Conference misery::feline_v1

    Sounds like the pecking order has been disturbed.  My two are sisters
    from the same litter, they have been together since birth.  Whenever I
    bring a new cat into the house (even for a few days), my two have awful
    cat fights.  After a few days when they work out who is top cat again
    everything is fine.  My guess is that that is what your two are doing. 
    A new kitty in the house tends to creat havoc to the order of things. 
    They will work it out.  I wouldn't worry unless Elsa and Smokia are
    seriously hurting each other.
    
    Congratulations on your new addition.  I hope you enjoy each other.
    
    Kim
    

       There is a possibility that the introduction of the third cat into
    the household has triggered a pecking-order instinct in the previous
    residents. When there were only two, the need to be "top-cat" didn't
    exist, since they were used to one another. 
    
       On the other hand, this may have simply been the result ot some
    vigorous playing that got out of hand. It's happened to us a few times:
    The two "best buddy" cats, Cookie and Stormy, (two petite females)like
    each other so much they are often seen with their four paws aruound
    each other, washing each other's faces and heads, but occasionaly they
    will start to play and it turns into something more violent...we hear
    this scream of pain and/or indignation from one,and then that one
    retaliates and the scream is repeated from the other one....when this
    happens, they get ticked-off at each other and avoid each other for 2
    or 3 days...and any time they come into contact with each other during
    one of their "miff" periods, they hiss and growl at each other...just
    like a couple of teen-aged sisters....
    
      JM

    I wouldn't worry about it.  With our cats, even the best of buddies
    start going nuts at each other when a stray shows up outside the window
    or a fight (unrelated to them) starts with other cats; from what I've
    seen, any least little bit of upset triggers a self-defense instinct,
    where they go crazy (for varying periods of time; usually a couple of
    minutes, but it can last longer) when any other cat gets near them.
    
    We've also seen this happen after vet trips, FWIW; I wouldn't worry
    unless it lasts for a long time.
    

    Thanks for the replies. I feel much better now. I have never heard of
    the peckinig-order before, but it makes sense. It is kind of cute to
    think about what is going on in their little heads. I had a stray cat
    in my house for about a week a month ago, and my two cats became even
    better friends while he was there. He was very aggressive and would
    attack them all the time. That is wy I had to find him a new home. 
    This pecking-order probably didn't happen
    because they knew he would be the top cat because he was so aggressive
    towards them. Kiner on the otherhand is very passive and young. Well,
    I wonder who will become the top cat. My boyfriend always said that
    someday Smokia would become the boss because she is now bigger then
    Elsa. Elsa is 1 year older then Smokia. I hope everything works out,
    but I think it will.
    
    Thanks again.
    
    Stephanie

    Stephanie - in my house the heirarchy is in somewhat of a state of
    constant flux with kitties coming in and out of heat and being
    pregnant and having kittens etc so there is often some sort of hissy-
    fit or other going on.  What amazes me is that it often manifests
    itself with two of the spayed  females (Isis & Mao).  Its never any-
    thing serious and I let them work it out with only an occasional
    "Cut it out, you two" from me.  When you live in a multicat household
    you have to expect this from time to time.
    
    Another possiblity is that your original two don't feel comfortable
    expressing their territoriality towards the newcomer so are expressing
    it to each other since they know each other and feel safer battling
    it out between them than with the unknown new Kiner.
    
    I agree with the others.  Relax, ignore it and they'll work it out.
      Its tough, I know.
      Nancy DC
    

When I brought Hannah home, Josh was very bent out of shape.  Life settled 
down the afternoon I gave them both a flea bath.  New sights/smells tend to 
'bring out the best' in cats.  Maybe if they all smell the same, the new sight
won't annoy them so much?

    Sometimes, when a cat takes the defensive stand (fur all up, tail
    totally bushed out) the other cat doesn't understand why & does the 
    same thing.
    
    About two weeks ago I was cooking something (probably bacon) and the
    smoke detector went off. It makes a REAL loud buzzing noise, that
    scared the #^&% out of both my girls! I didn't think a thing of it when
    they went running into the bedroom to get away from the noise, I 
    just unplugged the detector for a few minutes.
    
    Well, I went into the bedroom about 10 minutes later & there they were,
    Callie & Tabitha, with all of their fur up, looking at each other like
    they were about to attack. We just gave them lots of love & told them
    it was OK, nobody wants to hurt them, & soon they were purring &
    cleaning each other again.
    
    Callie thought Tab was all bothered at her, so she got all big &
    bothered to defend herself, and vise-versa.
    
    Maybe one of your girls was miffed about the little one, & the other 
    one of your girls thought she was miffed at her, so she defended
    herself. It should all work out (I hope). I have heard of cats becoming
    enemies for life after such confrontations, tho. 
    
    When I was a kid, someone stepped on Jeremy's tail, causing fluffy to
    puff up after hearing Jerms yowl, and the two cats fought from then on!
    we had to switch them from one part of the house to the other & keep
    them apart until Fluffy's unfortunate death (this went on for about 3
    years!)
    
    Bonnie
    

    .6 You hit on something I read in one of the cat magazines re. "if they
    smell the same".  It was suggested that when you bring a new cat or
    kitten into a home with other cats, try rubbing a towels on the
    original household member(s) to get the scent(s) on it and then rub
    that "scented" towel all over the newcomer.  Having familiar scent(s)
    on the newcomer can make it seem like one of their own.
    
    Congratulations on your new furface and I'm sure things will work out.
    
    Pat, Holly, D.P., Thai, Buffy, Midnight, Jamie (& Cookie)
    

      I have one cat--Miss Meow--who "helps" when one of the dogs gets
    disciplined for any reason. Our dogs are never hit for any reason, but
    there are a couple who--when they KNOW they've done somthing bad--and
    they get caught, will howl like they are being killed if they are
    grabbed by the scruff of theri neck and "talked to". When this happens,
    we have to be watchful of Miss Meow, because she always decides to
    become part of the discipline...she'll come flying out of
    nowhere--growling and hissing, and givre the dog a good bite and/or bat
    with her paw if we don't stop her. It was a real shock the first time
    she did it...and we haven't been able to convince her totally that WE
    can handle this by ourselves without any help...
    
    JM

    re:-1
    
    HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA !!!!!

    
    Thanks again for all your help. I feel much better. My sister stopped
    over my house and said my two girls were getting along okay, but they
    were still hissing at Kiner. Kiner still isn't bothered by them. She
    also said they were growling. I leave at 3:00, so I'll be home in a few
    hours. 
    
    Re -7, & -9, Your stories made me laugh out loud. I could just picture
    the kitty running over to help discipiline the 'bad' dog. What a riot.
                                                        
    Stephanie

    And I just want to add that Kiner is a living doll!!!!  I love that little
    girl and I'm so happy she found Stephanie....
    
    The idea about making them all smell alike...is great.   Good luck with
    all your babies....and keep us posted.  Try to ignore the little spats,
    growls, and hisses.
    
    Sandy

    Re .10/.11
      It was a panic the day we got our Yellow Labrador
    Retriever--"Brandy".. Brandy was owned by a person wh had a couple of
    VERY active young girls...close to "hyper"...but had obviously never
    seen cats before. When she came to us, she was very cautious and
    stand-offish. Not mean nor unfriendly---just not very sure of herself.
    I was trying to think of some way to gain her confidence, but in the
    meantime decided to simply leave her be and let her become accustomed
    to her new surroundings. She stayed in the kitchen by herself while we
    all (4 other dogs at the time)went into the living room. We thought
    that she'd soon join us or get curious enough to at least get close.
    
      Suddenly...there's this TERRIBLE HISSING, YOWLING and terrified Dog
    SCREAMS coming from the kitchen....I bolted out there, and Miss Meow
    had literally attacked poor Brandy...brandy was face-first in the
    corner trying to get behind the bin we keep the bird-food in....and
    she'd had "accidents" from BOTH ends...I mean she was terrified!! 
    I immediately ran Miss Meow off, and hugged poor Brandy and calmed her
    down...then cleaned up the mess she'd made on the floor. That was the
    "bonding" right there...the fact that I'd "rescued" her from this
    ferocious white killer made her my friend for life.. When I think back
    on that incident, it seems funnier each time, but believe me, it wasn't
    so funny for poor Brandy.
    
      What's even funnier now is the fact that these two get along
    fine..it's not unusual for Brandy to be sleeping with Miss Meow zonked
    out with her head on Brandy's stomach...
    
    
       John McD

    re: Miss Meow -  Similar behavior has gotten Isis dubbed "The
    Enforcer".  She always runs over when someone is getting disciplined
    and baps them on the head for good measure.  :^)