[sasha81]

Not from the tree, with each other!

We have one male neutered 3 year old cat who is simply gorgeous and the pride and joy of my OH. I recently got a 4 month old female kitten from the cat shelter. Now, I had every intention of introducing them slowly and surely but it did go a bit awry. Despite this though they seemed to get on well. Ceefer (the older cat) mooched off for a couple of days but soon came back. They played quite nicely together - he asserted his dominance and bopped her round the head a few times but with no blood drawn or bad outcomes. A couple of weeks ago Lion-O, the kitten (at 6 months), was spayed and has been venturing outside a little bit at a time. Ceefer's behavior has changed completely. He hisses at her when she comes near. He dissapears for days at a time and just can't seem to stand being in the same room as her for any length of time. She has never pestered him to play or been overtly annoying that I have seen.

They both have good sleeping areas of different hights etc both have separate eating bowls, there is plenty of water available. They are bothed played with and given attention. He no longer brings us 'presents' not necessarily a bad thing! But indicative of him being upset?

Any advice? Will this get better of its own accord? Should I do anything to help?

Many thanks

[katkin]

Sometimes cats react strangely to other cats when they are returned from the vets - cats hate change. Continue to fuss and play with your older cat to reassure him that all is OK and you're doing the right thing offering diffferent sleeping areas/ food stations etc. IN my experience, cats go through stages when they are happy to be together, or tolerate one another- or absoluely hate one another. As long as they have the space to get away when they want a bit of peace and quiet, and the reassurance that they have good food, somewhere warm and safe to sleep, they will soon get back to a sense of normal.

[fyy123]

The main advice I can give is not to seperate them by locking one away in another room, Cats like Lions have a natural pecking order, Although you may not beable to see it your kitten is probably getting braver and trying to challenge the dominance of your male cat, there is not a lot you can do until they establish a pecking order. I am lucky that I have 8 cats and each of them knows their place very well. Just leave them to it and things will settle down eventually. You can help by making sure that their claws both back and front are trimmed so should one lash out or they get in a tangle they wont be too badly hurt. It's natural for the older cat to take the dominant role and your kitten will learn it's place.

[katkin]

Generally speaking my 8 get along OK because they have their own space, but the oldest, Minty is very timid and she does get picked on at times (but that's the pecking order for you, unfortunately). We try to alleviate this by making sure there are plenty of litter trays, places to retreat to, dried food available in several locations so they can graze wherever they want and a Feliway plug-in on the go in the attic where Minty tends to hang out, so her younger and more athletic brothers and sisters will hopefully feel more chilled and less inclined to scrap.