[lisakmusco]

About 2 months ago, we rescued a pair of kittens and introduced them into our house of 4 with the utmost of ease. It was the easiest introduction we'd had yet, and we've done it 4 times so far.

A few weeks ago, some behavior problems began to creep up. I have some theories, and even some ideas but need some more input and/or encouragement that I am approaching correctly. Everything does seem to tie together.
First, there are little poo-piles turning up. Believe it or not, I can actually identify in this one case that they are from one of the kittens. She is doing it behind the TV. This, I believe is related to the fact that one of the older cats (age 3) stalks/chases/attacks her and she runs to where Pepper can't get to her. Then she poos there either out of fear when she gets there, or because she can't leave that safe spot when she has to go. I keep cleaning and spraying the area, but it doesn't change anything, which I believe is because, she's not being drawn there by the scent or anything, but by the older cats behavior/treatment of her. She's also had a few other 'accidents' that I can also explain. This is one of two things: She seems to have something against going into the laundry room to the litter box through the cat-door (no problems if I leave the actual door open, even just a small amount). Sometimes it may also be the washer or dryer that she won't enter because of.

I feel fairly certain if I could stop the aggressive older cat, the kitten's "accidents" will go away or at least lessen. So how do I stop this aggressive stalking? It is not constant, and started after the kittens had been in the home for awhile. I have a trick of bathing them and spreading scents on each other that I actually have not tried yet, but plan to.

I've also considered Feliway, but am wondering how effective that will be with other scented oil air fresheners in the house. I've asked about that before on other forums and never gotten an answer. I certainly don't want to waste $40+ and have it do nothing because of my other air fresheners.

Any suggestions?

[marble]

Did you confine your new kitten to a room on its own for the first few weeks, they can then get used to the scent before ever meeting.

I would say use a water pistol on your older cat when he tried to attack the kitten so it politely gets the message! (I use the water pistols alot for training!).
Having said that its possible that your cat will never accept the newcomer, some just dont mix like people dont always get along with other people.
I had a similar problem but it didnt end well, I gave the kittens away in the end as it was too stressful to a family with no other pets and they are getting along great now.
Good Luck.

[lisakmusco]

Yes, I did. This was not my first introduction of new kittens to the household. In fact, this was the smoothest and easiest introduction to date -- out of 4 times so far. This aggression problem didn't start until they were all together with free roam of the same areas for a few weeks. And it is more directed to one of the two kittens -- the female -- not both. Occasionally she will go after the male as well, but that is much rarer. This is definitely a female-female conflict. Pepper had been the only female for about 18 months since our eldest cat (a female) died in Dec. 2005.

[lucky47]

Try opening a can of tuna and putting tuna juice on each cat. Then maybe the two cats will lick each other off and be friends forever.

[shannonspetportraits.com]

Oh if you can find a away to keep the cats from bullying the other ones let me know.
We took in a bunch of strays and at one point had 9 cats. Basically all of the cats came within a few months of each other, but the time difference from the first cats to the last cats was over a year. We didn't put them in rooms or try to get them to get each other's scents or anything.
The thing is, the youngest cats are suffering bullying that's similar to what your kittens are suffering.
Personally I think it could be any number of factors. It could be just that the cats, like people, don't get along. It could also be that those cats are naturally "beta" types, making them easier victims. I'm not really sure what it is, nor do I know how to stop it. I think that the best suggestion was the water gun one; just squirt the older cat when he starts bullying the other cat and hope for the best! Good Luck!