How to Get Two Stranger Cats to Get Along
80Cat behavior - You are POWERLESS
Conclusion: Let cats be cats
Trying to get two stranger cats to get along is one of the hardest things you can ever try to do. In fact you can't. In this hub I'll tell you the story about how I tried to get two cats to get along and how it didn't work out. I hope that from this hub you'll have further insight into the behavior of cats and you'll succeed in getting two stranger cats to live together in peace.
Cats are a new part of my life
I am from the United States and grew up in a house with a "no pet" rule. Supposedly my twin sister and myself are allergic to animals but in reality we are not. I have never, ever sneezed in the presence of a cat or dog.
I live in Asia and look after stray cats
Fast forward to the present. I live in an Asian country where there are lots of stray animals. Anyways, over the past 6 months I have started looking after a stray calico cat who I've named Princess. I named her that because I treat her like one. She loves me and I love her. She's my best friend here. I often joke with people that she's the best looked-after stray cat in Asia (my landlord won't allow pets in the rooms).
A new cat comes onto the scene
Anyways, one morning I heard the sound of another cat meowing very loudly. I thought it was coming from outside. But, it was coming from the back area behind my building where I look after Princess. This new cat was a tiny kitten - the size of my hand plus wrist. He refused to come out from his hiding place and refused my food.
Fast forward four days. The new cat somehow built up the courage to come out and accept us human beings' food and kindness. I immediately started looking after him. I named him Albert after Albert Einstein. I named him this because I thought he was extremely intelligent to accept my food and not be such a wimp.
Cats are very emotional animals and can be very jealous
Anyways, little miss Princess who had unfortunately just lost a whole litter of 3 kittens (she is old, maybe around 12+) got EXTREMELY jealous that I was looking after little Mr. Albert. While Princess is as sweet as can be with me she somehow hated the new kitten.
No matter what I did I could not get the cats to get along. I actually spent many nights outside until 4am trying to protect the Albert from Princess the jerk. But, every morning I'd come out and find little Mr. Albert got beat up by Ms. Princess.
You must give two stranger cats time and space to get along and not interfere too much
In the end little Albert had enough. While I was doing everything in my power to protect him from the big cat I actually should have not interfered between the two cats. The best thing would have been to a) Not pet either of them too much during this crucial period of adjustment and b) Give both cats ample space, meaning set their food bowls far apart.
I believe that by simply distancing myself from them and not being over-protective of the little cat the two of them would have ended up getting along.
In the end Albert might have just proven to be a little Albert Einstein. He left. One day I woke up and fed him. After that meal he just took off. Remember, this is Asia and these are strays. I do hope and pray that he's okay out there somewhere. He was a cute little fellow and seemed to be extremely tough and resilient.
Let cats work their problems out themselves. Actually, as a human being you are of little help
If you're trying to get two new cats to get along just let them sort it out themselves with time and distance. Do not favor one cat over the other. As I discovered, cats are extremely emotional beings and can become very jealous. Just give the two stranger cats time and space and they should sort out their differences themselves.
If you're struggling trying to get two new cats to get along I hope my story was helpful and look forward to learning more from your comments below!
Cheers,
Dawei888 :-)
My Dear Friend Princess the Cat
More great hubs by Dawei888
- keyword research tutorial
Micro Niche Finder Review Hi! - 22 months ago
- Halloween Super Affiliate Review 2010
On June 22, 2010 legendary online marketer Brian G. - 23 months ago
- Halloween Super Affiliate Bonus
Hi! - 23 months ago
- How to Buy Cheap Web Hosting Packages
In Internet marketing we must overcome our fears of technology and learn to use hosting accounts A lot of us are so afraid of technology. - 2 years ago
- eBay Niche Store - How To Make Money With phpBay Pro
My name is David and I make money with the eBay Partner Network Dear HubPage Fans, Readers, Visitors from YouTube and the Search Engines & Blogs: My name is David. - 2 years ago
- How to Extract and Activate Wordpress Plugins
It seems you must learn to make websites for eBay Partner Network If you're trying to make money online using the eBay Partner Network (EPN) you'll soon find out that EPN is leaning in the direction of havin... - 2 years ago
- How To Upload Wordpress Plugins
The next step after installing Wordpress on your domain is uploading your plugins If you're trying to make money online and do affiliate marketing for eBay Partner Network you'll eventually have to learn how to make your own website. - 2 years ago
- How To Install WordPress On A Domain
Making and creating your own websites is often unavoidable if you're trying to make money online If you're trying to make money online one of the things that you'll inevitably run into one day is the necessity... - 2 years ago
CommentsLoading...
Hi Melody - thanks for the comment! Interesting you've also had similar experiences with these little cats :-)
Great advice!!! We have 6 cats on our farm and your statement: "just let them sort it out themselves with time and distance" is very sound advice! Cats have their own minds and ideas about dealing with any and everything... giving them time and distance in any situation makes sense... they usually come around to our 'human' way of thinking, but in THEIR time!!! lol!!!
hi montana farm girl - sounds like you have a lot of kitties on your hands on the farm. i imagine you have plenty of space there to let them sort things out. thanks for the nice comment!
any cat is really mean to a new cat, especially one younger than it, but you shouldn't of spent all that time protecting albert. most of the time the hissing is just the older one showing who's boss.
It takes time however, they usually accept each other and have a distant respect. Each of my cats prefers one of my two dogs so I now have a cat and dog in each of our two dog baskets at night.
I took in a stray 5 years ago when it was a kitten. There were originally 4 to it's family. That one, it's mother, grandmother, and who I call her aunt. The aunt who I call baby is now all alone after the others dissappeared. I hope those 2 are ok. Baby seems very lonely and I want to take her in but my cat only hisses And goes after baby when I walk mine. I wish I could bring baby in but mine would tear her up. I don't want baby to dissappear too!!! :-(
I have an almost 2 year old cat in my household. I adopted a 4 year old cat 2 months ago and they do not like each other. Is there anything I can do so they will get along better?
I two cats they are around three, or four years old, and they don't get along. I liked the story about the cat and hope you find him. I hope the come home safe.
Thankyou so much for the helpful advice!! My fiance and I took in a stray cat(Georgie) recently and she is always chasing after our other cat booboos and starting fights with her. It has gotten to the point Booboos is petrified!! I feel bad for her and really want this to work. Thanks again :)
Long story short...
RECENTLY INTRODUCED CATS WONT GET ALONG!
Large cat (male-age 7) wants to eat or kill or critically injure small cat(female-age 3)!!!
They have been forced to live together and I am at my wits end trying to figure out ways to get them to get along. They must be separated (out of fear for SERIOUS injury or death of the meek small cat)
I cant continue to keep the large cat locked in a room as he is destroying the carpet trying to get out!
I am, as we speak, er write, trying something new. I have put the small cat into a closed cat carrier in the common room with the 'free to roam' large cat, to examine each other in lieu of a positive outcome, i.e. getting used to each others smells, sights, sounds etc. I hope this helps as I feel terrible for the frightened hissing small cats mental health during this process as I cant let them roam freely together.
So much for a short story! I'm not sure if there is a true positive response I can hope to achieve with anyone, but if anybody has an answer or advise to this "all to common condition" I'm All ears. Thanks for reading about my damn cats!
Thanks for the article. I am going to try letting them work it out. I have had Kiko (diluted calico) for about 5 years. She has lived with a large black lab and a springer terrior. She can walk around them with no problem. I recently moved and she was alone, so I had the "BRILLIAN" idea to get her a friend. She has no front claws, so I went to the humane society and adopted a male with no front claws about the same age. In the last ten days it has not been good. She keeps growling and hissing...now he chases her down and they fight. Suggestions?? I have tried to seperate their food, but he helps himself to both dishes.
This is really a great article, i found it helped me realize that time and distance is important.
@sheilaholloway , maybe you could try to just feed them both in different areas closed off from one another, if you choose to have certain times like for breakfast and dinner to only put out their dishes. And notice when each are done eating, then open up the areas again. Hope it helps.
Hi, I just have to let you know that your advice was absolutely spot on! THANK YOU, quote: "I believe that by simply distancing myself from them and not being over-protective of the little cat the two of them would have ended up getting along. " We've had 2 new cats for the past 2 weeks, one of them was starting really fierce fights, so bad we had decided that she had to go back, even though they were Mother & daughter! 5 & 3yrs, but it was like total strangers when we got them home, the new surroundings ect. we understood, gradually they both responded to us, even shared each others food bowls, BUT the fights had us totally at our wits end, we couldn't figure what it was. Then last night I found your article, that was the key, because it was when we payed them attention, at the same time the other got jealous & bang, then we'd try to prevent the fight, but it only made things much worse, the nice younger cat turned into a wild animal, we couldn't believe it. 24hrs later after applying your wisdom, their has been no fights at all, not even a hiss, both are in the same room peacefully sleeping & we certainly will keep the young one now...PHEW what a huge relief. I read many articles about the problem, but no one gave the real clue, so thanks again. Cheers & all the best :)
Melody Lagrimas 2 years ago
I enjoyed reading it a lot. I live in an Asian country so I know where you're coming from regarding stray cats. Often times a stray cat would just come and stay for a few days and just take off.