http://www.felinehealthguide.com/blog/how-do-i-get-my-cats-to-get-along/ A Feline Health Guide Blog Fri, 18 May 2012 04:13:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 http://www.felinehealthguide.com/blog/how-do-i-get-my-cats-to-get-along/comment-page-1/#comment-2039 mspikem Sat, 21 Feb 2009 10:28:10 +0000 http://www.felinehealthguide.com/blog/how-do-i-get-my-cats-to-get-along/#comment-2039 This might seem counter intuitive, but it is best to stay out of it. Cats are very good at establishing a hierarchy or pecking order, and they are ok with their position, even if it is at the "bottom". It might not seem fair, but by enforcing "fairness" you might be confusing all of them. For instance, height translates to dominance in the cat world, so lets say the most dominate cat jumps up on the couch and when the new cat approaches, Alpha cat starts hissing. New cat will stay on the ground for a while until the order is firmly established. After a while, when Alpha cat is sure everyone (including you) knows he/she is alpha cat, it will let the new cat up on the couch. If you intervene and scold alpha cat for it's (natural and normal) behavior, you just confuse everyone. So it's hard to stand by an watch what appears from a human standpoint as "bullying", but it will resolve itself and they will eventually become friends. Just make sure you have at least two litter boxes (preferably three or even four) so they don't have to compete for resources. Even small ones are better than none. Hope this helped, good luck. This might seem counter intuitive, but it is best to stay out of it. Cats are very good at establishing a hierarchy or pecking order, and they are ok with their position, even if it is at the “bottom”. It might not seem fair, but by enforcing “fairness” you might be confusing all of them.
For instance, height translates to dominance in the cat world, so lets say the most dominate cat jumps up on the couch and when the new cat approaches, Alpha cat starts hissing. New cat will stay on the ground for a while until the order is firmly established.
After a while, when Alpha cat is sure everyone (including you) knows he/she is alpha cat, it will let the new cat up on the couch. If you intervene and scold alpha cat for it’s (natural and normal) behavior, you just confuse everyone. So it’s hard to stand by an watch what appears from a human standpoint as “bullying”, but it will resolve itself and they will eventually become friends.
Just make sure you have at least two litter boxes (preferably three or even four) so they don’t have to compete for resources. Even small ones are better than none. Hope this helped, good luck.

]]> http://www.felinehealthguide.com/blog/how-do-i-get-my-cats-to-get-along/comment-page-1/#comment-2038 Chris C Wed, 18 Feb 2009 05:19:04 +0000 http://www.felinehealthguide.com/blog/how-do-i-get-my-cats-to-get-along/#comment-2038 They will socialize after a while. It just takes time for them to get used to each other. It has only been 4 weeks, just give them time and space. They will socialize after a while. It just takes time for them to get used to each other. It has only been 4 weeks, just give them time and space.

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