Marilyn Krieger, Certified Cat Behavior Consultant
www.thecatcoach.com
Her classes and counseling sessions are much more in-depth.
How many other cats do you have and how big is the house?
Do you have lots of vertical territory?
I mean lots... tall cat trees, cat shelves running around the perimeter of
the rooms.
Cats need to show their status to everyone around them. One way they do this
is by how high they sit.
Essentially, it is important to encourage positive experiences and associations
between your new cat and the resident cats.
Do this by doing pheromone exchanges between the cats on a daily basis.
Start with one resident cat and your new cat.
Rub a clean sock on your new cats cheek. Rub another clean sock on the resident
cat's cheek.
Put the other's sock in areas where the other cat goes. ie...
New cats sock where resident cat hangs out, resident cat's sock in area where
new cat hangs out.
Feed the cats at the same time, separated by a closed door. In other words your
new cat is in a closed room while resident cat is fed on the other side.
Encourage play between the cats by using a double-ended toy and putting it under
the door, letting them play tug of war. After the cats are OK with the above
activities, open the door about one inch, so that they can touch noses. Brace
the door so that it can't be pushed open.
Before the nose encounters, spray the edge of the door with Feliway spray.
Everything should be positive in nature so that the cats are experiencing things
they enjoy in each others company.
Negative reinforcement or punishment will escalate the behavior or make
the cat avoid you.
Also, use Comfort Zone, the plug in diffuser. Rescue Remedy works by rubbing it
on the inside and outside of the tips of the ears and on the bottom of the paw
pads.
This is just a beginning of my suggestions on what I tell my clients to do in
order to eliminate aggression between cats.
Marilyn Krieger, Certified Cat Behavior Consultant
www.thecatcoach.com