Ok, so hoping people here might be able to help. If there's a better place, please let me know.
So I've got a cat, 11 years old, basly farm cat. Hunts rights half her size, fights possums and foxes twice her size. The only thing she's scared of is the horse. We've had her since she was a kitten, used to have a second cat but when my sister moved out about 5 years ago she took him with her. She's been alone since, and that's the way she likes it.
I now have two new cats. A friend fell into financial trouble, and at least for the time being cannot keep the cats, as he has to focus on his sick husband and 3yo daughter. (Sounds like a cliche sob story, but honestly they're inconsequential to the problem. This is just the reason that I can't give the cats back.) Makes sense, yeah? So I agreed to take the cats for a while. These cats are adult (I didn't ask but I think between 3 and 5 years old, from memory. They got them at some point before their daughter was born.) and very relaxed. They wander around, like to sleep in the sun, and love scratches. They're house cats.
So the question is, how do I get these three to get along?
We have tried the sniffing through a door approach, but the two new ones ignore her, while my cat avoids that door at all times. So that didn't work.
We tried exposure, both with my cat outside with the new ones in cages, and the other way around (so that she can't reach them and try fighting) and the two consistently ignored or submitted, while she sat howling, hissing, growing, the lot. We left her in a cage in the same room as the other two for a solid few hours, and she didn't stop. The other two went to sleep. They don't care.
It's been two days now, and my cat is still refusing to allow these two in the house. We can't keep them locked in a separate room forever. They need to be able to move around the house, and we can't just kick my cat outside full time in the middle of winter.
Any suggestions of getting her to accept them would be greatly appreciated. I do not know how long they will be staying. Could be a week, could be a few months. Either way, something has to be done.
I would hate for my cat to attack these two, because I know that at least one of them would just lay down and take it. I can't afford vet bills without a financial shuffle, and I know that my friend most definitely can't. So I can't just toss them in a room together and hope for the best.
Please help. I'm sick of her freaking out, and howling at them all day, and I'm worried that if she keeps stressing herself out like this, next time she goes out to hunt, she might not come back.
Thanks in advance.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/orvwcu/help_on_introducing_new_cats_to_a_household/
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