Cat Introduction.

[wildog47]

So this past Wednesday morning I brought home a 9 year old tabby spayed female. I already have a 2 year old spayed female. The new cat spent 2 days in the room and feedings took place in the room. Friday evening I opened the door and fed the cats in the same room (5 feet apart). There was no aggression from my resident cat and there was some hissing from the new cat but she ate. And after I have been separating them again. So far no issues and I feed them breakfast and dinner in the same room. And we have treat time and pets in the room midday. And there is no issues. However once I shut the door and sit in the living room they "fight" under the door. Each sticking their hands under and hissing and growling. It bothers me because they will eat so close and sot in the room together with me. But if I'm not there they turn on each other. Instantly. And if I come to the door my resident cat quickly stops fighting and lays down.. idk should I keep feeding them in the same room? Should I go backwards and feed them at the opposite sides of the door? Any help is appreciated

 

[ahunter]

How long do you have the two cats out together at any one time? If just for short periods, but there's no aggression, maybe it's time for longer periods of supervised together time? A couple times with my cats they'd start out fine in a new situation and only get aggressive when I didn't give them enough freedom.

Another thought is maybe they fight under the door because they feel safe doing it this way. My two cats when initially separated did this as a way of checking one another out. In this case, you still could probably move towards longer periods of supervised time together.

 

[wildog47]

Currently it's no longer than 10 minutes of supervised time together. Treat time and food time. Plus some pets and cuddles while in the same room. It just worried me that they fight under the door?

 

[ahunter]

How long do they fight under the door? Does the aggression escalate? I'm thinking it could be just play, but then I'm not sure why they stop when you check on them.

 

[wildog47]

They do it on and off throughout the day. Only for maybe 5 minutes at a time. There is no claws used. And no injuries. My one cat I think stops and runs to the cat tree cause she's playing. The new cat I think isn't playing cause she's kissing and keeps her paws under the door after resident kitty is gone. Should I let them do this or should I stop them? I'm trying to take it slow for them but it's odd how they do that under the door but are fine with the door open.

 

[ahunter]

Sorry to take so long to reply. I asked members in our local cat group about your situation. No one else had any other ideas.

One thought I had about the fighting at the door is that cats are territorial. Maybe when the door is closed between them, they feel more of a need to protect their turf.

When the cats are supervised, how do they act? Do they seem tense or nervous? Or do they seem calm and friendly? If guarded, then maybe they're on their best behavior only because they don't want a confrontation.

On the other hand, it still could be that they're ready to play and their actions under the door are a safe way of doing this. Even the hissing doesn't necessarily have to be bed. One of our cats hisses when she's telling the others that playtime is over. As long as they respect her, everything works out fine.

Sorry to be of no help! I'd have to see them to get a better feel for the situation. Unless there is clear outright aggression, just keep increasing the amount of supervised time and decreasing the amount of separated time. Slow and steady!