New cat and resident cat only fight at night, I haven't slept in a while please help 😭

Penny's mommy

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I've had Macy for 3 years, she's spayed. I just adopted Mochi 3 weeks ago, she's also spayed. I've had Macy since she was a kitten and I adopted Mochi as an adult. Mochi lived outside with a cat colony but she's a very sweet girl. Both cats are the sweetest ever.
We kept them separated for a while and scent swapped and had them eat meals on either side of the door. There was a lot of hissing from Macy so as hissing lessened we would move on to the next step, like seeing each other and supervised visits and then letting them both roam the apartment but only while we're home, etc.

Things were going good but I'm in such a predicament now. Macy every night before we got Mochi slept through the whole night around my head until 6am. We were keeping Mochi in the living room and had the bedroom door closed. But Mochi would cry and scratch at the door so we gradually let her roam at night. Well now they are fine during the day except for a few hisses, but all night they chase each other and fight and hiss and growl. They don't use any claws or biting but they do stand off and occasionally hit, and sometimes yowl.
During the day they can sleep really close to each other, but at night they chase and fight, like 9pm to 9am. And its constant too. Its the worst from about 4am-7am.
We haven't gotten any sleep in a while because of this, if we lock Mochi out she cries, if we lock Macy out she cries even louder, if we keep the door open they fight very loudly.
Its not one doing all the instigating. They both pick on each other. Mochi is more submissive and Macy is territorial, but Mochi will stand up for herself against Macy, but Mochi does still start things sometimes. Its mostly like one is resting and the other walks by and if they look at each other wrong Macy starts hissing and it may or may not escalate.
I really need help, I'm so tired and I want my babies to get along and I don't want to get a noise complaint either.
 

Furballsmom

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Hi
What about playing with them before bedtime to try and wear them out?

What about a big enclosed playpen for Mochi for overnight with her things in it?
 
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Penny's mommy

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Hi
What about playing with them before bedtime to try and wear them out?

What about a big enclosed playpen for Mochi for overnight with her things in it?
Thank you, I tried playing but they're not really playful, especially Mochi. I will look into a collapsible playpen! But I worry they'll just keep hissing through the playpen 😅 is it okay to spray then with water when they fight? I feel like that won't make them like each other anymore but I don't know how to curb the behavior otherwise.
 

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This is a little unusual in some ways so I'm not too sure of the right advice, but usually if cats are fighting for real shortly after the intro we suggest backing up and redoing/doing more introduction process. Which would likely meaning putting up a gate so they could have visual access only for a week or so. Might be the best bet.
 

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I think they don't want to 'share' you with each other, so they fight over it at night when you are in bed. The best I could offer is to 'train' them both that they can be with you, but they have to be together - 'kind of sort of'. Don't know your sleeping arrangements, but I would personally get both of them a separate soft carrier type cage - open mesh or something they can see out of, place both of them in one each and place both of them nearby you, but not so they can touch each other. Give them treats when you place them in the crate/carriers and, then do your best to ignore them. It won't be pleasant at first, and you will most certainly be annoyed, but you are being annoyed already - so, what is the harm in trying?
 
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Penny's mommy

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This is a little unusual in some ways so I'm not too sure of the right advice, but usually if cats are fighting for real shortly after the intro we suggest backing up and redoing/doing more introduction process. Which would likely meaning putting up a gate so they could have visual access only for a week or so. Might be the best bet.
Is it real fighting if they swat at each other but no claws or biting or anything else? And only at night? I don't know when cat fighting crosses into serious or real.
 

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If they only swat, that generally isn't real fighting. Its more a stressed cat conveying a specific message, like "Back off!" as opposed to trying to injure. Sometimes cats can work through that on their own. Real fighting tends to involve screaming, howling, and rolling around with intent to injure being pretty safe to infer.
 
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Penny's mommy

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I think they don't want to 'share' you with each other, so they fight over it at night when you are in bed. The best I could offer is to 'train' them both that they can be with you, but they have to be together - 'kind of sort of'. Don't know your sleeping arrangements, but I would personally get both of them a separate soft carrier type cage - open mesh or something they can see out of, place both of them in one each and place both of them nearby you, but not so they can touch each other. Give them treats when you place them in the crate/carriers and, then do your best to ignore them. It won't be pleasant at first, and you will most certainly be annoyed, but you are being annoyed already - so, what is the harm in trying?
Thank you for the advice. Macy is crate trained and I'm already working on it with Mochi so that should be easy-ish. Yes Macy is being territorial of me, but Mochi has no desire to sleep with me, yet. I think she thinks Mochi wants to steal me.
I did use a laser pointer last night with Macy last night and it helped quite a bit, she ignored Mochi until about 5am and they barely hissed at each other after. I'll see if the crate sleeping helps!
 

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Do you have space to put a cat bed on each side of you in your bed or a cat bed velcro-Ed on a nightstand? I gave my guy a small coffee table or end table with his cst bed on it (so it wouldn’t fall off when he jumped up into his bed.) That way each cat gets a bed & hopefully you get some peace at night. Or kick them both out if:when they wake you up. They will eventually learn to share or squabble elsewhere. My last 2 cats divided my bed. 1 got the top & the other got the bottom/my legs. 🤷🏻‍♀️

⭐ My cat used to have his bed on my pillows when I had a queen sized bed but I downgraded to a twin, so he got the table.
 

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I would be concerned as well that you need to back up the relationship process between Macy and Mochi. I am in a situation that failed with my cats and I don't believe there is any going back. Their personality clash was always going to be a problem, but I gave it too long to see if they would "work it out" because there were no claws or teeth - but there was hissing, swatting, ambushing, chasing, tackling, screaming, etc. Now my resident cat is completely done with the new cat. There is no openness in her to deal with the newcomer and it is just a matter of separation while I continue to seek a new home for the new cat. (My resident cat acts like she has a little PTSD now, which is very sad). I so wish I had paid more attention to my gut that things were not healthy even though there were no claws or teeth.

Anyway, I wanted to mention that, but I also had another idea. I never got to the point where the new cat was allowed out of her room at night and she has accepted being in there alone overnight. However, when she is in there part of the day, since they have to be separated, she goes nuts if I am downstairs (her room is downstairs). She can tell if I have gone upstairs and she chills out then, but if I am trying to work down there and it's not a good time to swap cat locations, she paws furiously at the door such that I'm afraid she will damage the door (I rent) and it's just really loud and annoying. So, for times like that, I bought a calming bed. It's really, really soft and fluffy. I put it in a medium-sized dog crate I still have from a dog I used to have. I put her in there and shut the crate so she can't get out. She quiets right down. It's almost hypnotic. She goes from hyper and worked up to totally relaxed. I've never tried it for more than 2-3 hours at a time since it is during the day, but it might work at night, too. Just a thought. If you end up being interested, I could share the link to which bed I got.
 
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Penny's mommy

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I would be concerned as well that you need to back up the relationship process between Macy and Mochi. I am in a situation that failed with my cats and I don't believe there is any going back. Their personality clash was always going to be a problem, but I gave it too long to see if they would "work it out" because there were no claws or teeth - but there was hissing, swatting, ambushing, chasing, tackling, screaming, etc. Now my resident cat is completely done with the new cat. There is no openness in her to deal with the newcomer and it is just a matter of separation while I continue to seek a new home for the new cat. (My resident cat acts like she has a little PTSD now, which is very sad). I so wish I had paid more attention to my gut that things were not healthy even though there were no claws or teeth.

Anyway, I wanted to mention that, but I also had another idea. I never got to the point where the new cat was allowed out of her room at night and she has accepted being in there alone overnight. However, when she is in there part of the day, since they have to be separated, she goes nuts if I am downstairs (her room is downstairs). She can tell if I have gone upstairs and she chills out then, but if I am trying to work down there and it's not a good time to swap cat locations, she paws furiously at the door such that I'm afraid she will damage the door (I rent) and it's just really loud and annoying. So, for times like that, I bought a calming bed. It's really, really soft and fluffy. I put it in a medium-sized dog crate I still have from a dog I used to have. I put her in there and shut the crate so she can't get out. She quiets right down. It's almost hypnotic. She goes from hyper and worked up to totally relaxed. I've never tried it for more than 2-3 hours at a time since it is during the day, but it might work at night, too. Just a thought. If you end up being interested, I could share the link to which bed I got.
I am so sorry you're going through that right now, that must be really tough. I do consider redoing introductions, but I go back and forth because they're fine during the day... They can eat next to each other and sleep next to each other... It really is a big hassle to keep them closed off from each other but I may have to bite the bullet. I rent too so I know, I worry about the door and the noise they make. How does redoing introductions help the cats since they know the other is there? I'm just wondering. Thank you for your advice and again I'm sorry you're in this situation. Oh and yes I'll take a link to that bed!
 

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Are you sure they are fights and not play? My cat and his brother love rough play. Their play fights look like real fights to the untrained eye. They also will squabble/play fight over who gets the coveted laundry basket full of clean laundry. 🙄 I included their fight sequence between Jackie’s bed and the basket. They were buddies afterwards, so no hard feelings. Plus a picture of Jackie & Nick snuggling. If it looks like their mock fights, then you need to make the bed situation more equal & teach them to play elsewhere.
 

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Penny's mommy

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Are you sure they are fights and not play? My cat and his brother love rough play. Their play fights look like real fights to the untrained eye. They also will squabble/play fight over who gets the coveted laundry basket full of clean laundry. 🙄 I included their fight sequence between Jackie’s bed and the basket. They were buddies afterwards, so no hard feelings. Plus a picture of Jackie & Nick snuggling. If it looks like their mock fights, then you need to make the bed situation more equal & teach them to play elsewhere.
Lol cats are too funny!
I'm really not sure. I'll try to explain their behavior, I'm not very versed in cat behavior. They can sleep and eat near each other and they can wait turns while I give them one of those gogurt squeeze tube cat treats, back and forth between cats. But sometimes they will walk by each other and hiss. Very rarely during the day they might hit each other if one gets too close. They go to boop each others noses but inevitably hiss and maybe swat, this happens a few times a day. At night they don't fight on the bed, they chase each other on the floor back and forth, usually my resident cat will chase the new one under the bed and walk around the bed hissing while the new cat stays under the bed. They just keep growling and hissing and chasing and some swatting in the morning/night. Its weird because Macy wants to be on my head buy she'll leave me to chase Mochi. I sleep with my husband and Macy normally sleeps on my head, so if reintroduction doesn't work I'll see about the bed methods you recommend. I just got a baby gate to separate the bedroom from the living room. For the meantime. Maybe if Mochi bonded to my husband more she could sleep with him and Macy wouldn't feel threatened, but she seems to be bonding with me more.
 

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I am so sorry you're going through that right now, that must be really tough. I do consider redoing introductions, but I go back and forth because they're fine during the day... They can eat next to each other and sleep next to each other... It really is a big hassle to keep them closed off from each other but I may have to bite the bullet. I rent too so I know, I worry about the door and the noise they make. How does redoing introductions help the cats since they know the other is there? I'm just wondering. Thank you for your advice and again I'm sorry you're in this situation. Oh and yes I'll take a link to that bed!
Thank you. It's been stressful. I adopted the new cat, Bailey, October 1 and we've been through so many different phases. I really like her, but they're like oil and water now. I don't see the possibility of reintroduction ever working here. I've posted a bit about our struggle seeking advice in the past. Basically, I had a young, energetic, playful cat, Josie, who is sweet and sometimes jumpy but just a normal affectionate girl. I adopted a girl of the same age October 1 (2-3 years old now) and she turned out to be super-hyper, wanting to play all the time, amped up, etc. She treated Josie like a toy and forcibly wrestled her, tackled her, and so on, all in fun. Josie was overwhelmed and so was I. No amount of play sessions wore her out. Josie tried so hard the first six weeks to establish boundaries - little head taps and so on and attempts to engage the new cat using cat rules of behavior. Bailey didn't get it and acted like half-puppy, half-kitten in an 11-pound body against my 9-pound girl. It made Josie a nervous wreck. It's a long story, but it's so sad, because now Josie is done and if they see each other at all, Josie hisses and swats her (no claws) as if to say, "Leave me alone" and "Just go away."

I'm not sure how or why reintroduction often works, but it is supposed to in some situations. Your situation sounds really different, though, with it going so well during the day but not at night. I commented because the relationship between Josie and Bailey started rocky but with some openness and negotiation on Josie's part, and then it gradually deteriorated over time instead of improving without either cat ever moving to claws or teeth. Even so, it was plain it was not fun or play for Josie. She was so stressed. I have often wished I had intervened sooner somehow. That's why I spoke up, but I suppose I don't know the answer either.

Here is the link to the bed: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MV0IX66/?tag=thecatsite

I may try to get a picture of her sleeping in there and post it later. I love it.
 
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It may that one cat wants to play/treat the other cat like a toy. The boys sometimes do that to their sister. She likes them when they are not bugging her. In their case distraction works (oh look here is a wand toy) or separating them for 30-60 minutes.

In your case I would make a cat room (a room with a litter box, food, water, a cat bed & some toys) for the new cat & let the new cat sleep in there. Let them be apart when you sleep for 3-6 months then see how they do with the door open for a night or two. If they spend the night running around; then they may need to sleep apart permanently. ⭐ Also blocking off under your bed and giving your cats high up places to be in your bedroom.


If it is a dominance squabble, then once they determine who is the top cat; they stop squabbling.
 
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Thank you. It's been stressful. I adopted the new cat, Bailey, October 1 and we've been through so many different phases. I really like her, but they're like oil and water now. I don't see the possibility of reintroduction ever working here. I've posted a bit about our struggle seeking advice in the past. Basically, I had a young, energetic, playful cat, Josie, who is sweet and sometimes jumpy but just a normal affectionate girl. I adopted a girl of the same age October 1 (2-3 years old now) and she turned out to be super-hyper, wanting to play all the time, amped up, etc. She treated Josie like a toy and forcibly wrestled her, tackled her, and so on, all in fun. Josie was overwhelmed and so was I. No amount of play sessions wore her out. Josie tried so hard the first six weeks to establish boundaries - little head taps and so on and attempts to engage the new cat using cat rules of behavior. Bailey didn't get it and acted like half-puppy, half-kitten in an 11-pound body against my 9-pound girl. It made Josie a nervous wreck. It's a long story, but it's so sad, because now Josie is done and if they see each other at all, Josie hisses and swats her (no claws) as if to say, "Leave me alone" and "Just go away."

I'm not sure how or why reintroduction often works, but it is supposed to in some situations. Your situation sounds really different, though, with it going so well during the day but not at night. I commented because the relationship between Josie and Bailey started rocky but with some openness and negotiation on Josie's part, and then it gradually deteriorated over time instead of improving without either cat ever moving to claws or teeth. Even so, it was plain it was not fun or play for Josie. She was so stressed. I have often wished I had intervened sooner somehow. That's why I spoke up, but I suppose I don't know the answer either.

Here is the link to the bed: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MV0IX66/?tag=thecatsite

I may try to get a picture of her sleeping in there and post it later. I love it.
Wow that definitely does sound like a hard situation. No I appreciate your reply, its what made me decide to start the process over. I just ordered a baby gate for visual access because I skipped that part the first time. Thank you for the link, and I'm sure she looks adorable in it 😊
 
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