Cats - Al-Anon Family Group

Cathyinaz · ~*Service Worker*~

Cats

PP · ~*Service Worker*~

I have had cats for years and have to say I don't think I will ever consider myself an expert. I made a card once that said "cats aren't co-dependent"...how true, how true.

pinkchip · ~*Service Worker*~

I moved my "only child" cat into a house with 3 dogs and 2 parrots. She took about 6 months to make it her home and to carve out which areas were "hers" and what not. They also don't eat right for a week or two after a big change. If that doesn't resolve in a week or two...vet time.

Pushka · ~*Service Worker*~

I find that if I leave the situation alone as long as there is no physical harm to any of them being done they will work it out. They establish their own boundaries and learn to work around them .. they even become "friends" maybe not as close as my other two were .. they are close none the less. That was my experience with 2. My mom had 5 that was a mess because it was my 2 plus her 3. The oldest of the group took a head dive out of a window and we never found him again. That is an extreme situation. I think that would have happened anyway because he was an only kitty for a long time. For the most part .. they do adjust.

Hugs P :)

grateful2be · ~*Service Worker*~

I have three cats - 2 sisters and 1 male. I tried and tried to bring the 3 together for months. It ended up the girls wouldn't let him get near the litter box, the food bowl, the water bowl or even upstairs from the downstairs level to spend time with me. He looked pathetically at me one day as they hissed and growled because he was trying to eat.
I ended up taking him with me to my workplace. That's the kind of cat expert I am. When 1 looks sad, find it a better home. So, probably no help here.

Cathyinaz · ~*Service Worker*~

I guess I can put it this way....... boundaries.

I tried to take the easy way out here....but what it comes down to is reading the books and literature, and taking the steps to do it the right way so I can have peace in my home.

Does that make sense?

neshema2 · ~*Service Worker*~

when I brought my rescue kitty home, my curious pittie/lab was TOO curious so I had to get a big dog crate (luckily I had an extra one in garage) and put her in crate for 2 weeks, then as they all "acclimated" I was able to let kitty out and now she and Pittie are best friends

Introducing a new pet in the house usually works out if the "new comer" has his/her own safety space to go to and then their is no "owner angst" they pick up on....

I did the crate thing and it worked out great....b.c they could see each other..smell each other and there was the boundary of the crate till it wasn't needed for separating anymore...NOW the crate is the cat's bed and she wants it to stay in living room b/c that is where she likes to eat and drink water and "chill" so crate stays in LR per orders of the kitty

Debilyn · ~*Service Worker*~

Doing rescue, I had up to and over 30 cats at one time. They had a great sunroom in the barn. for me I give them time,but I also pet them both at the same time. its usually they want to be my number one.I will also be the alpha feline and push the one away who is challenging.

My two boys always cuss at each other, the one girl plays and loves on them both.

To be honest with very little intervention from me, they figure it out. All three hang out in the same places, share their feed room, and sleep on the bed at night with me and five dogs! sometimes a potted pig too.....hugs!!

Aloha · ~*Service Worker*~

If you have cable television and Animal Planet, check out the show "My cat from hell". Lots of great information on it. (It may also be online, too.)

Some of the information I've gleaned from the show is that cats that receive regular stimulation via play with their owners tend to get into less shenanigans. Be it they tear up the house less, or tear up their owners less, or tear up their fellow furballs less. More exercise equals a pleasantly fatigued kitty. And if you give them proper toys, they learn that toys are good prey instead of other kitties (or owner's feet... haha.)

Another bit of info was to make sure you supply your kitties with good escape routes. A lot of owners on the show have installed special shelving that allows their cats to get up and away from whatever's harassing them.

Hope this helps.

Cathyinaz · ~*Service Worker*~

Great advice guys...

I'm sure they will get along but it will take time. My house alone is built that Nisa gets around climbing from pieces of furniture to the next and up on the ledges. She climbs way more than my cats do. Mostly there is a lot of hissing when my cats get anyway near her. I give them treats and there are enough toys for a 100 cats. I went out and bought a toy on the end of a stick and I play with them every night to tire them out. Only one plays at a time though with the others looking on.

I will take it slow in hopes they will settle down after a while.

My son loves his kitty and I bet he misses her but he is not invited over anymore after he crossed by boundaries BIG TIME. His bad!!

(((( hugs )))) and thank you.

Two Step · Member

Hi! Saw your post and I am new here but just wanted to share that cats are so like their owners. My son also crossed the line and I have a restraining order on him. He left his cat who he truly loves. After a few weeks I noticed that he wasn't eating one day and I ended up taking him to the Vet. He was really sick and I think most up it was due to a broken heart. It cost me over $600 for tests. The Vet tried to get ahold of my son and he had trouble getting her. Anyhow, by the next night I had the city police at my door asking about the welfare of his cat (he had called them). The next day he did get in touch with the vet and he now has the cat who almost died. What is interesting though is my cat who was always chased, bitten on the neck, and harrassed by his cat is now living alone with me and is so happy! I now realize that the cats were a mirror image of our relationship. His cat treated my cat the way he treated me (well, not the biting part). I was living in fear and I just wanted to run and hide. There is always an alpha cat and his cat was the alpha. We can't control our animals but we can control our human relationships and that is something I need to always remember.

grateful2be · ~*Service Worker*~

Wow! That's quite an intriguing way of looking at this situation. It's got me pondering, Cathy.

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