How to reintroduce cats after a big fight?

[jenniekim]

Currently, I have 6 adult cats at home. 2 are males (neutered), while the rest are females (already spayed, except for 2 queens). The 2 queens have 4 kittens & 1 kitten—all will be adopted next month. So there are 11 cats in total.

The queen and kittens are placed in a separate room, but sometimes I let them out to play in the TV room with supervision. The adult cats are all scared of the kittens & usually stay away from them. However, yesterday one adult male cat approached a kitten who ran away too far & all hell broke loose. The queens got so mad and these three got into the biggest cat fight ever. This surprised me as they were all litter mates and never fought before. Unfortunately, I was caught in the middle and got scratched + bitten, but that’s fine. I was more concerned about the scarred kittens.

In the aftermath, one queen gets really feisty and even the sight of other cats the kittens) got her hissing loud. The other queen is wary at best, keeping watch but does not hiss at others. We ended up separating the cats into three groups. Each queen with their kittens got a separate room, and the rest of the adult gang are free to roam in the house, although sometimes we put them in another different room to let each queens out for a while. This gets a little overwhelming for the rest of my family, but I insisted to keep this “jail-time” situation at least until the kittens are ready to go.

I have a few questions regarding this. Like, has anyone ever experienced this? How long do I have to keep them separated? And what are the steps to reintroducing them? So far, all I have done is swapping the kittens between the queens at least twice a day, and put a blanket and bedding in each room for them to sleep on, which will be swapped daily between groups to reintroduce the scent of each other. Is there any other thing to do?
Thank you in advance for your help!!

bonus pics of the fighting three (the orange one’s the male) and the kittens

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi
I realize this wasn't exactly redirected aggression, so I don't know if there's anything here that helps;

Re-Directed Aggression In Cats [Insight And Solutions] - TheCatSite

This could possibly be useful ;
either with vanilla or raw coconut (which still has fragrance) ;
From valanhb

You put a dab of vanilla extract under the chins, at the base of their neck (by the spine) and at the base of the tail (again, on the spine not the underside of the tail!) of all of the cats to make them smell the same. Cats recognize each other by scent, so if that kitty smells the same as "me", then he must be a friend. Kitty logic at it's finest.

This trick works when introducing cats into the household as well, or during a reintroduction after a redirected aggression event.

Also, it's possible that low volume Cat Music can help the adults too

 

[FeebysOwner]

It sounds like these kittens are disrupting the other cats, in a number of ways. They are scaring most of the other cats, and the one that did approach a kitten, is probably just curious. However, it is possible that the kittens are young enough that the mothers feel the need to still protect them from the other cats. It also sounds like the kitten was afraid and that probably also provoked a reaction from the mothers.

I'd say keep the mothers and kittens separated from the other cats and forgo re-introductions until the kittens are gone. Once the kittens have left, a 'true' re-introduction may not be needed.

 

[Aileen666]

Currently, I have 6 adult cats at home. 2 are males (neutered), while the rest are females (already spayed, except for 2 queens). The 2 queens have 4 kittens & 1 kitten—all will be adopted next month. So there are 11 cats in total.

The queen and kittens are placed in a separate room, but sometimes I let them out to play in the TV room with supervision. The adult cats are all scared of the kittens & usually stay away from them. However, yesterday one adult male cat approached a kitten who ran away too far & all hell broke loose. The queens got so mad and these three got into the biggest cat fight ever. This surprised me as they were all litter mates and never fought before. Unfortunately, I was caught in the middle and got scratched + bitten, but that’s fine. I was more concerned about the scarred kittens.

In the aftermath, one queen gets really feisty and even the sight of other cats the kittens) got her hissing loud. The other queen is wary at best, keeping watch but does not hiss at others. We ended up separating the cats into three groups. Each queen with their kittens got a separate room, and the rest of the adult gang are free to roam in the house, although sometimes we put them in another different room to let each queens out for a while. This gets a little overwhelming for the rest of my family, but I insisted to keep this “jail-time” situation at least until the kittens are ready to go.

I have a few questions regarding this. Like, has anyone ever experienced this? How long do I have to keep them separated? And what are the steps to reintroducing them? So far, all I have done is swapping the kittens between the queens at least twice a day, and put a blanket and bedding in each room for them to sleep on, which will be swapped daily between groups to reintroduce the scent of each other. Is there any other thing to do?
Thank you in advance for your help!!

bonus pics of the fighting three (the orange one’s the male) and the kittens
View attachment 466500View attachment 466501View attachment 466502View attachment 466503

They are gorgeous. How do you handle all those cats lol. I would think after the kittens are gone you would introduce them like you did when you got them. Jackson Galaxy on YouTube has a ton of cat training videos. Research him. I tried introducing two adult cats before and it was a nightmare but they never seen each other and both adults. At least your cats are familiar with each other

 

[jenniekim]

Hi
I realize this wasn't exactly redirected aggression, so I don't know if there's anything here that helps;

Re-Directed Aggression In Cats [Insight And Solutions] - TheCatSite

This could possibly be useful ;
either with vanilla or raw coconut (which still has fragrance) ;
From valanhb

You put a dab of vanilla extract under the chins, at the base of their neck (by the spine) and at the base of the tail (again, on the spine not the underside of the tail!) of all of the cats to make them smell the same. Cats recognize each other by scent, so if that kitty smells the same as "me", then he must be a friend. Kitty logic at it's finest.

This trick works when introducing cats into the household as well, or during a reintroduction after a redirected aggression event.

Also, it's possible that low volume Cat Music can help the adults too

Thank you! I’ll check on the thread and try some i think could help. I’ll also try the coconut trick later today

 

[jenniekim]

It sounds like these kittens are disrupting the other cats, in a number of ways. They are scaring most of the other cats, and the one that did approach a kitten, is probably just curious. However, it is possible that the kittens are young enough that the mothers feel the need to still protect them from the other cats. It also sounds like the kitten was afraid and that probably also provoked a reaction from the mothers.

I'd say keep the mothers and kittens separated from the other cats and forgo re-introductions until the kittens are gone. Once the kittens have left, a 'true' re-introduction may not be needed.

You’re right, i do think it’s most likely the kittens. They’re still a little under two months old and are jumping around, makes sense if the mothers are over protective.
Yeah, I will keep them separated for the sake of everyone’s sanity (the cats’ included). So far i’ve been rotating their beddings and blankets & no big reactions so i really hope the ‘true’ re-introduction won’t be needed

 

[jenniekim]

They are gorgeous. How do you handle all those cats lol. I would think after the kittens are gone you would introduce them like you did when you got them. Jackson Galaxy on YouTube has a ton of cat training videos. Research him. I tried introducing two adult cats before and it was a nightmare but they never seen each other and both adults. At least your cats are familiar with each other

They indeed are. I just heard about Jackson Galaxy, I’ll check his videos later. Thank you for the advice!
I could only imagine how hard that is lol. Even introducing adults and kittens are quite hard.