Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Our Pirate is an 8 1/2-year-old indoor cat. She's fairly quiet but loves her people and tolerates the dogs. The problem is that she has loathes every cat she meets. We have fostered several kittens and she will have nothing to do with them. I wish that we could adopt another cat and she could learn to love the companionship, but it looks unlikely. I wonder if one day she could meet the right feline and they'd hit it off. Has anyone had a similar experience?

my experience has been thus: all girl cats hate all other cats. in the beginning their hatred makes them explode with fury, but eventually it settles down into quiet, contained hostility. my old lady learned to live with two other cats when i had roommates, and would even share a bed with one of them (the boy, who was a kitten when he came into the house and was much better about deferring to her authority), but i wouldn't say she ever enjoyed their company.

My experience is similar. Every male cat I've had welcomes new cats almost immediately, but females are SO territorial and testy about somebody new up in their business.

Interesting. I never realized this was a gender-specific personality trait.

I've had similar experiences in regards to female cats. My current kitty (female) lived with another cat for several years, but they were raised together, and she hates all other cats. Previous female cats were similarly hateful. Most of my male cats have been indifferent but tolerant of new cats.

I've never actually had a cat who really liked other cats. They could co-exist but they'd never, ever snuggle.

That's too bad. I hoped that I could play kitty matchmaker and find the cat friend of her dreams.

it happens! i had to leave the boy cat i adopted in college with my parents when i moved, and when my sister moved back into the house her boy cat and my boy cat were enemies for two or three weeks and then suddenly fell in love, and now they sleep nose to nose on the back of the couch. <3

Aww! I know, I've seen it happen with other people's cats, but I've never been so lucky.

My female cat (4-ish) detests all other cats and exhibits defensive aggression posturing, but she's actually extremely submissive. She makes terrifying noises and then gets so depressed and loses all personality. Conversely, as an only, she has a huge, opinionated personality and is super confident around me.

pippi is the same way. she has hated every cat she has ever been near or lived with. i would love to get her a kitty friend, but she would be terribly mean to any other cat i brought in.

i can't blame her for wanting to be the cutest creature in the house.

Cute! Today, at a cat adoption event, I witnessed several pairs of kitties snuggling and grooming each other. It was adorable.

Yes, our cat was around 6 yrs old when we introduced her to a new cat and she hated her for months. Always hissing and hitting the new cat on the head at all opportunities. But it's been a little over 6 months now and she's calmed down a lot. Luckily she didn't start marking her territory all over the apt, the hissing and hitting was all she did. She still gives new cat the stare down until she walks away (you know, just to tell her who's boss) but I've actually seen them be bed buddies, it's getting better. It takes time.

Man, I never made a connection to their gender, but it fits. Both my boy kitties are total loverboys with people and cats and both my girls are standoffish at best, normally openly hostile. Even when Chloe snuggles the other cats, it's an uneasy truce at best.

I think we're all pretty familiar with the kitty situation at my house...





MAD CRAZY CAT LOVE!!

These things take time though. If I was judging by how any of them acting towards kittens I'd fostered, I'd also say that my cats hated other cats. Once they got used to each other though, well, see above.

I am so jealous of your mad kitty love.

The kitty snuggle pictures are so awesome!

My female cat hates other cats, dogs, squirrels, you name it. She was returned to the animal shelter by a family because she kept attacking their dog.

Last week a neighbor kitty sneaked into my apartment and she was FURIOUS. She didn't attack the other cat but was hissing and growling the whole time. I would never get another cat because I think it would just upset her too much.

My lady kitty doesn't like other cats either.

I thought it was because she was an only kitten and never socialised with other cats until she was older.

She didn't have a problem with a cat we catsat last year for about 10 days, but she hardly saw him. And I think he was more scared of her than the other way around.

If one of my other cats (I have 2 boys also) comes close she hisses, growls, smacks at them. Sometimes one of them meows at her when she gets angry, I always imagine him trying to say to her 'I don't want to hurt you, I just want to play/loooovvveeee'.

In my experience i've discovered that sometimes its just a chemistry thing. Pheromones can cause cats to be totally set off by other cats and sometimes they just find a partner they dont seem to mind. I suggest trying a YOUNG kitten in a supervised environment and your cat may not feel threatened by it.

My two cats dislike each other. They are both about eight years old and we got them when they were about 4. Our house has three levels so they just avoid each other, have separate litter boxes and food and water bowls. Now they mostly tolerate each other, with occasional hissing.

At first it was more difficult, though. Princess was staying for a while at her former owner's mom's house and the mom's cat hated having another cat in her house so much she actively stalked Princess. She would wait behind doors and attack her, hide under the couch and wait for Princess to pass by, etc. Needless to say Princess was mighty forked up when she came to live with us.

I think in my cats' minds we humans are their companions, the only ones they want to hang out with, and any other cat is alien.

Maybe we'll find the right one someday then? As for young kittens, those are the only cats we've fostered so far - young kittens too small to be altered.

I take it back. We have fostered a couple adult cats but they were kept separate for the most part.

Well! I witnessed something amazing last night. Pirate was napping on the back of one of our couches and our tiny foster kitten slyly crept up and lay down beside her. She was there for a few minutes before Pirate noticed. When Pirate saw her, she hissed once but then began sniffing the kitten. Then, she licked her a few times and went back to sleep! My jaw actually dropped as I watched this. They napped together for another fifteen minute or so before Pirate hopped down. I thought this was a pretty promising interaction.

Genghis hates all other animals, including her own brother! They used to play and snuggle when they were little, but now she hates everyone. She can sort of tolerate Bonny, but I think that's because she thinks Bonny is just a big mouse or something and therefore she isn't scared of her.

Yeah, my cats are brother and sister. They used to hang out quite a lot and now they hate each other, actively hitting and hissing.

You never can tell.

Mat.