Tuesday, November 22, 2011

How to Correct Aggressive Behavior When Introducing a New Cat

Cats become territorial with age. It becomes more difficult to introduce a new cat in a household where one cat has already established its territory. Of course, it is best to either bring different cats into a household at the same time, to introduce them as kittens or to stick with litter mates who are already familiar with one another. However, things do not always work out that way.

You may already have a cat that is bringing so much joy and happiness to your home that you want to add to that joy by bringing in another cat. Before doing so, it is important to recognize that your first cat has already established its territory, and will view the new cat as an intruder. If you are not careful, this could lead to unwanted cat behavior, even an aggressive cat. The following five tips will help you introduce a new cat to your household successfully.

1. The first step is to familiarize the cats with one another. To do this you must use the following methods of socialization, isolation and reverse isolation. Socialization allows your cats to interact and to become familiar with one another. For new cats, you should supervise such socialization periods. When the cats are not socializing then you must keep them separated and in isolation. Once your cats become more familiar with one another, you can then use reverse isolation where you leave the cats alone together for progressively longer periods until they no longer act aggressively.

2. If your cats are acting aggressively, it is always important to catch them in the act and deal with the behavior immediately. A loud noise is useful as a way to break up unwanted cat behavior and is a great tool to stop bad cat behavior. This is only useful, however, if you catch your cat in the act of doing something unacceptable and use a loud noise immediately. A quick response will help the cat associate its bad behavior to the punishment.

3. Give your cat's options when it comes to food dishes, water dishes, litter boxes, cat toys, and sleeping areas. This allows your cats to make their own territories and helps to avoid having your cats fight with one another. It also helps to avoid cat confusion.

4. Never physically punish your cat. This creates more problems than solutions and has long-term effects creating more bad behavior. If you physically abuse your cat, it will learn to associate you with the abuse. Your cat will become scared of you and will no longer be the cuddly little cat it once was.

5. Stay consistent and always be patient since It may take weeks, even a couple of months for your cats to familiarize themselves with one other and become sociable. The wait is frustrating but being patient will pay off.

I have been a pet owner all of my life and for the last thirty years my wife and I have raised over a dozen cats. Please visit my website at: http://tipsaboutcats.com/ is your information source for their health, diet, disposition, and exercise. We even show the basics of making your own cat toys and condos. All tips and proceeds from this website is contributed to our local animal shelter who is short of funds from the county. I have a number of recommended natural food, supplements, products and books that are in my store which will save you time hunting on the web for at http://tipsaboutcats.com/store/. There are two expert interviews in the blog pages that are must reads because they will answer most of your questions and concerns about natural cat health and diet. Please feel free to leave comments on my website where you will also find links to me on Facebook and Twitter.


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