Hey guys! We are currently having problems with our cat introduction and I was wondering if anyone had advice.
Background:
2 resident cats, Dunlop and Donatello. They’re both around 5 years old neutered males. We’ve had Dunlop for 4 years. He lived with a female tortie, a female Siamese, and Donatello with no problems. We adopted Don two years ago. After a proper introduction and a tense few weeks after, Don and Dunlop get along beautifully.
New cat: Cocoa, 3 years old. Neutered. Very submissive, no interest in being alpha, would rather hide and nap than fight.
We did a proper introduction where he was isolated for a week, scent swapping and face-to-face intros for 2 weeks, and now they’ve been free range together for 2 weeks.
Donatello is adjusting, but Dunlop has been an aggressive bully and the behavior is not getting better. He is not happy about Cocoa being in the home, and it’s surprising everyone since he’s lived with other cats before. He’s on Clomicalm to help with aggression (2.5 weeks). Cocoa’s “territory” is the kitchen, and when Dunlop sees him, most times he will hiss or yowl and chase Cocoa onto the kitchen cabinets. This behavior has not gotten better. Cocoa is still fine and happy, and he prefers to nap and will “cat” when Dunlop goes downstairs. (Which is most of the time now).
Dunlop went from being a happy, perky tabby cat to an angry jerk who sleeps in the basement all the time. We have tried re-introducing, but Cocoa gets stressed being confined now and will meow constantly, which agitates Dunlop into fighting with Don. Dunlop will not leave the door alone when Cocoa is confined. If we separate them, it makes Dunlop’s aggression worse. Dunlop has started to become aggressive with us sometimes, and we are getting worried that this introduction will not work.
He’s fine around Cocoa with a visual barrier, and if they’re eating together. If we try mutual play, Dunlop flies into a rage and goes after Cocoa.
Cocoa HAS NOT been hurt or traumatized during this time. I have been supervising them carefully. Everyone is eating normally, using the litter box, and had healthy checks from the vet. He is the most chill, happy cat we have ever seen!
Dunlop will either run Cocoa under a bed, or on top of the kitchen cabinets. He will sometimes yowl, and sometimes have puffy fur or growl. He will never do more than get a bit of fur out of him. Cocoa will growl and swipe him a bit if he gets super mad, but he’ll mostly just put his head on his paws and nap. Dunlop always backs down after 10 minutes or so and then go back into the basement.
There are 3 feeding stations, 4 litter boxes, 2 cat trees, multiple hiding places. Our home is a 4 bedroom bilevel, about 1,100 sq. ft. each level. Feliway diffusers upstairs and downstairs.
We know that cats need time to work things out, but we are also very worried. Dunlop is completely not like himself. The aggression isn’t improving. Re-introduction and other “Jackson Galaxy” suggestions aren’t helping, they seem to make Dunlop feel worse. We would be heartbroken to have to re-home Cocoa, but we also understand that if things don’t improve, it’s the better choice for both cats involved.
Has anybody dealt with this before? Has it gotten better? This kind of stress and tension is really getting to us. We are so worried about Dunlop!
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/ar5h9m/cat_introduction_help/
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