My new cat is not welcome

Question
Hello Ali,
I just rescued a stray one year old male. He has seen the vet and was neutered before maturity. They said he is in beautiful condition and health, especially for a stray. I kept him in my room until he was use to me. Then slowly others in the household family. It took a while but he is great with the family and strangers if he mets them with me or my mom(He is really timid). We have had him for four months, and have been trying to introduce him to the rest of the house for about two months. He's great with the dog and the dog is great with him. It's my other cats that are the problem.
I have two older, female cats, both spade. The oldest has been with us sense she was about 4 weeks old (another stray) and she is seven now(Tina). The other we have had sense she was about a year and a half, she is now five(Snickers). Tina seems to tolerate my new boy, but she follows the lead of Snickers as she is the dominant one, and Snickers is not welcoming him at all. Every time he comes upstairs and meets Snickers she starts a fight. He freaks, defends, then bolts for the stairs asap. But recently it doesn't stop there. Snickers is chasing him all the way down the stairs to my room. The older ones have no front claws but my boy does. I'm worried he's going to do real damage one of these times and that we'll have to give him up, seeing as he can't get along with the others. Your help would be very appreciated.
    Ashley

Answer
Ashley,

You mention that your boy cat stayed in your room until he was comfortable with you and other members of your family. I am somewhat concerned that you mention that it is a resident cat (Snickers) who seems to be starting the fights that you mention. Since your question mentions that you isolated your new kitty prior to him meeting the other cats there could be a few different things happening. It sounds to me like Snickers is doing her level best to assert her position as dominant cat at all costs. At this point in time I don't think that the "problem" lies with your little guy, it sounds to me like all he is doing is defending himself. If I understand you correctly it sounds like the new kid of the house was isolated for a fairly significant period of time (4 months all together?) It would seem to me that Snickers would have had ample time to get used to this new kitty's smell and that she would be sharing her territory with him. I have a couple of suggestions that may work. Snickers sounds dominant and quite territorial, you could try adding litter boxes and food and water bowls, in this situation I recommend that you have one litter box per cat, plus one per level of your home, you can also do the same with food and water dishes which would translate into 4 litter boxes, 4 food dishes and 4 water bowls on each level of your home. This may work if Snickers is trying to guard things that she considers to be hers. I am concerned that your new cat may develop issues with eating, drinking and going to the washroom as it sounds like Snickers is doing her level best to keep this little fellow in his place. You could also try to isolate the little guy for a second time. If you choose to isolate the new kitty again(and I am not sure that this is what is best for the cats). If you choose to try isolating this kitty I would recommend that you try to feed and play with all of the cats while they are on either side of the closed door so that they begin to associate each other's scents with positive things like play and treats. I am a bit concerned about Snickers because her reaction to someone new in her territory has been so extreme. I also would like to caution you about giving attention, treats and cuddles to the new guy prior to Snickers and Tina. If you have been showering attention on the new guy after every squabble and telling Snickers that she is bad she may be jealous and angry as she wouldn't understand why a perfectly natural kitty reaction would cause anyone to be upset with her. It is best if you try to ignore any little altercations that may happen unless they are serious enough to warrant separation of the cats with water to avoid injury. NEVER stick your hands or any other body part in between cats who are fighting as you can end up with serious injuries and require medical attention. Cat bites have a nasty habit of becoming seriously infected. It is also best to be sure that your cats all have current vaccines particularly the rabies because if anyone needs medical attention due to a bite from one of your kitties you will need to report the bite and the vaccine status in most municipalities. I would recommend that when you feed, play with or give attention to the cats that you do it in order of hierarchy. Since Snickers is dominant you should start with her, then you can move on to Tina and then the new guy. By doing things this way you may be able to take the sting out of Snickers' temper. but I can also offer a homeopathic remedy that should be given to all of the cats in your home. You can try Bach's Rescue Remedy which is a blend of flower essences designed to calm and reassure. You can generally find Rescue Remedy at health food/natural health stores and it is usually reasonably priced. I would recommend a dosage of about 10 drops in the water bowls for each cat. If the aggression continues in spite of all of these little issues being taken care of my suggestion would be to ask your vet for a referral to a behaviorist who may be able to offer more explanations and solutions to this issue. Your vet may also be able to offer some insight or suggestions to help this behavior change in a positive way if a behaviorist isn't in the budget (they can be quite pricey). I would appreciate if you let me know how things turn out, it may help me to help someone else's cat down the line. I hope that you have found this information helpful. If  you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me again.