posted 03-01-2004 02:28 PM         

Last night, my boyfriend brought over his 2 female cats and all hell broke loose. First, we let Milo check the girls out while they were still in their carrier case. He immediately started hissing, as did the girls, and ran back into the bedroom. So for the next few hours, things were ok. The girls are great cats as well and stayed in the living room and Milo hung out in the bedroom (it's probably his "safe" place as it has his litter box, food, bed, etc...).

One of the girls was checking out the doorway to the bedroom and Milo immediately started hissing and growling and kind of made a run for her so we blocked him. But as soon as she was gone, he was fine and playing w/me in the bedroom. But a few hours later, the other cat wandered into the room and he bolted straight for her and chased her around the apt, finally cornering. The whole time, both cats are hissing and yowling at each other. When we finally got them apart, Milo had little tufts of her fur in his claws!

We are thinking about moving in together but I fear the cats will never get along. Milo used to live in a home with another male cat and while they didn't fight, they weren't the best of friends. All three cats are fixed and all three of them are around the same age. His girls are 5 and 8 and Milo is 5 as well.

Any advice? I'm going to try rub them down w/the same towel to get them used to each other's scents. But after a year of being w/my boyfriend, I'm thinking Milo smells his girls on him and myself all the time. He's such a sweetheart by himself...it makes me sad that he's so nasty to the girls.

posted 03-01-2004 04:29 PM         

Set up a separate room for the 2 cats coming in and keep them separated from your cat...I'd bring in different items for each cat to get used to the smell before introducing them.

When I foster cats I keep the foster cat/kittens segregated from mine for up to 3 weeks (not only to hopefully eliminate any bloodshed but also any possible illnesses/parasites).

If they have a chance to get used to the smells/noises, etc. it'll be easier. The 2 cats brought in probably were scared being tossed into a strange environment so quickly with a cat hissing at them - and your cat was probably upset for having 2 strange cats tossed on his turf.

posted 03-01-2004 05:09 PM         

MaryNH: Never knew about the vanilla extract tip.

Also, rubbing each cat down with the same towel to get all their scents on each other helps. Members here also say to get a product called Feliway to calm cats down a bit.