Topic: Cat problem- HELP

[Uncle Ernie]

PeeWee was feral lo these many years ago, but she had another friend cat, so I know she can get along.  Long story short, the guys at work (wearhouse and abandoned buildings neighborhood) tamed her and she became the shop cat.  When the business went under, i took PeeWee home instead of taking her to a pound.  I guess she's about 5 or 6 yrears old now.

So about 10 days ago, Kathleen finds a kitten in the same type of neighborhood.  Feisty- she bit anything that got close.  Naturally this cat has to come home with Kathleen- fleas and worms and all.  A visit to the vet seems to have cleared all that up and she's putting on some weight and her bely isn't so swelled up.  She seems playfull and happy.

The problem;  PeeWee sometimes seeks out the new kitten for a fight.  WTF?  Is this a "rerritory" thing?  How do we get PeeWee to play nice- or at least ignore the new cat?

[MickeyX]

it's probably just a territory thing and they will most likely work it out among themselves who's the top cat. Ferile cats have a dominance thing going on because they need that aggressive side to take care of themselves out on the streets. We just found a stray kitty a week ago and he was very much a PITA, even through the bathroom door, to our other 2 until he got neutured this last thurs. (we got them from the shelter and they were the same way but are cuddle kitties now.) He's calmed down a lot but the other 2 still remember his 1st impression he made. they don't forgive quickly it seems.  As long as they aren't taking chunks out of each other, they should be fine. They may never like each other, just tolerate. Has the kitty been spayed/neutured yet?
I know how you feel on the fleas and other tests... ours all got doses along with bodhi, even though we quarantined him in the bathroom for the 1st few days in case he had leukemia or something. That is a good thing to do too, keep them on opposite sides of the door for a few days, let them sniff and hiss and get the newness out of their system before being face to face. In the wild, most kitties take a long time allowing another one in their territory, let alone in their house that they "own". give them some space and allow them to pick their own time to get to know each other face to face. You'll get more sleep that way too. 

[bucky katt]

they'll piss and fuss and battle, especially if the new cat is the same gender as the one you already have, for a few days to a few months. eventually they'll either become friends or totally ignore each other after a while. i have 6 cats, 5 of which are males. when i brought the 2 stray/feral ones in it took everyone a little while but theyre all friends now. in fact Gus, the one that was born wild is the nicest most docile cat i've ever seen. thats Asparagus (gus) down below

[demon78]

You know my mother had a system where she grabbed the offending members by the scruff off the neck haul face to face with each other and yell no at them and lo and behold it kept them from killing each other until they got used to each other I've tried that with mixed results don't have the moral authority of being the food provider like she had.
Bill the demon.

[Uncle Ernie]

While at the engine / transmission shop, PeeWee earned the nick-name Miss #$%*.  > sigh <   I now get to enjoy her wonderfulness for many years to come.    "The beatings will continue until morale improves"

It's a funny thing;  I hate wrenchng, but can't leave a motorcycle alone.
I think cats are totally useless, but they keep appearing around here- and the cat box is ...


     oh-  nevermind.


Thanks for the advice.

[bucky katt]

meant to tell you, make sure the litterboxes stay especially clean during their "getting used to each other" period. scoop 2x a day if you can. another trick is get a slightly damp wash cloth and rub both cats down with it a few times, this way they get each others scent onto them, DO NOT use a wet cloth, just enough moisture to slick their fur back. i used to work with a pet rescue agency as a volunteer back in florida. i learned a hell of alot about getting strange cats used to each other.

[tramp]

cats pee where they want
they don't listen to anyone
can #$%* all night and day
and leave thier fur everywhere
thats why i have one

[bucky katt]

if the cat is "eliminating inappropiately" and it's mostly in one spot, put a litter box in that area. i had to do that when i brought asparagus into the house and he kept peeing by the bedroom door. after the second day i put a 4th litter box in that spot and he never "inappropiately eliminated" again, that willl be 3 years ago this october. just remember, you can get a cat to do just about anything, you just have to "outstubborn" the cat. as to the statement cats dont do what you want, Hamish comes when i whistle and all 6 of em come when i call their names. and most of the time they know what the word "no" means

[bill440cars]

         Well Uncle, I had that problem once (more than that actually, but this tory fits the best). We had this Calico named Molly, then one day I was coming back from making a school run, on a very rainy day. Got stopped in traffic at a stoplight and suddenly I saw this little furball go under my van from the front. I ju mped out (pouring down rain) because I knew that it would be flattened almost instantly. It was going toward the back of my van, so I went back to the rear of the van only to find that the kitten had disappeared! So, I cautiously drove to a carwash nearby, to look for the kitten and not get any wetter than I already was. I finally located the kitten, went by McDonalds, got some milk, took it home and told my wife (Brenda) that we needed to find a home for it because I knew Molly wasn't going to get along with it and I was right. Everytime we went ANYWHERE, we had to take Joy (the kitten) with us or Molly would terrorize it. Now, the funny thing is that, as Joy grew up and got to be bigger, she was less and less afraid of Molly and after a while, the tables started to turn and it wasn't long before Joy was Terrorizing Molly!   Now, they both are old enough and pretty good size and are just pretty well laid back. I really didn't know if old Molly was gonna live long enough for Joy to  back off or not. She really spent some time getting back at Molly for all those times that she terrorized her.

[bucky katt]

unfortunately thats what is beginning to happen with hamish. for years and years he was the alpha cat and would randomly terrorize the others. now that he's getting older and slowing down the tables are turning.

[Uncle Ernie]

Ruby was 22 and top cat until the end. 
Anyhoo- that washcloth thing;  You mean dampen a washcloth and rub cat A with it, then rub cat B with the same cloth to get cat A's smell on B?  That sound cool.

Tyhe box thing is no problem, except Stella (kitten) thinks the big box is the greatest thing since sliced bread.  That kind of bugs PeeWee. 

[bucky katt]

yep uncle, it has worked countless times for me. kitties rule

[bucky katt]

so how goes it with the kitties uncle?  the little sweet feral female siamese i've been training seems to have disappeared. i hope she's someplace safe in a good home.