Expert: Karen Craft - 7/23/2009

Question
Your Open QuestionShow me another »
Do they like each other or not?
My husband and I rescued a kitten about a year ago. Her name is Savannah. She will be one in 2 weeks. This past Saturday, we rescued another kitten which we named Mylee. The vet said Mylee is 4-5 weeks old. At first Savannah would hiss at Mylee, but Mylee desperately wanted to be with Savannah. My husband and I have seen Mylee and Savannah rub on each other in a loving manner. But, most the time we see them pouncing on each other, swatting, moaning, and hissing at each other. I know that some cats play that way, but their mannerism doesn't always seem playful. Now everytime that Savannah can get to Mylee, she does. She chases Mylee under things and keeps her under there for hours.

Do they like each other or not? Mylee seems so scared of Savannah now. But other times she walks straight up to her and rubs on her or swats at her.

What can I do to make the situation better? I feel like Savannah doesn't know what is appropriate play which in turn is offending Mylee. How can I get these two to become best friends?
42 minutes ago - 4 days left to answer.
Additional Details
The older cat is not spayed. I know she probably should be, but we don't let her outside. I really don't feel like she is territorial as much as she is very curious and wants to PLAY rough. I don't think she understands how hard she is playing. When we rescued the older cat she was very young without sibilings. I don't think she had interacted with other animals very much.
35 minutes ago  

Answer
Hi Hannah,

This is a territorial issue. You might want to start over and use a cat intro protocol. Here's one. http://maxshouse.com/introducing_cats.htm
You might want to get something called Feliway Comfort Zone. This helps relax the cats. The biggest thing that helps is time. They need to get used to each other. Make sure you show Savannah a lot of extra attention. She feels that this little one is usurping her place in the house. She needs reassuring that this isn't so. Take it slow introducing them and things should be ok. Good luck.

Ciao, Karen