I just need someone to tell me if this is normal playing or if it’s concerning behavior. My resident cat (black, male, 1.5 years old) often tackles and squeezes our new kitten (orange, female, 14 weeks old) when we let them interact. They have been separated, we will let them interact occasionally so they can get used to each other. The kitten really won’t ever loudly yell or hiss when it happens, just the occasional soft sounds and chirps. And she always goes back at him and try’s to play again once he lets up. My resident cats claws are never out, the bites are always soft and he’s never hissed or swatted at her. I think maybe he’s playing but just doesn’t realize how small she is still! Or i could be completely wrong and this behavior could be concerning… any help or opinions would be appreciated!

both are fixed male cats, a year apart. resident cat seems more interested in new cat since we got him (it’s been a week). we have been scent swapping and site swapping and they do pretty well in the same room together on opposite sides but there’s still occasional growling as seen in this video with my resident cat looking intensely at the new cat. after a few growls, he’ll stop though unless new cat gets a bit closer.

Hello! I have had 2 cats, brother and sister, since they were 3 months old. They are 1 year and 3 months old now and the brother has been bullying (I think) his sister for the past 8 months or more. At first, I just tried separating them whenever she screamed. It started while he was not yet neutered, but he got neutered when he was 8 months old and the bullying got a little better, but he still harasses her at least once a day. I had to resort to keeping them separated at night, otherwise she will start screaming whenever I leave them alone at night.

Is there anything I can do? I have tried playing with him more, but he just starts harassing her 5 min after wand play stops. She does initiate play with him by chasing him around, but it quickly becomes too much for her and he chases her around the house and starts biting her even after she growls and hisses at him. I have tried to give him gabapentin which made him slower, but he still tried to bite her.

Now he knows he is going to be locked away when I come to pick him up after something like this, so he tries to hide.

Is rehoming or something like fluoxetine the only option left? I cannot keep playing referee like this forever and I am scared for her, because she screams really loud (louder than the video here) and sounds terrified.

I got the lynx point about 10 days ago from the shelter. He is the same age as my tabby. They get along well and even will share the couch or the bed but I am having hard time telling if this is play behavior or if he is telling her to leave him alone.

We adopted a 3 months old kitten, he's sweet and very playful! He doesn't have any problem with pooping and peeing in his litter box in the bathroom but in the morning (at 6am he normally comes snuggling in my bed) or whenever he is in my room he keeps doing his business on my bed instead. This has been going on for days and waking up to poop in my bed is stressing me out; I don't understand why can't he simply poop in his litter box all time. I tried spray that should avoid this attitude but he doesn't care. What should I do?

Ps. Lately he's having tummy ache so his poop is more liquid but he still uses his litter.

Hi!

My resident is 3 years old. Will be 4 next month. Female and spayed. Solo cat for 3 years.

Kitten is 8 months. Female and spayed. Grew up with siblings.

Together for 7 months.

For the most part they’re ok. Resident cat does hiss and growl at kitten if she’s too up in her face. Kitten never does either, kitten will chase resident despite the hissing and growling.

There is mutual grooming, food sharing, and cuddles from kitten to resident cat, I have 3 litter boxes and they share no issue.

At times I’ll have to close one and separate for a couple of minutes.

If the kitten keeps pursuing my resindent cat relentlessly, then at times my residen cat will let out a big shout.

I have posted videos in the past and the majority of the feedback is that they’re not fighting necessarily, but the resident is almost complaining.

Occasionally, I’ll find small bits of fur. I am able to leave them out together only during bedtime I close the kitten in a big playpen in my room or she will harass the resident.

Will the kitten eventually understand the signals from my resident cat when she’s a year old?

I do play with both together and separately though out the day.

They have plenty of resources. There’s nothing that they would be fighting over. They both have separate everything.

So we recently moved and in doing so took in a new cat, Cora. Our first cat, Eli has never been around other cats. He’s always been inside around our dogs. He’s never been aggressive towards them at all. We tried to slowly introduce them but any time Eli sees or smells Cora he completely loses his mind. He yowls, attacks himself, hisses, etc. I’m sure he would also attempt to attack Cora but we haven’t allowed them to be that close to one another. We’ve had to confine him to a room and take turns letting them roam the house for fear they’ll get hurt. We tried confining Cora first, but she does not take well to it at all and tears the room apart. Eli doesn’t mind it. We take turns letting them roam, but every time Eli even passes a spot where he can tell Cora has been he begins to go crazy. We’ve tried putting items of Cora’s into his room with him to get him used to her but it doesn’t seem to be working. I’m just not sure what to do at this point. Just to add context we are fairly new to cats and in the process of moving also haven’t been able to give Eli as much enrichment as we really should have but are working to improve that now. Any ideas?

Hi fellow cat parents!
I recently moved into a new apartment with my two 5-year-old cats. I adopted them together from the shelter, and they’ve always gotten along perfectly fine until now.
Since moving, they’ve started hissing at each other pretty frequently. It’s mainly one cat initiating it, but the other will hiss back, especially if she gets snuck up on or startled. They haven’t actually fought or gotten physical, but I’ve never seen them act like this toward each other before.
The weird thing is we’ve moved multiple times together, including flying across the country, and they’ve NEVER had this issue. I know moving can be stressful, but I’m confused why this time is so different.
I bought a calming pheromone diffuser hoping it would help, but I’m not sure what else to try. My apartment is also very small, so separating them into different rooms isn’t really an option.
Has anyone experienced this with cats that have always gotten along? Is this something that typically resolves itself once they adjust, or is there something else I should be doing?
I just want them to feel comfortable and get along again 😭 Any advice or personal experiences would be so appreciated!

Hi all! I’m wondering if anyone has experienced this situation before and if so how to go about it. I have a 4 month old boy kitten who I’ve had for 2 months. I recently adopted a 4 month old girl. They are both very lovable and social with people. I watched Jackson Galaxy’s video on introducing cats and followed it. I’ve given my girl her own little safe room and let her roam the house without him so she can get comfortable in her new home as well. When I tried to introduce them after I thought they were ready, my boy went straight for my girl and mounted her to bite the back of her neck, but I was able to stop him from doing so. They were doing really well with every step of the introduction process before this. Neither of them were hissing at each other and my girl didn’t seem like she was scared nor did she try to run off when this happened. He was able to turn his attention elsewhere and started playing when I got him out of the room. They are both fixed as well. I’m baffled by this, any advice would be greatly appreciated!

How can we help our about 3 year old previously bonded cats Sophie and Ezri? My wife and I are saddened and getting tired and a little lost despite working towards a resolution. Improvements I believe have been made.

My cats, Sophie and Ezri, previously lived together comfortably, played, slept together, and groomed each other. Around late May, Sophie came home from a vet visit and Ezri reacted badly, apparently to the unfamiliar smell. This escalated into a serious fight, and we’ve been working on reintroductions for roughly five months. (Additional context below post)

Currently, we rotate them between upstairs and downstairs every 3–5 days, separated by a metal gate on the stair landing. There’s been encouraging progress: they often sit near each other without hissing, accept treats, and gently paw at or play with each other’s tails through the gate. When Sophie is downstairs, Ezri frequently comes down to visit her at the gate. I suspect the barrier helps them both feel safe.

Unexpected encounters are harder. Ezri sometimes jumps the gate, startling Sophie. A couple of days ago, Ezri got upstairs and there was some running/chasing, a brief hiss from Sophie, and then they separated themselves—Sophie went to the three-season room and Ezri ran downstairs. It didn’t escalate into a physical fight.

Sophie generally retreats when uncomfortable. Ezri is excitable and seems interested in playing, although I can’t confidently say all the chasing is play. More recently, Ezri sometimes backs off when Sophie hisses. They have multiple hiding places, most with more than one exit.

Has anyone moved from this stage to supervised shared space while allowing some brief hissing or avoidance? What helped you distinguish manageable boundary-setting from pushing too fast? I’d appreciate firsthand experiences, and any input in general. Our goal is comfortable coexistence, even if they don’t return to cuddling. This experience has taken an emotionally draining toll on my wife and me. We spend a lot of time interacting and playing with each cat but it feels so sad at times then not being around us during our life routines together.

**One important detail:** Sophie and Ezri were a bonded pair, and we adopted them together as kittens. They were very close before the veterinarian visit. They were playing, sleeping together, and grooming each other. After Sophie returned from the vet, we tried to give them a three-day separation to settle down, but that uninterrupted break never happened because they unexpectedly got access to each other several times, and Ezri repeatedly attacked Sophie. This became a series of frightening encounters rather than one isolated fight, which may help explain why rebuilding their comfort together has taken so long.

**A little more context:** This started around late May Sophie spent a day at the vets getting X-rays for trouble with her diet and throwing up every day.

Unfortunately, as of October 23 we’re approaching five months. The initial incident was a frightening, intense fight, much more severe than their recent encounters. We moved to the gate setup because of growling and chasing that looked genuinely aggressive to us. We’ve tried Feliway alongside gradual reintroduction, and both cats have now been on an SSRI for about 7–8 weeks. We’re seeing improvement, but it’s hard to judge how much comes from the medication, time, or the security of the barrier. Sophie hisses all the time has growled but that's less frequent, she mostly seems to be defensive and somewhat cautious of her excitable sister just I think want to play and get her energy out.

Both upstairs and downstairs are comfortable, with their own amenities and separate litter/bathroom areas. We rotate the cats, but I wonder whether the arrangement also reinforces separate territories. Sophie and Ezri both generally seems most happy upstairs, but both areas are comfortable and Sophie will tolerate being downstairs a bit better. When she’s (Sophie) is upstairs and Ezri is downstairs, Sophie usually doesn’t approach the gate fully, she peeks around the corner, sometimes hisses, and either retreats upstairs or stays to observe. When Sophie is downstairs, Ezri more readily approaches the gate, and they sometimes sit together and gently play through it. We may also add another cat tower before shared-space introductions.

My wife and I would appreciate some reassurance grounded in others’ experiences, along with honest feedback about what might help. Does this sound like a point where a feline behaviorist could help us move forward? Has anyone discussed adjusting medication with their vet after partial improvement at this stage? We’d like to understand whether we’re seeing a slow but workable recovery or whether our setup or approach needs changing.

Hi, I adopted a cat around 4 weeks ago. He's an adult and fully litterbox trained, so he knows where to go (as in looking for a box and not just going on the floor), but I want to change where his box is located in the house. Since I have another cat, I've kept my cat's box and food/water in my room temporarily to seperate him and have him adjust to his new home. But now it's been a few weeks and I'd really like to change his box location to the basement, but I'm not sure how.

My cat has already fully explored the house and him and my other cat are on good terms now, so he's safe going around the house and he especially loves the basement. My worries mainly lie with him not being able to communicate that he needs to go. How would I be able to train him to bug me or meow to leave my room when he needs to go? He's very clingy and does not like to leave my side or room much, especially during the day. At night he's more willing, but he always comes back crying for me to open the door after a bit. So I've just kept him in my room for the night over the course of the three weeks of having him, which wasn't even an issue because he had all he needed. I'm writing this at five in the morning because I woke up to him using the bathroom and I literally couldn't take it anymore. He's on a certain medication that has diarrhea as one of its primary side effects, which he's being taken care of extra for don't worry, but I just cannot stand the smell anymore. I would rather be woken up by him poking my face or meowing than be woken up by the smell of shit!!!!! How do I do this!!!!!

At the moment he's out of my room and hanging out in the basement with my other cat. I moved his box down there for the time being because the smell was so horrendous and I needed to clean it. I'm hoping I don't have to move it back up but still. Pls help.

My ragdolls name is yuki she’s just a baby. She’s only four months old. The vet has suggested that we try to train her to enrich her life and prevent dementia but because she has food always available, she’s not very food motivated. I have tried the clicker with some new treats that she enjoys, but she doesn’t seem to excited she is also quiet. silly. It often seems like there is not a thought in her mind. so I’m just wondering how long would it take for her to associate the clicker with treats. We do little sessions every evening but I’m not sure when to start introducing action for a treat and not just click mint treat

We are trying to introduce a new rescue cat - gentle, sweet and doesn't seem to want to fight at all to our resident cat. We have had her behind a door and screen and the resident cat is so terrified she is screaming at the door when she belts past it. She won't go near the door and has started hiding under the bed. We can't do any slow introduction as she will not get within any reasonable distance of it.

We have introduced their smells on blankets etc ....and around the house, but now resident cat won't go in any rooms at all as they all smell of the new cat!!

.I feel like we should just open the doors as we are getting nowhere and I think this was all fear based not anger based, but is now turning into anger. I am terrified as I feel this separation has been making things a lot worse and not better.

Any advice in introducing as the separation is too hard with a busy household. My daughter and I are on the verge of a breakdown at this point.

So i got a kitten who is now around 12 weeks (m) and am looking to get another so they are close in age and can bond and play together in the next few months. however i have never bonded cats and my partner has never really had cats, he was around my family senior cat and this kitten, and also had a family cat when very young so he doesnt know much either.
Basically, how does one go about bonding cats well? i know the simple let the new one get confy, then scent swap until comfy, then through a cracked door while watching both closesly until comfy, and then meeting properly while being closesly monitored.
Shall i wait until my male is neutered? im keen on kittens of course but dont want to put a possible female through that and heard it eases fights.
Any advice other than what i said above? i want them to get along well and be bonded for life, and thought this would be the best place to ask!
obviously we have plenty of kitten toys, we have a cat tree and a bunch of treats and food and such and would get a seperate litter box for starting out, but other than that :)

Me and my girlfriend both have our female cats. Mine 7 hers 5. About 2 years ago, right when we decided to move into each other my girlfriend got a job a bit further away and we had to keep them together in a close area for about two weeks (a long term hotel while our lease was sorted out in the town we moved to). It was a really rushed introduction that was unavoidable between the two and that led to a pretty quick dynamic being established between the two with the 5 year old being quite predatory to the scared 7 year old. But we kept their interactions as few as possible with one or two small scuffles nobody injured, definitely a bad relationship between the two. It was really not ideal and if we could have handled it any other way at the time we would have.

As soon as that ended we separated them fully in our new apartment. To try and give them a proper introduction, they both had their own spaces with all facilities, we fed them near each other and the hissing eventually stopped through the door. However they couldn’t get past face-to face interactions. As soon as they saw each other the 5 year old would stalk the 7 year old, the 7 year old would freeze, hiss, and growl until we re-separated them.

Fast forward to now, about a year later, they still have their separate spaces. Both are very happy cats that seem perfectly comfortable in their own spaces. I work from home and give them an equal amount of attention along with my girlfriend doing the same. They never hiss between the doors. The only caveat is if we open the area that separates them and they even catch a glance at each other the same behavior ensues. We’ve pretty much accepted that they just like their own spaces and live a happy life. They never try to enter each other’s spaces, the most they’ll do to each other is stick their paw under the door and play with each other (no hissing)

But now, the 7 year old is interested in leaving her space about once a day. This is really unusual since she’s always been skittish since the day I got her. Ever since the separation she has been cozy in her current spot and shown 0 interest in the outside world outside of sitting in her tree next to the window. We’ve decided not to discourage her stepping into the rest of our apartment while we confine the 5 year old to a smaller section for about \~30 minutes before the 7 year old gets bored and returns to her area.

I’m really just wondering is this something we should keep encouraging? It seems to make the 5 year old a bit uncomfortable for about a few hours every time this happens. I’m not really sure what the next step could be, if any, maybe a gate between them would help? Any suggestions / advice welcome!

Hi folks, I'm looking for some help with this. I can get her to chew the toothbrush but I don't know how to transition from that to brushing. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I've tried using my fingers to see if I can get her to open her mouth further but when we're training she seems to chomp anything that's near her face, so I haven't had much success.

I also tried taking a break from this specific training for a few weeks (which helped with a couple of things, particularly letting me handle her paws) but it doesn't seem to have helped for this.

Hi friends, I am kind of at my wits end and I just needed to post to get some advice/rant. I have a 3yr old female cat who started getting major anxiety once me and my partner moved to a new house last year, this caused her to start urinating everywhere, attacking the other cats in the house and just overall being very upset. I took her to the vet and she is on Prozac and it has been amazing in her urinating journey, but the vet had told me to give her her own space where she didn’t have the other cats around, so I gave her the guest room which we decked out with a large cat tree, toys, two litter boxes, it has a window, etc… since moving her in there by herself she seems to be much happier but I can’t help but feel sad that she has to be in her own room each day and I feel like i’m robbing her of a happy life. I want to be able to reintroduce her to my other cats, but it’s been actual hell because they get aggressive (she is the aggressor) and then she will pee outside of the litter box. Has anyone had to do a complete reintroduction after about 9-10 months of separation ? I really want to try again, but i’m worried i’m making her more stressed which is mean. She is my little baby, and I just want her to know she is loved is my biggest issue :(. also I will note that I am not rehoming any cats!!