I currently have a 5 year old dog (Patches) and a 6 year old cat(Her name is Ms. Daisy but we call her Kitty). I have had the cat for about a year and a half and I have had the dog since he was 10 months old. Well, I got this new kitty from the humane society. I changed her name to Joy. This is her...

http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=12535705

Anyway, my currnt cat hates the new cat, I have never had any cats before I had Ms. Daisy so this is my first time introducing kitties to each other. Ms. Daisy is hissing at everyone, and I am trying to follow the directions here...

http://cats.about.com/cs/catmanagement101/a/introducecats.htm

I have read this and researched on the net months before getting a new cat. But I just got her yesterday so I know it will take time. I am just curious to hear if others have any stories or any advice on how to be patient.

But, Ms. Daisy keeps hissing at me and my boyfriend, and the only one she is being nice to is the dog, and that used to be her nemesis. She keeps kiding in my bedroom and she does come out for food, or just to growl and hiss at me. When I can't keep the in separate rooms I have to keep Joy in the kennel because I think Ms. Daisy might have a bite of her.


Does anyone have any tips or stories for me that might be helful?

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"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
-Scott Adams

Ahhh I had a very similar problem. Not exactly the same, but close to it...

We brought home a cat from the humane society a little over a year ago (named Dippy), and he joined our little family of 2 dogs and 2 cats. We were worried how he would react to the dogs, but as it turns out he was fine with them. Dippy was also okay with our very old cat, but Peanut, the OTHER cat, the one we had before getting Dippy, was another story.

Peanut was used to this being his house. He was "my baby" and was pretty spoiled, and this was his territory. He did not take well to a new cat coming in (he got along with our old cat, because the old cat was here first). Unfortunately, he still doesn't take well to Dippy. He never really turned on *us*, but the best thing we could do was one of us would hold Dippy, and someone else would hold Peanut, and we would put them close to each other (a little at a time) so that they could smell each other. I can't say it worked well, but we were VERY careful to stop if either one of their fur started raising, or their ears went back, they hissed, etc. That's why we did it little by little. The humane society also suggested rubbing a towel over Dippy (or the new cat) and putting it under the food dish, so Peanut could smell it and grow accustomed to him. Again, that didn't work well, but at least we tried it.

It's been over a year, and I think Peanut has learned to "live with" Dippy, but he still goes after him. When this happens, I scoop up Peanut, raise my voice, and put him in my room for a few minutes. Then I let him back out and if he goes after Dippy, I do the same thing again. Usually after a few rounds he grows bored and leaves him alone. I think Ms. Daisy is doing this because she's used to the house, being the only cat, and they are very territorial animals. Sometimes, though, if the cats go after each other, we just let it go...they've never seriously hurt each other and the spat usually ends just as quickly as it started. I wouldn't recommend it now since Joy is new, but down the road, I don't think it's unusual for little fights to occur.

Hope that helps a bit, please let me know if I can be of any other help. Maybe someone else can offer more/additional insight or examples and experiences...

Thanks for your reply, Amy Beth. My origial kitty is doing much better today. She is still hissing but not hiding at least, and is head-butting me and my BF. Yesterday she was biting us :-).

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"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
-Scott Adams

(edited to fix my spelling.)

[This message was edited by Darwin on 01-11-09 at 02:32 PM.]

I adopted an adult cat from the humane society a few years ago. After that, we got two dogs, and my kitty hated them. She hissed at them. She would hide when they were around. It took a couple of weeks, but she got over it. They aren't best friends, but they get along decently now. Then, we got more cats. She hated that at first too. She did the same things. After a couple weeks she started to get along with them. Everybody gets along just fine now. It just took a while. Hopefully the same thing happens with your new kitty.

By the way, your kitty is beautiful! It was wonderful for you to adopt. I hope everything works out.

Woman was created from the rib of man. She was not made from a part of his head to top him, nor was she made from his feet to be trampled on. She was created out of his side to equal him, under his arm to be protected by him and near his heart to be loved.

One day when I was working as a land buyer I was out in the country buying some land from some folks and they had a large litter of cute little kitty kats. I saw one that looked remarkably like a wild bobcat kitten. It was spotted like a bobcat but it had a long tail. I asked the woman if I could have it. She was delighted to give me a kitty kat but she said the kittens would not let anyone near them as they were half wild. She managed to sweet talk to it long enough to get her hands on it. We put it in a box so I could take it home. When I got home I let the kat out of the box and it ran off into the woods and I never saw it again.

I should have taken it into the house and let it out.

Darwin, one way we introduce new horses to the herd is to put something minty smelling on the "boss mare" and on the new horse, around their nose. Then, the new horse smells like the boss and this seems to make the introductions easier on all of them. One really has to be careful, introducing new horses, those teeth and hooves can do a tremendous amount of damage in the twinkling of an eye.

Never throw a snowball at anyone who can run faster than you can. all4

Life is hard. After all, it kills you. Katharine Hepburn

good luck. Fat cat still doesn't get along with my kitty, but has gotten better. Now fat cat has to deal with Lilly. Either way, fat cat isn't happy when we visit.

I always had two, but I always had a mom and then kept a baby.

If you haven't yet, you may need another litter box, that's often a problem.

I'd make sure original kitty has his own space. At least that worked with the cat and dog. Only, if the cat is out of my office, or not on the bed, Miss Lilly thinks the cat belongs on the chair and will 'round up' the kitty so he'll jump on the chair.

"I'm telling you. People come and go in this Forest, and they say, 'It's only Eeyore, so it doesn't count.' They walk to and fro saying, 'Ha ha!' But do they know anything about A? They don't. It's just three sticks to them. But to the Educated - mark this, little Piglet- to the Educated, not meaning Poohs and Piglets, it's a great and glorious A." --Eeyore, The House at Pooh Corner

Thanks Eeyore, for your response. I already got a second litter box but original kitty seems to want to use them both. I have had them in separate rooms but when original kitty happens to get in the other room, she uses Joy's litter pan. It is getting better now. The new kitty does not have a care in the world, but Ms. Daisy still growls but there is not much hissing anymore.

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"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
-Scott Adams

that's great progress! I was more worried about Joy using Ms. Daisy's box and then Ms. Daisy using the floor.

Kittens are rarely bothered by anything. Nor are puppies.

"I'm telling you. People come and go in this Forest, and they say, 'It's only Eeyore, so it doesn't count.' They walk to and fro saying, 'Ha ha!' But do they know anything about A? They don't. It's just three sticks to them. But to the Educated - mark this, little Piglet- to the Educated, not meaning Poohs and Piglets, it's a great and glorious A." --Eeyore, The House at Pooh Corner

Thanks Eeyore. It seems to me that Ms. Daisy is too much of a diva to pee anywhere besides a litter pan..haha!

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"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
-Scott Adams

How's the kitty doing? Any updated pics?

I wanted to get another kitten this year, but I was afraid of something similar. My cat, Perdita, hid under our bed for the first 3 weeks we had her. Whenever she feels threatened, she goes back to that routine... so we weren't sure if it was such a good idea yet. Still though, I think it may be nice for her to have a friend. Hmmm. How is it working out for you?

Fair_Gwen, thanks for asking! I will let these pictures speak for themselves. The calico one is the original kitty.




Please ignore the cardboard, we had to block off the other room because Joy was eating the Christmas Tree.





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"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep."
-Scott Adams

[This message was edited by Darwin on 01-11-09 at 05:56 PM.]

[This message was edited by Darwin on 01-11-09 at 05:56 PM.]

Aww, they're adorable. I love the pic of them looking at each other-- cats use everything they have to express themselves and it's so much fun.

I settled on fish instead of a new kitty, and my cat is having a few issues with that. She's convinced they leave the tank when she's not watching... Overall though, it's still easier than acclimating her to a new cat friend. Maybe time will make it easier for her... we'll see!

.. Do they ever play together? Or are they more indifferent than buddybuddy?