Cats fighting! Help!

I have had a Maine Coon, Jolene, for 5 years. She's been a a quiet, independent cat that had no problem exploring and lounging about our apartment.

Enter the new cat, Digby, a 2 year old male. We kept Digby in the bathroom for the first week, and then behind baby gates for an additional week so the cats could hiss and smell each other. We also would swap bedding, etc, so they could get used to each others' scents. In addition, we would allow each cat to roam the house while the other was locked in his/her own room.

Once we let Digby out to explore the house, Jolene hid under the bed. And has stayed there for about a month. Digby will occasionally crawl under the bed and harass her; if she ventures out, he'll cautiously creep around her until she turns her back for a split second and them BAM! he tries to pounce on her. When we feed Jolene, we lock her in the bedroom so she has some privacy and isn't scared to eat. She wants nothing to do with Digby and he doesn't seem to find her response acceptable. Both cats are spayed/neutered.

I very much do not want Jolene resigned to a life of hiding under the bed. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I'm sorry to hear this.:( Digby is probably most likely trying to play with Jolene. I currently have 11 cats right now and only 2 of them are females. So far all of them get along pretty well except for my females. Both females really don't want anything to do with their 7 younger brothers.:( Many female cats are much more territorial than male cats and some just want to be the only cat. Have you tried either spraying Feliway or Comfort Zone or using the plugins? Sometimes these can really help to calm everyone down and the plugins last about 1 month. Good luck.:)

When you feed them, you should do so where he can see, but feed her first and make him wait. Same with other interactions. Make sure you have play time and attention with her, and if he tries to butt in, spritz him with a water spray or just keep him at arm's length, They need to negotiate a peas, but you can help. And give him plenty of exercise to use up some of his kitten energy.

I would not do the squirt bottle. That only adds to the negative energy.

I would continue to honor your first cat as "queen", feeding her first. I would also follow Cat Daddy's advice to play with them together, usually before feeding. The playing together allows them to release energy, but not towards each other. I would watch all the episodes of Cat Daddy that you can. He really understands cats.

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Originally Posted by Cataholic

I would not do the squirt bottle. That only adds to the negative energy.

I would continue to honor your first cat as "queen", feeding her first. I would also follow Cat Daddy's advice to play with them together, usually before feeding. The playing together allows them to release energy, but not towards each other. I would watch all the episodes of Cat Daddy that you can. He really understands cats.

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Are you referring to Jackson Galaxy from the cat behavior series "My Cat From Hell"? I love this show and I'm always amazed that by the end of the show he's able to help everyone.:)

KAK- I am! I love him, and I have really learned a lot from him, too! I watched a marathon the other day, and saw an episode where two cats went after one another. That particular episode shed light on my trio of spatters. It was from one other episode that I learned about the feeding the one cat first and making the other wait idea.

He really knows cats, and he thinks like a cat. He has helped my household a lot!

Not to resurrect an old thread but was there ever any progress here? I'm having a very similar problem :-(

You just need to work with them, Telek, and give them time and places apart from one another, until they adjust to living together. Are both of yours fixed, also?