Help me achieve feline harmony

We've got some cat drama unfolding at home, so I'm here turning to my favourite source of miscellaneous guidance online, (and off).

My girlfriend has recently adopted a female rescue kitty (abandoned young and found under old house), adding to the ~6 yr old female cat who already lives here. About two months in and several skirmishes later, neither has accepted the other. Kitty started off inquisitive and friendly, was rejected by older cat, and now runs at first sight of her. Older cat has pretty much remained a complete shiny happy person throughout the whole process.

Currently, each cat has their 'own' room in the house, and feeding happens separately. I'm not expecting them to become best buds, but some degree of mutual acceptance would be nice.

Any suggestions as to how this might work?

Watch "My Cat From Hell" on Animal Planet. The usual procedure employed seems to be breaking them in to each others presence gently.
Start by feeding them on each side of a closed door, then replace the door with a baby gate with a towel over it(preferably one neither cat can jump over to attack the other). After a few feedings like that, then they have started to acclimate to the sound and scent of the other cat without a direct threat.. Then you can remove the towel so they can see each other while they eat, then moving on to supervised time together, and so on. Even with cat guru Jackson Galaxy running the show, it takes several weeks to get the cats copacetic.

My two cats bonded great. One was a year or so old, the other was two weeks when we brought her home. Shadow babied Sunny and wouldn't let her out from under the bed. He cuddled her and made sure she was fed before all else. I was very surprised with his nature to mother her.

Now they can't eat together. We keep sunny's food bowl in the bathroom. She seems to like it there. They just don't like to be together. They also attach each other unprovoked, but hey, their cats. I've trained the dog to break it up.

Get a dog to keep them in order?

Wow, this thread is really about cats.
By the title, I had expected something different. Maybe this thought says more about me and what other parts of the internet I have spent time at.

Get rid of both fleabags and reap the savings from no cat litter and food?

In reply to Ranger50:

You just got bonus man points for letting us know you don't like cats. Congrats.

Get a dog. Perhaps they will become tollerant with a common enemy.

In reply to Anti-stance:

Never did I say I didn't like cats. They just aren't for me.

I can't even make one cat behave. I really don't have anything to offer, I'm afraid, other than to let them work it out. One will become Alpha, and the other will hide. I guess that's happened already...

Watch the "my cat from hell" shows, they have them on netflix too.

It takes time and a gradual process. It is doubtful that they will ever be necessarily "buddy buddy", but you might be able to improve on the situation.

+1 on watching "My Cat From Hell".

I have an issue similar to N Sperlo's, my mother cat hates her 3 boys now, so momma has a separate feeding area and stays out of my bed room.

N Sperlo wrote: My two cats bonded great. One was a year or so old, the other was two weeks when we brought her home. Shadow babied Sunny and wouldn't let her out from under the bed. He cuddled her and made sure she was fed before all else. I was very surprised with his nature to mother her. Now they can't eat together. We keep sunny's food bowl in the bathroom. She seems to like it there. They just don't like to be together. They also attach each other unprovoked, but hey, their cats. I've trained the dog to break it up. Get a dog to keep them in order?

I had a cattle dog that would do this. She did not tolerate ill behavior in the house.

Squirt guns. I prefer super soakers due to their accuracy and range. If they act up, squiiiirt.

I had two kitty packs in one house. One cat just did not like the other. It worked out pretty well. They figured out their territories and avoided each other. Very little antagonism ensued.

We just had to re-home our Egyptian Mau because of something like this. Lived in harmony, or at least tolerance of the orange tabby for 4 years, then all of a sudden started attacking it unprovoked with intent to kill.

The situation blatantly wasn't working itself out.

We'll see how the new cat coexists tonite after its vet appointment.

Another recommendation for "my cat from hell". It also takes some time for them to work things out - I think it took close to six months for our grumpy old tomcat to accept the twin tabby girls, now a year later they're happy together. That said, after two months they should be at least tolerant of each other, but some cats just prefer to be only cats.

My roommate has two male cats that have slowly began to be cool with each other. At first, the cat that was originally in the house used to berkeley with the new cat and they used to fight a lot. Now they play more but the newer cat always escalates it. Their are male cats, they are gonna fight a little.

Thanks everybody.

I'll watch 'My Cat from Hell'.

However by most accounts, sounds like it might just be a matter of time.

We recently got a rescue kitten that is now several months old. The kitten likes to attack our 10 year old cat whenever she sees it. It is funny to see the tiny one drive off the big cat, but it drives the wife crazy. Personally, I'm for ignoring them and letting them figure it out, but she is terminal anthropomorphic. As time has gone on, the little one has calmed down and is a little less aggressive. I think it it will just take them getting used to each other and the kitten growing up a bit. Or am I self-delusional?

TIME. We are currently at 3 cats and a dog and thank god the dog just doesn't care. Cats are just funny and do things when they are damn good and ready. First cat, female orange tabby (wife's cat) has always been chill. Add 1 feral brown tabby stray who doesn't let us near him for 18 months (in the house). He is now fat, blissfuly happy and the biggest damn snuggler of the bunch. Add 1 stray white persian, total princess who now thinks she runs the place. OT has stayed in our bedroom for the past year or so but is now finally venturing out into the house more. Peace seems to be working.

Oh yeah, did I mention we're adding a new 2 yr old male tonight? An uncle recently passed unexpectedly and we agreed to help. Even if he doesn't blend in the transition period will help my Mom cope a little more with the loss of her brother.

I got Spider as a little kitten when Datsun was 18. Datsun never even came close to tolerating him. When Spidey was about 8, I got 3 year old Weenie. Much swearing and fighting ensued... but two months later they're buds and sleep with their arms around each other. They do get in spats, usually when Weenie is being an shiny happy person and Spidey just wants some peace. I'd give it some more time and then reassess.

Let each cat snort a line of catnip before releasing them from their separate rooms. Then they won't give a berk.

Wear them out. Much like dogs, cats have way more energy then they use up in a typical day of hanging around the house. Play with them separately at first, maybe new cat in a room and original cat has the run of the house. If they like the laser pointer, great. Just remember to always follow up laser play with a real toy they can catch and do the "kill moves" on. They need that release after the big chase. Make sure you have plenty of napping spots designated around the house, at least two per cat. I will fold a towel in half and spread it over the couch or chair, and I make sure there are window perches (tables that don't have anything on them in front of the window) available. I think a cat tree would probably help too.
Feeding time is definitely a way to get them used to each other's smells while they are doing something they like. I have five cats, with one being a recent road-side rescue. Existing cats are pretty tolerant of the newcomer, but the new one, Charlie, is not ready to share his life with four other cats. He is slowly learning to trust them, and he comes down from his perch and interacts with them at feeding time and some play sessions in the living room, but that has taken months. Three of my cats are trained to eat in their crates, one has the run of the room that the crates are in and Charlie is eating his food in the room next door, just on the other side of the door. Next we are going to work on a supervised feeding time with everybody in the same room.
It takes time. In the meantime, make sure to let original cat know they are the favorite, let new cat learn what the routine is, and things will settle down over time.
Our cattle dog likes to play referee when a cat spat breaks out. I think it's adorable when she runs over and stands in between the two cats, but doesn't really look at either one of them, she just stands there. Sorry for the long post.

ECM hit the important points.

When our cat "Rascal" was 10 my wife decided that he needed a companion. So she brought home "Sylvester" who was 6 months. Rascal hid on the top of the cabinet in the bathroom for 4 days except for feeding time. Eventually he accepted Sylvester's presence but they were never best buddies.

Fast forward 8 years and we inherited "Grey Bear" when the wife's mother died. DISASTER!! Grey Bear who was 17 wanted to attack on sight. I ended up making a "screen door"(frame with window screen that fit in the doorway) to keep them separated. We would move the screen from door to door with Grey Bear on one side and the others on the other side. This process took 3 weeks for Grey Bear and Sylvester to tolerate each other. It probably helped that Sylvester was twice the size of Grey Bear and countered any attack by knocking Grey Bear down and laying on him. Grey Bear and Rascal took 3 months to end the instant attack behavior but they still were never seen in the same room together.

After Rascal and Grey Bear died within 6 months of each other the wife decided Sylvester needed a companion. Enter Tuffy 4 months old to Sylvester's 14 years. They hit it off immediately and Tuffy's presence has rejuvenated Sylvester.

Picture of Sylvester (black and white) and Tuffy after 2 weeks together.

Harmony might be tougher than you think but you can certainly tune one to the other with a neck tourniquet and play them by stepping on their tails. Or, use a rocking chair so it's easier to keep time.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: Harmony might be tougher than you think but you can certainly tune one to the other with a neck tourniquet and play them by stepping on their tails. Or, use a rocking chair so it's easier to keep time.

Best. Post. Ever.