Conference misery::feline_v1

    Sue,
    
    This file is full of stories just like yours, but take heart, most
    of them have a happy ending.  Give Sean and Kapi some time to establish
    who is boss.  If they get into fights and are actually hurting each
    other, spray them with water to separate them, and only let them
    together when you are there.  If they are just hissing and growling,
    then I wouldn't worry too much about it.  It is a big change for
    both of them, and they need some time to adjust.  They need time
    to get to know each other.
    
    Jo

    Yes, what Jo says is quite right.  I can name many instances where cats
    were behaving in a very hostile manner towards one another or to
    another animal, but they all got on together in the end.
    
    For instance, one of my friend's cats Rolypoly, got runover and had to
    go to the Vets for major surgery.  When she came back, the other cat,
    formerly so loving towards her, would only hiss and fight with her
    whenever she was near - it was really heartbreaking to see.  We
    reckoned it must have been the smell of the surgery.  After time they
    were soon great friends again.  
    
    Also, we often take our cats Sophie and Henrietta up to my in-laws who
    have a Golden Retriever.  There's always hissing and spitting at first,
    but after about 2 weeks this changed to just ignoring her, and even the
    occasional sniff of her body.
    
    So just be patient, watch them, and see what happens.
    
    
    Ruthie.

    Is Sean nutered?  Sometimes a "tomcat" will try to establish his
    territory.
    
    It took my two about a month to finally walk by each other without
    hissing - give it time and lots of equal love to both.
    
    Anna/Zildjian/Spunks
    

  One trick I heard about and had good luck with was to put the new cat in a
room where the old cats could sniff her under the door. It seemed to work. I
allowed about 5 days of sniffing and then let them be togther for a couple of
hours a day for the next 3 days. After that they were fine. 

  Cats are, however, territorial and will bicker over who owns what space. 
A certain amount of hissing is unavoidable.

  I also notice the increase in hissing after a trip to the vet. I try to
take them all togther when ever possible.

  George

    When we bought Ming our Himmie home, Mocha could have cared less
    but they started fighting in 3 months time and just recently we
    put Mocha on a tranqualizer once a day, and life is so peaceful.
    It has been ONE YEAR and 3 MONTHS. Himmies are very timid and it
    takes a while for them to settle in. They make the wait well worth
    it. Ming is so wonderful and has bought us so much pleasure.
    
    Like eveyone else says, it takes time.
    
    Barbara, Mocha and Ming

    Has anyone had the problem of introducing a puppy to their adult cats I
    wonder?  I am considering getting a puppy in the near future and wonder
    whether this will be a much harder situation to solve than introducing
    kittens to dogs....
    
    Ruthie.

    I am considering getting a puppy soon - so help any advice would be
    appreciated by me too! I am thinking of getting a Basset Hound.
    
    
    Lisa plus P&P.
    
    

    re: .5
    
    Just so everyone doesn't get the wrong impressions about himmy's.
    
    Himmy's, Persians, and Exotics are actually the more docile and "laid
    back" breeds...Himmy's, Persians, and Exotics are basically all the
    same cat with different coloration or hair length.  
    
    Of course, individual cats will vary in temprement, much of that has to
    do with their upbringing.  
    
    Having bred himmy's I just didn't want people to get the impression
    that himmy's are "scardy cats".
    
    cin
    

    Just wanted to thank everyone who gave advice and let you know that
    
    Kapi has come out of her "shell."  Yesterday morning Sean tried
    to corner her again.  She stood her ground and said "MEO OW OW".
    Sean was quite surprised and backed off immediately!  Then the 
    ultimate humiliation came when she started eating his food!
    She is much more sociable now.  She stays in the main part of the
    house more and is actually getting used to visitors slowly.  She
    is soooo intelligent and such a joy.
    Thanks again for your help.

re:  puppies/dogs and cats...

I introduced a rambunctious 3 month old dobe to 2 middle-aged siamese
11 or so years ago....and then introduced 2 feral 8 week old kittens
to the whole lot 9 years ago - by that time, the puppy was a 75 pound
lady and quite impressed with the little devils chewing on her toes
with such gusto.....impressed, but not the least bit angry, I should
say.  The two siamese had put her firmly in her place by this time and
Brandy KNEW any feline in her house was a WELCOME guest...and deserving
of respect.

When I introduced the puppy to the cats, I held her firmly, allowing
the cats time to sniff her over thoroughly...then I let her extend her
nose and try to sniff the cats - who promptly hissed, spit, and swiped
at her nose before huffing off.  She learned right then that the front
end of a cat was the "business end" and should be respected.  I also
called her down any time she chased the cats (and used the CAT alot -
it is also an effective DAT when accompanied by stern looks and a
firm "NO!").  She learned to let the cats come up to her - which they
evenually did for sleep warm spots and such...a curled up dobe has
lots of warm nesty spots in which a petite siamese fits quite nicely.

When the kittens came on board, I allowed them to figure out what the
giant was - they decided she was a chew toy/diving board and they
LIKED it....Brandy was a tolerant and gentle playmate - even when little
sharp teeth found ears or a large nose.  The kittens used to rough-house
with Brandy's head - I used to have great pictures of Nicky wrapped
around Brandy's head, biting fiercely, while she stood next to the
couch and let him have his way - she could have eaten him in one
bite, but she didn't seem to mind.  In fact, she would make noises
and swing her head around a bit to make him go at it more.

Brandy has retained one habit that irritates the cats beyond measure -
she walks up behind the selected feline victim and gently, but firmly,
boosts the hind end of the cat into the air - and then walks off.  You
cannot imagine how this irritates the resident felines....but it isn't
"technically" against the rules so I don't intervene...oh, and Brandy
always checks the cat that went to the vet over quite thoroughly to
make sure all parts are still there - and seals it with a very big
kiss on the head when all parts are found to be working...this also
tends to rufle feathers.

Altogether, as long as a human is the "top dog" of the family, a dog
will learn to get along with anything.  Cats adapt to anything they
cannot convince you to get rid of...eventually.

    re: 8
    
    laid back, huh?  I think someone forgot to tell Lil that !!!
    She takes 'real' good care of herself amongst her 17 brothers
    and sisters.  
    
    E.

    I just added a Bernese Mt. Dog puppy about 2 months ago.  She is
    terrific.  I have about 20 cats, 12 or so are adults, and I was
    worried about them, especially the older ones.  Well, the older
    ones seem to be the most tolerant of the dog, maybe they are mellowed
    with age.  
    
    When we brought the puppy home that first night, we intended to
    put her in the kitchen with the puppy gate so that the cats could
    just ignore her if they wanted to.  Well, we had to have the pup
    walk into the house, since she was already 30 pounds and much too
    big to carry around.  We opened the front door, about 10 cats came
    running to great us, they advanced on the dog out of curiosity,
    and she backed right out of the house and sat there on the porch.
    It took much encouragement to get her to walk back into the house
    amongst all those cats.  
    
    We got Annie all settled in the kitchen, put up the gate, and the
    cats were over it like lemmings in a matter of seconds.  Their
    curiosity was too great.  Having never been outside, and not exposed
    to dogs, they were probably wondering what the heck Annie was. 
    
    Two months later, I let Annie romp with the kittens now, who are
    now old enough to get out of the way should she start walking around.
    My biggest fear was her crushing them if she stepped on them.  She
    is now over 40 pounds, and very big.  The kittens love her, rub
    against her legs, etc.  The adults don't exactly love her yet, but
    most don't worry about her.  Only one continues to hiss and growl
    at her.  
    
    Annie has been taught right from the start that she is not allowed
    to chase or corner the cats.  She is corrected immediately for doing
    so.  She has never tried to hurt one, I just worry about her doing
    it without meaning too, since she is so big.
    
    I wouldn't hesitate to add a dog.  When we were deciding on a breed,
    we looked for breeds that were not hunting, retrieving, sight hound,
    or herding breeds.  Some breeds have strong instincts and I didn't 
    want to have to fight against natural instinct in protecting my
    cats.  The Bernese worked out fine for us.  She is very laid back,
    even for a puppy, and she has white feet! (very important to a Birman
    breeder :^D)
    
    Jo