Short story: We have an Endless 16 year old cat and a new edition two year old. We seem to have been able to keep them separated, but that can’t last.
Need some whisperer type tips, if you have them. We’ve done the put something the other one sleeps on next to the other one’s food dish, as food is safe, the thing that smells like the blanket is safe. We’ve got one, the older one on the deck outside the kitchen and the new one inside, screen door only. They aren’t spitting or growling really, just having a hilarious stand off.
I have a cat that’s a few years older than another and the younger cat have unlimited energy. I don’t let cats outside because there’s no reason they should be outside (they’ll likely get run over by a car). The older cat seems always pissed off because the younger one would not leave him alone.
Old cats get set in their ways…they don’t adjust to change easily. And your younger cat is just old enough to understand that.
I had a territorial female cat who spat and hissed if another cat entered her turf.
One time I agreed to take care of a friend’s kitten. I kept them in separate rooms for the first night and day. Their first contact wasn’t friendly, some fur flying but no injuries and they just ran away from each other and hid.
It took about week for my cat to be able to sit anywhere near the kitten. By the time they were getting used to each other, it was time for the kitten to go home. I’d like to think that given more time, they could have been friends. But yeah, it takes time. Good luck!!
That’s what we’re dealing with. It’s been less than a week. The screen situation today with grandma rushing the screen door makes me feel sooner or later fur will fly. Will go with keeping them as separate as possible but with monitored interactions until school starts up. Thanks.
Not to be pessimistic but I had a cat about 16 years old and sister decided to bring home a kitten. Older cat decided this was too much and shut herself off from us and just sat in the shed for weeks on end. We didn’t think she was eating, but she managed to gain weight, so it became apparent she actually had multiple homes anyway.
The kitten got run over a few months later, at which point the older cat returned to normality.
Interestingly, kitten got replaced with two dogs and older cat was fine with them, but the dogs gave the cat such a wide berth it was comical.
You can try to let them explore the same room, but separate them the moment it appears they seem to be about to start a fight.
I’ve brought a lot of stray kittens inside over the years, to the initial anger of my cat. Usually by the time I’ve rehomed the kitten, my cat has become BFFs with them and doesn’t want them to go. I find it helps if, in one room, possibly on the same couch, one person has one cat on their lap, petting them and giving them attention, while another is doing the same with the other cat. It gives both cats a sense of safety and love and an understanding that the other cat is not hated by the humans, so maybe they’re not that bad. This obviously only works if the old cat enjoys laps and the kitten can calm down long enough for someone to pet them.
But also, kittens have tons of energy and older cats don’t want to deal with that, so sometimes it’s pure annoyance on the part of the older one. I’m that case, if there’s no hissing or punching, let them be in the same room.
Many years ago, two old housecats which are not friends and stayed away from each other at home as much as possible. Then one summer had a younger cat of a friend who went to Japan for the summer stay at the house. Well the two older cats worked together to keep the younger cat from staying in one bedroom as much as possible, seems only time they were good “friends” , it was funny and sad for the younger cat the two older cats did that.
All good stories. Yes, it mostly just takes time and a new distraction.
I have had an old rescue cat for nearly 3 years now, who still does not get on with my previous two. Better than before, but still not good. They have all worked out their separate slices of my attention.
Do they both react to catnip? of one doesnt, no point going further. Unless perhaps one cat is totally fine and loving and the other is theagressor 100% of the time.
My brother’s wife had three cats. Every night two of the cats teamed together to try to torture the other cat. For a couple of hours every night you could hear the two of them chasing the other cat around the living room. None were declawed. I was surprised I could hear them running around on carpet. The wife would also let them out of the house at night…finally, one of the two cats did not come home. The remaining troublemaker quit chasing the other cat.
I tried to explain to my brother’s wife that her cats were killing too many birds and wildlife in her neighborhood. She would also say “oh no…the rabbits and birds the cats bring home in the morning are still alive…they are just playing with them a little before letting them go free.”
