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Saphira Eragon

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Hey guys!

I guess this is my first post. Been looking for a forum where I can ask for help with what’s going on lately.

Soooo my girlfriend and I recently got a new cat because they were about to kill him that day so we had too and named him Eragon (avatar pic is Eragon).

We have another cat named saphira and she’s never been around other cats or anything. So I was worried about what would happened between the two.

Eragon JUST GOT neutered and still has his front claws and saphira is spayed and declawed in the front. Eragon is a very odd cat but in a good a way.

So my problem is that at night he seems to look for her and “attacks” her out of nowhere. I put attack is quotes because I don’t know if it is attacking cause all I hear is screaming from Saphira and patches of fur in the ground.

But I’m not sure because I think he wants to play but doesn’t know how and he has front claws so of course it’ll hurt and rip some fur out from her this the screaming. But I’d like advice on how to stop the hunting. Because it happens while we are sleeping so we wake up to screaming, hissing and growling.

I went to petsmart and bought a pheromone spray bottle (StopThat!) but it’s not working. So advice would be greatly appreciated!!
 

KarenKat

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Welcome to The Cat Site! Cat introductions can be a long process, but there are ways to do it to try and minimize fights. How old is Eragon? Often kittens need to learn about proper play, but if he’s still a kitten the introductions tend to go a little faster.

Here are a few articles that are great resources. I also recommend looking up Jackson Galaxy videos on introducing a new cat.

How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

The main advice I have is to have a safe room for Eragon that has all the right things (food, water, litter box, toys, bed etc). Keep him in there and have no contact with Saphira for at least a week, other than smelling under a door. Definitely keep him there at night so that at their most active times they aren’t fighting when you are asleep. For a while, you should supervise every interaction until you trust they won’t fight. This will help you get more sleep too!

Then follow the instructions on introducing them. Some cats get along fine quickly, and some need more time. We introduced our third cat last December and we didn’t get to a place where they could be out unattended for months, and they are still not always getting along at 7 months. This is probably an outlier, but it does take time.

I think it’s wonderful that you saved Eragon, and I hope they become friends! Hope you post some pictures soon!
 
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Saphira Eragon

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Awesome response time! Thank you so much!

That’s exactly what we have for him so far. We have a room that’s for him (our bedroom). He has food and water and litter box. His locked up in the mornings and afternoon mostly when we are at work. At night we leave the door open and he explores the apartment and looks for saphira and “attacks”.

Eragon is 2 years old and Saphira is 5 years old.

I have no clue if it’s actually attacking or playing because I only had one cat and that’s saphira.
 

Hellenww

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The flying fur sounds like fighting not playing. It's probably a good idea to keep them separated unless you can supervise for Saphiras safety.

Eragon will still have hormonal energy for a few weeks until it gets out of his system. Multiple play sessions will help and an intense one before bed with a meal.

How is Saphira acting when Eragon is in the room? Scared - Interested - Indifferent? Take your cue from her on when it is safe to leave them alone.

Since there are no attacks when you are around putting baby gates up while you are out might be better than a closed door.
 
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Saphira Eragon

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The flying fur sounds like fighting not playing. It's probably a good idea to keep them separated unless you can supervise for Saphiras safety.

Eragon will still have hormonal energy for a few weeks until it gets out of his system. Multiple play sessions will help and an intense one before bed with a meal.

How is Saphira acting when Eragon is in the room? Scared - Interested - Indifferent? Take your cue from her on when it is safe to leave them alone.

Since there are no attacks when you are around putting baby gates up while you are out might be better than a closed door.
Yeah. We find some patches of fur on the carpet. And she is scared. She goes up high on her condo and looks down. When she sees him, she growls a little and her tail whips back and forth and her pupils dilate a bit.

Eragon doesn’t growl, hiss, or anything. All he does is wait for her to jump down or he find late an opening and pounces. It happened this morning while I was gone. Girlfriend said saphira screamed and she got up and ran to her.
 

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The reason our cat intro too so long was our resident cat Gohan ... he would chase Olive to her safe room and he was extremely territorial. And he wouldn’t hiss or growl, once in a while he would chatter like she was prey. So sometimes a catfight can start silent, every cat is different.

Olive had a mean panther growl that would raise our hackles. And she hissed a lot in defense. And she was scared when that happened. It did slowly get better, and she was a trooper the whole time. She kept exploring coming back after being chased.

We had probably three injuries during that time. Once was at night when she was surprised by Gohan and panicked, tearing her claw. Once Gohan surprised her on a cat tree and she had a scratch on her face, and once she was scratched in a tackle and it abscessed. Even if they aren’t fighting to really hurt, accidents may happen. Keeping them apart when you aren’t home or awake will really help that.
 
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Saphira Eragon

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Okay. So how do I go about minimizing the fighting.

Time? Just wait it out? So when we aren’t home, lock him in the room and let her room free. When we are home to open the door and let him explore or just keep him locked in there for a week or so?
 

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I suggest going back to square one and having them separate, no visual contact. Then do scent swapping, take a sock or towel or blanket with Eragon’s sent and have Saphira smell it, and do the same with Saphira’s scent on Eragon. If that goes well, feed them on opposite ends of the closed door as close as each are comfortable, and move the bowls closer each time. Then try opening the door with a baby gate in between so they have visual contact but not physical. From there supervised visits.

At each stage, hissing, growling and paw hits (no claws) are expected and normal.

You may find they are ok with progressing quickly, or they may be reluctant. Only go as fast as the most reluctant cat. This sounds tedious, and maybe you don’t need to go back to the beginning, like Hellenww Hellenww mentioned using the baby gate, but you do need hem a little more separate now.

When you get to them in the same room, your best friends are treats and toys. Anytime one cat is too “stalking” try and distract with an interactive toy like Da Bird. Also reward them for not fighting or distract them with their favorite treat or food. Allow both cats the ability to retreat if they need to. The goal is getting them in the same room for longer and longer periods.

If a fight or chase does happen, that’s ok. They are testing boundaries. However, blood, a lot of fur or one cat starting to hide/not eat/ not use the litter box are signs that you may need to go back a step. For fights, don’t try and break them up yourself or you could get hurt by accident. Use an object like a piece of cardboard, blanket or pillow to separate them.

I guess yes, time and separation are what is needed. Also, cats pick up easily on stress, so try and be calm during their visits and they will see there is nothing to fear. Sounds like you are doing pretty good, but it does take time. When we introduced Olive we let her out at night too early and were always waking up to chases and growls. We went back to a closed door at night and it was mich better.

Good luck, let us know how it goes and feel free to come back and ask any more questions! And we love photos ;) :camera:
 

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Oh they are stunning! Eragon is so fluffy, I see how you fell for him! and Saphira is like velvet midnight!
 

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Back up the introduction process. Both the articles that KarenKat posted and the Jackson Galaxy method you're using are great guidelines.

Go back to safe room most of the time with a way the can see each other. Baby gates stacked or temporary screen door. Site swapping so the take turns getting to spend the night in your room. Rub each with a cloth and place it next to the other meal. Work up to them being able to eat close to the gate and play in the others view.

It sounds like he sees her a prey right now and his hormones are making it more difficult to convince him differently right now. There are Jackson Galaxy episodes that deal with this. Build up Saphiras confidence with play. Remind her that she is also a great hunter and get her killing some toys. The site swapping will also get both accustom to the idea that the other is family.

Time and patience and venting if you need to.
 
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Saphira Eragon

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Yeah! Eragon is a chatter box and is the complete opposite of Saphira. Eragon eats human food and treats and Saphira doesn’t.

At night when we are sleeping he jumps on the bed and just meows right in your ear. Saphira doesn’t talk much unless she’s hungry or wants you to look at her.

So I’ll go back to square one and keep him locked up and put his bowl of food next to the door and put hers there as well. I’ll also do a clean sock and get their scents as well. I want them both to coexist because we are ona trial period with the adoption people because they don’t know how he is with other animals so we got two weeks to get this sorted out.

I won’t give up him!!!
 

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Awesome to hear! Just be aware two weeks is an awfully short time for cats. It may take a little longer for them to get acclimated.
 
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Saphira Eragon

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Yeah that’s what I’m afraid of. We had one week but I knew that was long enough so she is giving us 2 weeks. So we’ve only had him for a week and a day. So hopefully we can make some progress before then.
 
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Saphira Eragon

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Also! I was thinking about getting the plastic nail tips for him.

What are your thoughts about those?
 

KarenKat

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I haven’t use the nail tips before, maybe someone who has can chime in. I hear a lot of people have tried them and some have been successful and some have thought it wasn’t worth the effort. It’s worth a shot?
 

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It's been such a short time since his neutering. Ask the agency to at least give you until the hormones are out of his system. You're clearly doing what you need to so I can't image they would take him back.
 
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Saphira Eragon

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He still has the marker mark on his stomach and I didn’t want to give him up because I know he still has hormones going through his system still. So I wanted to wait for those to get out before anything.

I hope once those are gone, it will help with all this. Because I can’t bare having saphira get hurt by him.

I want to try the plastic nails and see if that helps at all with the fighting. I might make a separate post about it.
 
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Saphira Eragon

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So I got her food next to the door. His food on the other side. I rubbed his face with a sock and put it up on her condo. I took saphira scratch pad that she’s laid on for years in the bedroom where he likes to lay. His laying on it now. Not sure if that’s a smart idea since he’ll scratch it and then associate her smell with scratching. I’m not sure but that’s where her scent is the strongest.
 
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