The bigger cat is a 10 month old 3,5kg male uneutered cat and the little one is 4 months old 1,8kg male neutered kitten. They have been separated for almost 2 months now. The kitten came with a couple infections that needed isolation (from which he is finally all clear now). During this isolation time we tried to do the steps in adaptation, feeding them close to the door, and after some time using a screen divider between both rooms for them to see each other. We didn't get to do the room swap thing as much since the little one had an infectious disease, now cured. When we let them together for supervised time, the older one chases and pins the kitten to the ground, and the kitten hisses and hides, but sometimes he goes after the older one too.

Is it okay to let them figure it out themselves or should we go back a few steps in adaptation? Or should we wait and neuter the older cat first (not sure if this changes anything but the surgery is schedule for november)?

EDIT: For clarification, since everyone is concerned about this: We planned to neuter the older one as soon as we got him, but the vet recommended completing the vaccination cycle first. That took some time because a few vaccines had more than one shot to take and needed time between shots. Then, we scheduled the neutering but only got a spot the next month. In the middle of this, we got the kitten by chance (NOT planned) and he arrived with three infectious diseases. The feline specialist vet recommended postponing the neutering so that the older cat’s immunity wouldn’t drop, which could have led to him catching the diseases as well. Kitten got here very ill, had to be hospitalized, recovery and med cycles was long. So, we had to push the neutering back to next month, until the little one has recovered. Kitten got better. We redid ALL tests. This took almost 2 months of them smelling each other through the door and through the screen. Got approval from the feline specialist to try an encounter. We let them together for 5min and separated immediately. Older one is schedule for neutering next month. Will not try another encounter until this is done. Thanks for everyone's input.

We adopted a 3.5 month old kitten (Sesame) and did scented swapping with my resident cat (2yo Topaz) for 4 days before we introduced them. They showed no signs of aggression when they first met, and they rarely growl or hiss at one another.

However, sometimes Topaz will chase the kitten and swat her with no claws. She can be a little be relentless with the chasing and will corner her and sometimes pin her down for a moment. I can't tell if this stalking/chasing behavior is just play or Topaz asserting dominance or if she is being aggressive. I'm worried that she's scaring the kitten.

Has anyone dealt with something similar? Any advice would be appreciated :)

Hi, it's been a week and a half since I adopted my new kitten (2 Month Female). My resident cat (5 Month Female) was not fond of this little baby and would hiss and growl like crazy whenever she smelled her. Fast forward to now, resident cat still hisses and growls, but mainly only when the kitten gets close to her or when she approaches the kitten. Whenever we let the kitten out, the resident cat would refuse to let the kitten out of her sight and would often chase after her and sometimes even try to smack the kitten with her paw before quickly backing off a little. Then there are times where they seemed completely unbothered with each other.

I have attached a video of them looking relaxed around each other.

Could I please get any advice on how to navigate their current relationship?

6-7 years old female car. Id wanna train her to follow me outside and listen to my commands to either jump on my shoulder or something else. Or to train her for a backpack

My partner, our two cats Esther (partner’s) and Jotaro/Jojo (mine), and I have lived together for almost a year. Jojo is a little over a year old and Esther is around five/six years old. Before my partner adopted Esther, Esther lived with another female cat who she got along with. While Jojo has only ever known me and her brother, my three year old shepherd mix. Both cats get along with the dog but with each other it’s a struggle. We started out slow by having the girls sniff each other through the door and then upgraded to a mesh gate in front of my bedroom. This initially worked out well, but after two brawls (one while we weren’t home and the bedroom door wasn’t shut all the way and the second one happening after Esther ran past me to get to Jojo while I was leaving my partner’s bedroom). Thankfully no one was hurt after these two fights, but Jotaro has not gotten over getting her shit rocked. Anytime she sees Esther she growls, hisses, and/or doesn’t take her eyes off her. Esther on the other hand is either super curious about Jojo or could care less about her. Esther wants to get close to her to check her out, but Jojo doesn’t let that fly. We have a Feliway pod going between our bedrooms and we are trying out cat treats while they see each other. We also have tried to have them meet on mutual ground in the living room away from our bedrooms (their respective safe areas) but it did not go well (dog barked when he heard his sister growling). They have plenty of toys, cat trees, treats, and playtime with us individually. We don’t need them to be besties, we just want them to coexist since I don’t plan on leaving my partner anytime soon and rehoming is not an option. They’re both spayed as well.

sorry this is long for context

i recently moved into a new house with my family member and we each brought cats, them 1 and me 2. they arrived maybe a few earlier with their cat, who i'll call resident cat (girl cat). i have boy and girl, who are both younger than resident cat, if that matters.

it's been maybe 7 weeks, we did the scent swap and things and have started keeping our bedroom doors open when someones at home, so the cats can wander out and meet each other. the cats each have their own boxes and food in our rooms. things at first seemed okay? they ate churu right by each other. my cats don't care much for resident cat, girl is a bit scared and doesn't like leaving my bedroom though. boy couldn't care less but he prefers to also stay in my room unless i'm making his food.

recently in the last few days resident cat has been chasing boy and girl whenever they leave their room, and swatting at them. this scares girl very badly, her and boy are short hair and no hair while resident cat is a lot larger with her long fur. girl puffs up her tail and is clearly shrinking smaller in fear. she'll even get a bit into their room to chase boy/girl back. since boy leaves the room a lot more resident cat does it to him a lot, chasing him from living room to my room, even though he just walks right back after and loafs in front of her or stretches.

we separate them and try calming the cats down after, but i don't know why this suddenly happened. i'm keeping them separate again because if boy decides to fight back it will be very violent, he has lots of muscles in his little arms! could resident cat feel left out? theres only two of us in the house and she likes both of us a lot but me and my roommate spend a lot of time in my room with boy and girl, while resident sits at the doorway. my roomie also has a lot more school than me, and we haven't gotten a couch yet so i'm always in my room.

we are kind of restarting their introductions now i guess, but does anyone have experience with this? our bedrooms are small and it's sad to have them cooped up for as many as 11 hours at a time.

For Context:
My partner and I have 2 cats \[9F (spayed) and 1M(neutered)\] Our girl was my cat long before I met my partner, I’ve had her since she was a kitten, she’s my best friend in the world. She loves me and my partner so much, and loves to snuggle. I thought she was clingy, but boy I had no clue what was coming.

About 6 months into my partner and I living together, we adopted our boy cat. He’s a rescue. He was 4 months(ish) when we got him, and he’s the sweetest little guy, but he is an absolute terror.

The Problem:

Our sweet boy cat is hell on wheels. He gets lots of play time during the day (I’m a SAH cat mom), and he gets lots of attention from both me and my partner. This cat is my partner’s first kitten and his bestie. He follows both of us, but he goes EVERYWHERE my partner is. This is very cute, HOWEVER…

He is not allowed in the bedroom.

Boy cat is not allowed in the bedroom because he is a FELON. He chews on cords, gets behind our tv and tries to climb up the back of it, knocks stuff off our desks, gets under the bed and claws at the mattress, unplugs phone chargers, tries to climb the walls, tries to climb the window, The list goes on and on.

Both kitties have a solid bedtime routine: they get a little supervised time in the bedroom, then they go out to the kitchen and I give them their dinner, and everyone gets calming treats (except me. I promise I am not eating cat treats). Then the bedroom door gets closed. Occasionally, my girl cat will ask to be let in. And because she is not a felon, I let her sleep in the bedroom with us when she asks (she’s very polite). But regardless, every night, without fail, boy cat will DEMAND entry into the bedroom. He will throw himself at the door, yowl and scream all night, scratch the door, pace, stick his paws under the door and shake the door, etc., etc., etc.. we have held firm. He does not get rewarded with being let into the bedroom for this behavior. But OH GOD AM I TIRED. He is so incredibly loud for a little 10lb beast. And he makes some seriously pitiful pleas to be let in, but for his own safety and our own sanity, he cannot be in the bedroom unsupervised. We intentionally keep all our corded electronics in here, so he is safe from them and vis versa.

We have tried everything: calming treats, feliway in every area, extended his play time before bed. He has a 6 foot tall cat tower and literally hundreds of toys, 4 scratchers and a tunnel that all stay in the living room. We don’t engage him in play in the bedroom to try and condition him that this isn’t where the play area is, this is where we rest. Nothing has helped.

The Question:

How do we find a happy medium? I know this is as stressful for him as it is for us. He really is a sweet little guy, but as I mentioned above he is a felon and can’t be trusted to be in the bedroom. What are we possibly missing? What could help us help him not be so stressed at bedtime?

Sincerely,
A very tired cat mom

A few issues, but the biggest one is peeing outside the litter box — advice needed!

Hi everyone! Sorry in advance for the long post, but I want to explain the situation properly.

Let me introduce you to our little sweetheart, Bali, who is almost 5 months old! ❤️

I’ve had a Bengal before, but I’ve never experienced these kinds of problems. We’ve managed to get her to calm down with the biting and scratching during playtime, and things are gradually getting better with our other cat too. They’re not best friends just yet, but we’re making progress!

However, the peeing issue… that’s another story.

When we brought her home at 3 months old, the breeder explained that she was originally litter-trained, but their elderly dog had become incontinent and was peeing on the floor. Apparently, Bali eventually started copying this behaviour.

For the first three days after arriving at our home, everything was fine. She used her litter box perfectly. Then she started peeing in the shower and in the sinks whenever she saw running water. We managed to anticipate it and gradually reduce this behaviour, and she was doing really well for about 10 days to two weeks.

But for the past week, she’s started peeing and scent-marking everywhere again: on clean or dirty clothes in the laundry basket, around doorframes and corners… Honestly, every time I smell something that might be pee, I immediately start worrying!

What’s confusing is that she still uses her litter boxes too, and she also pees outside when we take her for walks.

I’m starting to feel like I’ll never truly solve this problem. I know people whose cats have similar issues, and some of them are still dealing with it when their cats are adults. That’s what worries me the most.

If anyone has any advice, I’d really appreciate it!

She already has two litter boxes, exclusively for her, since our other cat has outdoor access and only does her business outside. I’m planning to add a third litter box anyway, and I no longer leave any clothes lying around. If I catch her starting to pee somewhere, I immediately pick her up and put her in her litter box.

Has anyone dealt with something similar with a Bengal kitten? Is this something she can grow out of, or am I looking at a long-term behavioural problem?

Any advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated! ❤️

I introduced a kitten (younger cat YC) to my resident cat (older cat OC) of 4 years last winter, they are both girls and are both spayed. It has been about a year now and I'm still unhappy with how YC treats OC. We did a classic slow introduction and it went smooth and YC loves OC but is constantly trying to dominate every aspect of OC's life, therefore the love is mostly one sided: OC tolerates YC. YC follows OC around everywhere and will try to steal everything it can from OC whether that be attention from me or my partner, toys, scraps of food found on the floor, etc. This cat is obsessed with everything my resident cat does and wants everything that OC shows interest in.

It also doesn't help that my OC tends to back down when YC wants to take something. YC will constantly body block OC and run in front of her everywhere around my 2br apartment. OC will hiss or slap sometimes but I think she gets tired since it is CONSTANT and she usually tends to just walk around YC when she blocks the older one or turn around. Some things have gotten better over time but I still have to watch and make sure that YC is not always blocking OC from food/water bowls and litter boxes.

We separate them when it is time for their daily wet food dinner and dry food is refilled once per day and stays out. We also alternate who gets to eat where each night for dinner so they can both feel ownership of the whole apartment, same goes for playtime. We have two litter boxes. Food and litter boxes are in different rooms so resources are spread out. YC shows light resource guarding with food and litter boxes and some days are better than others. I try to do what I can. I play with both cats a ton, separately unfortunately because YC will dominate playtime. I put them in separate rooms when OC needs a break. I do my best to discipline YC by redirecting when she tries to dominate OC but it's very hard when YC is so persistent.

YC shows signs of affection to OC like licking and smelling, tail up. I can tell she loves OC but she just doesn't understand to give her some space. The resource guarding is not as extreme as it can be with other cats but it bothers me that I give each cat everything they need and it's not enough for one of them. I know I could make small changes like a third litter box or a third water and food bowl but I just find it hard to believe that will fix this major behavioral pattern in any significant capacity. But please any advice is welcome and I will hear you out.

To summarize: My younger cat bullies my older cat and tries to dominate every aspect of her life. Older cat tolerates this behavior but it causes her stress I'm sure. It's exhausting for me to constantly deal with because I care deeply about my resident cats happiness. I can't deal with this forever and I keep wondering if I will have to re-home my younger cat if she can't learn to coexist healthily with my resident cat.

I've had my kitten for about a month now (she's 2 months old roughly). She stays in my room for now because my roommate is allergic to cats, so I'm waiting until we move in a month for her to free roam. Every time I leave the room, she starts screaming. Especially when I'm leaving for work. I was using a spray bottle, but now she's scared every time I spray anything. Whether that's perfume or my spray for my pillow. I was told spray bottles were effective to train cats. I now know that's false. How can I quickly stop this behavior? I understand kittens cry when they're lonely, but I need to nip this in the bud asap. I am with her 24/7 when I'm not at work.

Edit: I am aware that keeping her in my room is not the best thing. It is temporary until I move. That is all. She was not and is not meant to be a bedroom cat. I prefer my animals to free roam. Due to how small our apartment is, my roommate uses the living room for his computer area. He sneezes just by walking into my room or anywhere near her. I do not need to hear about how she needs to free roam or needs a buddy. I am fully aware. I just need to know how to get her to stop yelling when I leave the room for right now. Because even if she was free roaming, she'd still cry when I leave

I have two cats from the same litter. A male and a female. The male is significantly larger than the female. Both are fixed. Both are 3 yo.

They cannot play without it turning into violence. If the female initiates play the male will very shortly escalate into attempting to bite her hard enough that she yells and we have to break them up. If the female doesn’t initiate play the male stalks her for hours at a time and repeatedly jumps on her and bites at her and just generally will NEVER leave her be if he has any energy. They’re perfectly amicable to each other whenever the male does not have energy. They will cuddle gladly when they’re both sleepy. So I don’t know what’s going on. They don’t hate each other in day to day life, the male just will not leave her alone whenever he has any energy.

When he is rough he tries to latch onto ears, legs, and the scruff between the shoulder blades. Hes not fighting like a proper cat fight, but he is behaving far too roughly in his “play” behavior.

We put the male in a bathroom with a water bowl for 15 or so minutes after each incident and he is usually not a problem for an hour or two after that.

Things I have tried:

Toys: the male has little interest in toys unless the female is trying to play with them- so she ends up not playing with anything to avoid him. Human driven toys have similar results.

Extra attention: any extra attention to either party worsens the situation noticeably.

Separating feeding stations: helps but only a bit compared to what it used to be.

Shunning the male: this is literally the only thing that even slightly works. For some reason if we ignore the male entirely he is less of a problem by a lot although still occasionally causes issues.

Our set up:

We have three litter boxes in different places around the house. We have four scratching posts as well. And we have two cat towers with ample space.

My request:

Does anyone have any strategies that I can employ so my cats can actually be amicable together? The problem is only getting worse as they age and I don’t want to have to get rid of the male but I also can’t keep waking up several times through the night to separate an ornery cat. And I can’t just lock him up at night as he will slam himself into the walls without end.

My 6 month kitten has never been aggressive to our 10 year old chihuahua (luckily). Introduced them slowly but we still have to keep them separated, while we are at work during the day 🫣 unfortunately, the cat isn’t trusted around the dog.

If she’s sleepy, she will happily sleep next to the dog (or sit on the dog 🫣😅) but when she’s not, she will chase the dog and try jump/wrestle her. She does try and groom the dog - which I guess is a good sign? Although, if the dog moves, the cat will bite her.

It was very stressful at the start of intros, due to our chihuahua being scared of the kitten. She still tries to run away from the cat, which makes the cat think she’s playing a game.

Will our cat eventually get bored of the dog and grow out of the ‘chase’? At 5-6 months old we have seen her ‘less crazy’ but appreciate cats will always have their mad moments

We are hoping to get a catio built soon, so hopefully she can burn off some energy. I make sure to play with her a lot every day, to tire her out

Hopefully we are doing all the right things… I don’t expect them to be best friends but I’d love it for my dog to trust the cat, but know she can be a bit unpredictable!

I adopted a cat (a 3-month-old female) last July,she is 1 year and 8 months.When I first brought her home, she scratched the curtains, caused damage around the house, and so on. After a while, she settled in and stopped doing those things—she would just have occasional bursts of playfulness. Well, four months ago, some younger cousins ​​(aged 16 and 17) came to visit, and ever since then, my cat has been growling, biting, and scratching out of the blue. I have no idea what they might have done to her. I’ve also noticed that she gets terrified and runs away whenever I pick up a slipper—even though I have never hit her. She has become very aggressive and has remained that way ever since; she’ll suddenly attack me and growl while I’m just sitting quietly at my computer. Often, when I try to approach her, she runs off. If she stays put and I try to pet her, she might let me for a moment before biting or scratching me and running away—or she might attack me before I can even touch her. My father wants me to put her up for adoption, but she’s my only cat and I’ve become very attached to her and I love her dearly. If anyone has experienced something like this with their own cat, or if you can offer any help, please—I’m begging you.

Hi everyone,
I adopted this adorable kitty called Naïa about a month ago. We live together in a 55 m2 apartment (no other humans or cats). She was a kitten from my aunts cat, so I know that she’s been socialised since day one (and weaned). She’s very friendly, very energetic, and on the rare occasions that she stops running around and inspecting the dust, she is very cuddly. I’ve been on vacation since I got her so I’ve been playing with her non-stop. She has many different toys with which she plays often, kickers, scratchers, motorised balls, puzzles, catnip toys, wand toys… you name it. I also never play with my hands

My problem is that, usually in the morning or right before going to bed she will stalk either my lower legs/feet or forearms (eyes wide and everything), jump and bite them. She’s not the best alarm clock. I’ve tried disengaging by simply leaving but she follows me and continues to attack, I tried not moving but she doesn’t stop, I also tried redirecting to another toy but she doesn’t care,and I tried locking myself into another room but she just yelled at the door and tries to open until I get out (which she does even if she’s not playing).

How do I make this stop?

Last night, we switched two of our older kittens (about 7mo) from paper pellets to clumping clay litter.

The boy took to it faster and peed and pooped in it. The girl took some time, but now she pees in it consistently. She still poops in the remaining paper litter box.

But, they both like to play with the litter, especially the girl. She will kick and scatter it around then mouth pieces (not eating them as far as I can tell - they drop back out of her mouth each time). She also loves to loaf in it.

The boy does the same but much less. His issue is that he's fascinated by the pee mud and gets it on his paws, then has to lick it off.

It's been one night so far and I've been supervising them. Any advice to get them to stop playing with the litter, especially after using it? Will this stop, and when?

We really can't afford the paper litter any longer so this switch is necessary. Cat tax attached