putting in their place is helping to educate them. As the resident cat is not their mother, has less patience and less restraint and used to have a peaceful life, we kind of have to judge when to remove these little bundles to give the resident a break, or distract the kittens for a while. Just because the resident cat isn't packing its bags or sharpening its knives, doesn't mean the introduction process is all over, done and dusted.
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