New cat hisses at old cat

[Alone]

My roommate got a cat to keep our other cat company while we're at work. My cat wants to play with the new cat, and doesn't meow or hiss or growl at him at ALL (only meows if he's locked out of the new cat's room).

The new cat, however, tends to growl and hiss if our old cat is even anywhere within eyesight of him.

This seems oddly backwards to me.

Both cats are just over a year old. Is this common? We try to give each cat their own private time to explore the others living area while the other is not around so they can get familiar with each other's scent.

Are there any other tips?

EDIT: They're both males.

 

[jlee]

They'll probably take a little while to get used to each other - what happens if they're in the same room for a few minutes?

 

[Key West]

If you leave them together, eventually they'll learn to get along, no?

I can't imagine them fighting for days, weeks, and months.

 

[Perknose]

Assuming both are neutered . . .

Your new cat has been suddenly dropped in an alien environment, and is feeling insecure and defensive.

Give them time. It may or may not work out, and if it works out, it may not work out to the extent that they become anything close to being buddies.

What did you expect?

 

[Wyndru]

Like you mentioned, once the new cat gets used to the scent, it will be fine to wander around more, it just takes time.

Usually that young, they should learn to get along, hopefully. We introduced a 5 year old male with our 4 year old, and they still fight quite a bit after 2 years. They seem to want to be near each other and they have no problems being in the same room, but a couple times a day they start beating the hell out of each other. Usually starts with play chasing, then turns into a full brawl. I think it's just a dominance thing.

My sister has 2 males that she got less than a year old, and they are fine together, never fight.

 

[IronWing]

If it persists for more than a couple weeks, give them both baths using the same soap. Smelling alike can help.

 

[olds]

You need to mount the new cat.

 

[Alone]

They'll probably take a little while to get used to each other - what happens if they're in the same room for a few minutes?

Well, I don't really want to leave them alone, because I'm a softy and don't want to see one get fucked up (unless that's the best option, to just let 'en duke it out for a bit).

But if there's a decent amount of space between them (4 feet or more) then the new cat calms down a bit and purrs. But the old cat keeps trying to get closer to play with him and it pisses off the new one.

 

[dfuze]

Sounds like it may just be trying to assert dominance.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Sounds like it may just be trying to assert dominance.

I'd be willing to bet it is about dominance, and the new cat wants to be the Alpha male. Unfortunately, the other cat doesn't care, and this will cause more tension than if he simply acknowledged the other's dominance. I saw this with two pairs of cats.

Buddy was the oldest, and just didn't care about the other 3 cats much. He did his own thing, and never played or fought with the others. This pissed off George to the point George would growl and leave the area if Buddy came near. George occasionally swatted at Buddy, but Buddy just walked away and didn't seem to care that he got hit. George would fight with the other 2 (1 male, 1 female), and that seemed to strengthen their relationships by establishing dominance (female dominates him, though).

When Buddy died early this summer, George changed virtually overnight. It was very noticeable. He became sweeter and more demanding of our attention, and plays with his toys much more than before. Despite occasionally losing fights to the other male, and always losing fights to the female (that is much smaller than he is), he is the Alpha male now. The other male seems to respect that, thus he is much happier now.

The only thing I can suggest is for you and your roommate to acknowledge the new cat as the Alpha male. Give him treats first, in front of the other. Feed him first, hold back the other cat if necessary. Give him attention first when you get home. Nothing you can do will change their opinion of who the Alpha male is or should be, so just accept their choice and run with it.

I have seen this with a pair of female cats I had a few years ago, and they never got along until we acknowledged one as the dominant one as I described above. They were never gal pals, but the tension and fighting was reduced tremendously. I didn't recognize this could have been be the issue with Buddy and George (because they never fought) until after Buddy passed or else I would have done this with them.

 

[Alone]

The old cat just wants to play, but it'll sit there and study the new one. It will swat back (just witnessed it) but only wants to play with him. He meows at the door separating them.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

I've seen a similar situation with dogs. My neighbor (70yrs+) couldn't care for her dog anymore, and she adopted him out to a woman who had an older dog of the same breed that she thought needed a play pal. The older dog quickly became reclusive, wouldn't eat, and growled and snapped at the other dog and their owner.

The new owner called us in tears because she had decided to adopt the new dog out again, and I suggested the same as above. She admitted that she and her friends gave the new dog more attention, but didn't realize it might cause issues. Within days the situation had changed for the better, and the two dogs became play buddies. She decided against adopting him out again.

 

[Newbian]

George would fight with the other 2 (1 male, 1 female), and that seemed to strengthen their relationships by establishing dominance (female dominates him, though).

Welcome to how the world turns.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Welcome to how the world turns.

So true! It's funny because he'll start licking her head and she's ok for a few licks, but then she sits back with ears back, they stare each other down for a few seconds, she swats him, and he runs off with her chasing. She's nearly half his size to boot! :biggrin: