Reddit reviews Cat vs. Cat: Keeping Peace When You Have More Than One Cat

I know you're kidding, but there are actually some really helpful books for cat owners.

have you seen this book Cat vs Cat? i found it pretty useful when i had three cats.

The best advice I can give is to slowly reintroduce the cats. Here's an article on how you can do that and here's a book by the same author that I've heard good things about. Since you already have a gate, you can use that as an extra step to lead into the open door stage. It sounds like you're already site-swapping and letting them be together sometimes, so you'll need to take a bunch of steps back and start at the beginning. The advice I've gotten on behavior issues is "if you think you're going too slowly, go slower." You should always introduce cats slowly, and since your cats already have a negative history with each other, it's going to take a long time in each stage. Try to be patient!

A few other things:

• Punishment is really, really unlikely to work. Cats don't know what timeout is, and spraying is ineffective. Shock collars are ineffective and cruel.
  
• It's fairly common for owners to think one cat is only the aggressor and one cat is only the victim, but that's often not the case. A cat falling on its back is not something I'd think of as submissive, and I wonder if there's more going on here.
  
• Consider the cats' environment. Do the cats both have their own places where they can be left alone? Do they both have a mix of vertical space to climb and spots closer to the floor? Are you playing with them enough? (It's often helpful to play with the cats in separate rooms) Are they fed separately? (Even friendly cats don't normally eat together)
  
• Cats are tricky! Even if you do everything right, it can be really hard for them to get along sometimes. Your veterinarian may have behavior advice, or refer you to a veterinary behaviorist. Best of luck!
  
  Edit: Just saw that your vet recommended timeout and the spray bottle. Might want to consider a second opinion with a vet who has more up-to-date knowledge about behavior, or jumping straight to a veterinary behaviorist.

Well, to some extent this is just how they play. When my cats were newly adopted they would just hiss at each other for hours for about a week. Usually they grow used to each other, but I did things like feeding them together, playing with toys and rewarding both equally, and I think it helped a bit. This book also helped tremendously to get insight as to how cats think and respond to new environments. I used Feliway as well, but I don't think that's really what helped.

I highly recommend Cat Vs Cat by Pam Johnson-Bennet, and part of what this book will tell you is to separate them and then take things very, very slowly for several weeks. This book will give a step-by-step guide to how to re-introduce these cats to each other. We followed this when we added a cat to our household, and things went really well.

Edit: I have no affiliation with the products I suggested, I just love them :-)

To stress the point already made, please know introductions take time. Be patient!!! Very patient. Keep conscious of your emotional reactions and be neutral. You need....and I mean need, Feliway spray and plug-ins. I had aggression issues etc with my multi-cat situation and this spray was a god send. I'll never be without it!! It also works for spraying and stressful vet visits and also bringing the cat home from the vet smelling funny to the rest of them. Use it everyday till they calm down and then use when needed.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dgarden&field-keywords=feliway+&x=20&y=13


The new cat should for at least a week, have it's own room or space so as to acclimate and become secure in its new environment. Introductions through partially blocked doors(enough to sniff but not attack) should be the norm for awhile. Feed all the cats together, the aggressor on one side of the door and the others on the other side. This begins to get them to have a positive association with each other. Do this also if you give treats and play with them using the cracked open door as a safe guard but keeping them doing the same activity in a positive way. As your new cat settles in, each time it gets aggressive, start over by putting it in its 'safe place'. This can take months. It's okay and normal and shake off your own stress about the time line and work involved. Remember they pick up your stress so if your neutral or positive they will eventually fall in line.

Another product I've used with much success is 'Rescue Remedy' for pets. This product works serious wonders when a cat is stressed, anxious, fearful etc, and is phenomenal when used with the Feliway spray. It's a liquid and they make act freaked out when they first take it. Give it to the cat in a calm safe room and do not react to it's reaction....the cat is fine! Mine got to the point where if I put the drops on the counter they will lick it up. The first reaction tho was to run away and hide. After about twenty minutes I would usually find them in their favorite spot napping or at least right as rain!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dgarden&field-keywords=rescue+remedy+pet+formula&rh=n:1055398,k:rescue+remedy+pet+formula&ajr=3

Get a few books from amazon for a multi-cat household and learn more than you do now.

http://www.amazon.com/Cat-Vs-Keeping-Peace-When/dp/0142004758/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1299807101&sr=1-3

Remember to relax and don't react to any aggression in a negative way and don't ever punish a stressed cat. (unless your a pro like my vet, who has a dreamlike quality to handling stressed animals) The reaction to getting punished when they are stressed etc could be more aggression and a longer acclimation time.

Also make sure you have enough high spots for them to perch on. Three or four cheap book shelves that you can staple carpet to and hang, kitty trees or the top of regular bookshelves will work.

I hope this helps. This coming from a cat person who it took months to get my peaceful home back and a huge learning curve. Now I have the situation under control, now that I have the right tools!!

All my best to you!!