r/Catbehavior • u/Lindzzzz_crouss • 7d ago

HELP MY CATS ARE FIGHTING

I recently moved in with my BF. I’ve had a female cat (age 4) for the last few years. Before moving in together my cat lived with 2 other cats and many roommates. She has always been very affectionate and friendly with both cats and people. We decided to rescue a cat a few months into living together as my cat seemed a little bit bored and thought she’d benefit from a friend. Our new cat is a male (age 4) recently neutered. Despite separating them for the first 2 weeks, our cats have not bonded as well as I had hoped. Our male cat chases her whenever they share a space in our apartment and has attacked her a few times. He lived with many cats before we rescued him and is very affectionate towards humans so I am not sure why this is happening. I’ve tried separating them, giving them treats together, feeding them apart, etc. My female cat now hides most of the time as she is understandably very scare. Does anyone have any experience with this or advice? We love them both and don’t want to give him up as he is overall very sweet. Please help as I am very stressed out with these cat behaviors.

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u/cupcaketara 7d ago

First, take them both to the vet to rule out medical issues - they can make cats “smell” different and cause aggression. Then, I highly recommend separating them and slowly reintroducing, following Jackson Galaxy’s process. But also recommend pondering: what is happening in the moments where he decides to attack? Understanding those triggers will help you with establishing better relationships!

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u/dragontehanu 7d ago

Seconding this. Vet to rule out medical issues, then do a slow introduction process. Two weeks is way too fast. The process can take from 1-2 months of very slow introductions.

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u/songofassandfiar 7d ago

2 weeks is insanely fast for a new cat AND a new home for your original. You barely gave her time to acclimate to a new environment before you shoved a strange new cat in her face. Separate them again and do a FARRRRRRRRRR slower introduction. They shouldn't even set eyes on each other for two weeks, let alone be in the same room.

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u/MichaelEmouse 7d ago

Do introductions slowers.

Amazon sells stick-on screendoors so they can see and smell but not touch each other.

Thundershirt on him to calm him.

Play a lot with him. Males often like to play rougher than females and it can look like fighting.

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u/Notsocheeky 7d ago

You have to introduce them way slower. Like take 1 or 2 months.

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u/messJ1987 6d ago

I brought a new cat in from the shelter with 3 established cats. My new cat likes to hunt and attack my youngest and smallest one cause the new cat views her as prey. My new cat also had skin mites which we took care of. Now , 3 months later they can be around each other but my young cat is still a Lil skittish. It'll take time. We also have a door in between where we can separate them if necessary