Second cat, please advise!

[Valerian]

The yesterday video it looked like RC was attempting to join the play! She hopped over happily and then rolled, stuck her feet under the door. She did not have any signs of stress and it's okay to wiggle his toy at her at that point for a moment.

You think so? What about the few smacks she gave him under the door? She did seem a bit agitated after I took her off from the door (she was meowing annoyed and kind of warned me to back off when I let her go - It can be seen in the video)
While I'm very eager to belive it was all only play I somehow got another impression because she started reaching for NC with her paw vigorously?
Also, the NC was about to swat back.. so I got a negative vibe there?

Progress looks great! I love how attentive you are.

Don't worry about being so fast with the cardboard. Allow for some eye contact, even a minor hiss is okay. Remember, a hiss means, back off!

You want to begin building the tolerance of sight. You can even count just a couple seconds, (1,2,3) then distraction. Or a hiss whichever comes first. Remember to praise when they back away (I don't have audio so can't hear if you are )

Thank you so much! It's nice to hear that the effort you're putting in is being seen as successful in the eyes of experienced multi-cat owners
Haha, yes, me and my sister both were praising each cat a lot and talking gently with them + there was calming cat music playing in the background (I couldn't find one with purring, and I'm afraid of adds randomly starting so I stuck with the one I know is add free and 15h long xD)

If you aren't comfortable proceeding with visual introductions on your own, I would say please do non-visual ones. Scent and site swap still and be feeding them at the door with no sight. You don't want to roll them back completely to the start

I was actually thinking about getting on NC's side (since the door closes from the inside of the room, and he's the one that's easiest to distract). And try myself, since RC hasn't hissed or puffed up for the last 2 sessions

I'm just unsure what to do or how to discourage the RC from climbing the mesh door, since I can't take her down from the other side of the door...I'm afraid she might get hurt (maybe bump woth her teeth against the floor) when jumping back down from the heigh doors onto the tiles on the floor...I'm afraid she might slip when landing and strike and hurt her mounth or something....
Maybe I should just swat against the mesh door at the moment she starts climbing (like my sister did in the video and it did work) and call it a session if that happens

 

[Valerian]

I was just wondering, why my RC at moments frantically keeps trying to get to NC while having the visual introdictions with mesh door.

From people with experience in introducing 2 cats, is this an undesired behaviour?

If it was in a friendly way, I would have expected her to be more relaxed, instead she looks too tense. She will stretch and yawn at times, but then lower herself to the floor and start to stare at NC again, especially if he gets closer to the mesh door.

I can't seem to distract RC's look away from NC.
I was able to up until a few days ago, but suddenly she can't get distracted as easily and just wants to stare at the NC.
She will also frequently go to NC's basecamp and stare and sniff under the door with her front body lowered, tail down and pupils dialated.

The thing I'm worried about is that RC doesn't look relaxed prior to wanting to get to him and will stare at NC and start trying to crawl through the gap under the mesh door, with her whiskers facing forward and pupils dilated. At times it seems like she is waiting by the mesh door and wants to pounce on him.

She doesn't really hiss or growl at him anymore, although she still gets spooked at times, when roaming the apartment, by random items and puffs her tail a bit which obviously never happened before the arrival of NC.

I'd be very grateful to anyone that might know, is this behaviour undesired, and if so, is there anything I can do about it?

Thank you!

 

[Alldara]

Yes that first video, it looks exactly like play. She seemed to be focused on the wand and wanted to come under and get it.

The thing is, play is a kind of positive stress, so you're going to notice some kinds of stress/tension when she wants to play.

You WANT them to begin interactions under the mesh. Swatting and bopping is part of play. The mesh is there to keep the safe as the first few times, you might witness someone getting nervous and backing off.

She probably does want to pounce him if she wants to play together I'm going to link you a few videos to start learning what it looks like for cats to play. It seems aggressive at first!

note for this one she says, "ears in motion or not pinned back." This is an important distinction because cats will put their ears back and down for safety during play and then bring them back up. If they are swatting at each other it they can stay back for a time.

 

[Alldara]

While I was here, I wanted to try and post these clips for you. This was with two younger easy cats. Our older cat didn't feel like being present so he left. He's not in this video. Introductions

 

[Valerian]

A little update.

Up until few days ago we had visual introductions while playing with either cat attheir side of the gate.
But then our NC started growling agter catching the feather toy. Forst time it happened our RC got scared and ran away, she came back later but was still showing signs of fear so we ended the session there.

Later intros we didn't use a feather to distract them and it was all more apparent RC wasn't playing but trying to pick a fight with NC.

Here's a video from today.
We tried feeding them on both sides, but RC is always so attentive of what NC is doing and where hebis..as soon as she finished her dish she came over to NC's gate and soon started to pick a fight - at least to me it didn't look like playing?
And she's always been like this - tense and waiting ro pounce at him (again, doesn't look like play to me, but please correct me if I'm wrong). Just that it's more pronounced now that NC isn't being distracted anymore...


I don't know where to go from here.. I feel so defeated .... I'm not sure what a step back would be...room swapping? I've stopped room swapping for a while because I was so busy and had no one to help me..should I still scent swap them? I know I should have swapping rooms for NC's sake also, but he seems happy in his room as it is, amd since I've been busy it's necome a great excuse not to

 

[Hellenww]

Neither looks scared or angry. Just interested. It looks to me like she is initiating play.

Have you had them in the same room yet? That seems like the next step. Expect hissing, swatting, and rough play.

Are you letting them have visual access when ever your home and awake, not just when you can sit by the door? The more the better.

 

[Alldara]

What about the interaction is making it feel like it's NOT play? I want to understand why you're reading them the way you are. When you watch this back, what about their body language says, "This is a serious fight?" To you?

I think you might be putting how nervous YOU are on to your cats.

They approached the gate. Ears were forward, no poofing. Tails were down but not tucked, "I'm curious but nervous."

They did a sniff, one cat backed off for a bit -- great! Cat controlling its own level of stimulus. But then for some reason you had that paper ready to go again! (Put the paper away. The paper is for serious things!)

Then they come back to play. They are mutually poking at one another, ears are forward, no poofing no tail tucking just waving tail like during play. One hops up on the gate, the other days, "this is too much for me." And walks away to calm down. VERY EXCELLENT.

See how they do pauses to look away when you move or when there's a sound their ears swivel? They aren't locked in on one another. That's a HUGE sign that they are playing. They are taking turns, rolling and being the poke-r, second HUGE sign of play. Cats were having a blast!

A minor hiss or growl is fine (my cats hiss and growl at their toys on the odd occasion). Focus on those subtle communications. Focus on noticing them. Your cats are doing great and you should be proud of the hard work.

 

[furmonster mom]

These guys are doing much better than mine. They look to be testing boundaries with play.

Mine are just constantly testing boundaries, no play. 🫤
Our RC hisses and growls at NC just looking at him. We are at a certain level of tolerance if I’m in the room, but distances must be maintained. Our RC is just not ready to interact any more beyond that.

Your RC is initiating interaction, the rolling and swatting is playing; sometimes there is a little surprise, but they are returning for more. I think you and they are doing great.

 

[Caspers Human]

Try to remember that your cats are going to scuffle with 100% certainty.

Almost all cats scuffle, at first, and they need to do it. It's part of the way cats get to know each other.
Cats can't talk and they don't have hands. They can't walk up to each other, shake hands and say 'hello' like humans do.

Growling, hissing, swatting and biting are a cat's way of communicating. If we try to stop cats from doing these things, we are stopping their communication. If we stop cats from communicating, they won't ever learn to be friends the way we want them to.

There are different levels of cat communication. One level of communication is "boundary setting" where the cats will test each other's limits. When one cat gets too close and violates the other's boundaries, there will be hissing, growling, swatting, chasing and a little bit of biting. It might last anywhere from a few seconds to, maybe, half a minute.

Boundary setting might include things like, "Don't get too close to me,"... "Stay away from my food,"... or... "That's MY window sill."
One cat will intrude on the other's space and the other will lash out to repel the other. Once the offending cat backs off, the scuffle will be over. We must let this happen or else the cats won't learn what each other's boundaries are.

Once boundaries have been set, cats will still scuffle but it will become less acrimonious and more like rough housing. When cats rough house, they are partly playing and partly figuring each other out. How rough can one cat get until the other gets upset? When is it okay to rough house? When do the cats want to just hang out and chill? When does one cat or the other just want to be alone? We might call this 'limit setting.'

We humans can't tell our cats when it's okay to rough house or when it's time to chill. The cats have to work it out among themselves. If we don't let them they won't be able to set their own limits.

Once cats have set boundaries and figured out each other's limits, things will get quieter but, until then, there is likely going to be some scuffling and, possibly, a fight or two. Until that time, the human should not interfere, except to act as referee.

By "referee" I mean like a referee in a boxing match. The ref in a boxing match knows that the two contestants are going to punch each other. His job is only to make sure that there is no hitting below the belt.

When we referee our cats, we have to resolve ourselves to standing back like the way a boxing ref does, only stepping in when one of them hits below the belt, so to speak. It might be hard to watch our cats scuffle like that but we have to let it happen.

We must let cats work out their differences between themselves. (I call it "Cat Politics.")

If we don't let cats work out their own politics, between each other, two things can happen. First, they'll never really get to know each other and the introduction process will take a lot longer. Second, the human will be seen as a pariah in the eyes of the cats. They'll learn to have their scuffles when the human isn't around and we won't be able to be a proper referee to teach them how to behave with each other.

I know that it's scary to watch cats growl, hiss and be aggro toward each other but we have to let it happen, within limits.

 

[Alldara]

Future in-person play is going to look rough too! Keep watching videos to learnt the subtle body language. My MIL kept thinking the boys were fighting when she would visit. It really is those subtle details.

Check out some other threads too. You're not alone in your introductions: Another cat introduction thread... again!
Casper’s new “Little Brother.”

 

[Caspers Human]

Future in-person play is going to look rough too!

Just this afternoon, Casper and Elliot had a little wrestling match.

Elliot hid behind a curtain. When Casper walked by, Elliot jumped out and ambushed him.
Casper turned, wrestled Elliot down and turtled him on his back.
Once he had Elliot down, he let up and walked away with a look on his face like he was saying, "Ya' little upstart!"

I stood at the end of the hall, adjacent to this wrestling match and I couldn't help laughing!

Casper is 10 y.o. and Elliot is only a year. Casper weighs 12-13 lb. while Elliot weighs just a pound over that.
In our case, it comes down to youth vs. experience.

That kind of wrestling is perfectly normal for two equally matched cats.

 

[Valerian]

Dear A Alldara , Caspers Human and furmonster mom ,

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your replies


After reading your and others replies, I've come to realise that I might be viewing my cats introductions through some shaded eyeglasses.


To me, their interaction wasn't alarmingly screaming "Serious fight", but did always seem like Zack (who is Johnny now btw since I've pretty much decided to keep him - thanks to all of you, because if it weren't for you, I would probably have given up because I've been under the impression Baby has been aggressive towards him) was playing more gently and his body language has been calm all along, while Baby always seemed on edge/tense and really rough with him.

This is what didn't click for me - the contrast in behaviour towards each other from both of them:
Baby: dialated pupils, focused on Johnny, ears flat at times, tail puffy at times, swatting at gate strongly
Johnny: normal sized pupils, ears forward with 1 exception(video I am about to post), never puffy or arched, bum wiggles at times, hissed only at 1 occasion (and the only time he's hissed since he's been with us)

And they don't always have ears forward, they both flattened them while swivelling their tails and swatted each other not gently and using claws (I think?)

I will add that I've tried introducing 2 cats before. 2 senior cats, one was our residental kittie, and the other one was from my sister, that I had to adopt from her.
And we came to a stage where they seemed to be tolerate of each other,bit then once we opened the gate, they gently smelled noses and went both their onw ways. But that didn't last. "NC" would start to chase RC and bite his tail, wouldn't allow him in the living room. And eventually they would start fighting really bad - screaming, claws full out, fur flying..I couldn't break them up even by a loud hand vacuum cleaner I grabbed for at that noment..

In the end, I moved away about a year later (they lived separately until then) and I took NC with me.. I'm not sure if it was the stress, since RC was a very nervous cat since kitten, but he soon developed a lot of masses in his body....and we lost him about a year after I moved away.......

..It's still difficult for me to think about that time even 3 years later...

Let me get back to a more positive thoughts - yesterday we let them by the mesh without interfering- and I put away the newspaper .
Baby started doing these weird matrix/rodeo styled back-kicks to the mesh, there was some flat ears and puffines (I didn't film then yet - when the puffiness happened but I think it was only one sided from Baby).
Here are the videos, please if you have the time, I would appreciate if you watched them from start to end and as alway will grately appreciate and listen to your comments and advice

My telephone was running out of memory so the video got cut right when Johnny hissed at Baby. I started filming the second video right at the time Johnny hissed, so you might catch a glimpse of the sound at the begging (this was the only time he's hissed).

 

[Valerian]

Try to remember that your cats are going to scuffle with 100% certainty.

Almost all cats scuffle, at first, and they need to do it. It's part of the way cats get to know each other.
Cats can't talk and they don't have hands. They can't walk up to each other, shake hands and say 'hello' like humans do.

Growling, hissing, swatting and biting are a cat's way of communicating. If we try to stop cats from doing these things, we are stopping their communication. If we stop cats from communicating, they won't ever learn to be friends the way we want them to.

There are different levels of cat communication. One level of communication is "boundary setting" where the cats will test each other's limits. When one cat gets too close and violates the other's boundaries, there will be hissing, growling, swatting, chasing and a little bit of biting. It might last anywhere from a few seconds to, maybe, half a minute.

Boundary setting might include things like, "Don't get too close to me,"... "Stay away from my food,"... or... "That's MY window sill."
One cat will intrude on the other's space and the other will lash out to repel the other. Once the offending cat backs off, the scuffle will be over. We must let this happen or else the cats won't learn what each other's boundaries are.

Once boundaries have been set, cats will still scuffle but it will become less acrimonious and more like rough housing. When cats rough house, they are partly playing and partly figuring each other out. How rough can one cat get until the other gets upset? When is it okay to rough house? When do the cats want to just hang out and chill? When does one cat or the other just want to be alone? We might call this 'limit setting.'

We humans can't tell our cats when it's okay to rough house or when it's time to chill. The cats have to work it out among themselves. If we don't let them they won't be able to set their own limits.

Once cats have set boundaries and figured out each other's limits, things will get quieter but, until then, there is likely going to be some scuffling and, possibly, a fight or two. Until that time, the human should not interfere, except to act as referee.

By "referee" I mean like a referee in a boxing match. The ref in a boxing match knows that the two contestants are going to punch each other. His job is only to make sure that there is no hitting below the belt.

When we referee our cats, we have to resolve ourselves to standing back like the way a boxing ref does, only stepping in when one of them hits below the belt, so to speak. It might be hard to watch our cats scuffle like that but we have to let it happen.

We must let cats work out their differences between themselves. (I call it "Cat Politics.")

If we don't let cats work out their own politics, between each other, two things can happen. First, they'll never really get to know each other and the introduction process will take a lot longer. Second, the human will be seen as a pariah in the eyes of the cats. They'll learn to have their scuffles when the human isn't around and we won't be able to be a proper referee to teach them how to behave with each other.

I know that it's scary to watch cats growl, hiss and be aggro toward each other but we have to let it happen, within limits.

Caspers Human
Thank you so, so much for this detailed post, I learned a lot from it!

I guess having only ever had one cat at a time, I never learned how 2 cats get allong and how the process should look like. Whenever I saw 2 or more cats together, they were usually kitten litter mates and their play always seemed more gentle to me.

I hope I will have the strength and good judgement on when to step in 'as a referee' xD I'm not sure yet where that line is or how I will recognize it (since I tend to jump in too soon).
But you opened my eyes and I see this behaviour is normal.

I was reading qnd watching a lot of videos posts, articles from Jackson Galaxy and I don't think he ever mentiones all of this...
I got the impression I shouldn't proceed to another step untill both cats look completely calm and acceptive of each other...

 

[Hellenww]

Those are great videos. They both want to play. Sometimes puffy tail excitement not aggression and that's what this looks like.
You have 2 energetic teenagers. You will have some calm times but probably more running and wrestling.

Watch some videos of cats playing so you have some idea what to expect. Then you can sit back and enjoy the live show.

Jackson Galaxy's specializes in problems and his process works for that. Yours are still very much kittens so they've moved quickly to the end and want to play. Remember he's putting on a show that needs a happy ending. I bet even some of those older cats that he helped introduced are chasing, wrestling, and having wild fun but calm makes better tv.

 

[Alldara]

This is what didn't click for me - the contrast in behaviour towards each other from both of them:
Baby: dialated pupils, focused on Johnny, ears flat at times, tail puffy at times, swatting at gate strongly
Johnny: normal sized pupils, ears forward with 1 exception(video I am about to post), never puffy or arched, bum wiggles at times, hissed only at 1 occasion (and the only time he's hissed since he's been with us)

And they don't always have ears forward, they both flattened them while swivelling their tails and swatted each other not gently and using claws (I think?)

It's so helpful to know where you're coming from you've had a bad experience before, and you're nervous to repeat that. It's obvious to us all that you care about your cat's and want things to go well.

- Baby's pupils dilating: It's normal for cat's pupils to get big during play.

- Ears: Also super normal for ears to move during play. Both my boys often have their ears back or down. This is to protect them from accidental injury during play. In this case, you'll see both of your cats have "swivel ears". Swivel ears just means ears in motion. It's a much more accurate term than "ears forward" for play between two cats.

- Puffing: doesn't mean agression, but can also mean startled or frightened. A young cat might puff up if they startle themselves during play! Calcifer once ran full-speed and Magnus was chasing him and he got spooked because he didn't realize my wife was downstairs and puffed right up! The cats have also startled each other during play which causes some intial puffing that goes down over the play session.

- Hissing: well Baby has been hissing at Jonny during play so now Jonny thinks when very excited to hiss. Because my late cat Nobel just hisses do damned much both Calcifer and Magnus hiss when VERY excited during play. I mean even at a toy on a wand stick.

-Claws: in your videos it looks like they are using they claws to pick at the gate, not to attack one another. Claws can also extend a cat's reach so you might see them use their claws when their feet are under the gate, in a grabbing motion. This is not mean either.

Jackson Galaxy's posts must be broad and easy to understand. He's giving cat guides to the world, and people wouldn't watch his videos as much if it was always, "Well this depends." He's able to get more in to the "this depends" topics when he is commenting on other people's cat videos. This is the most excellent video example of this from Jackson Galaxy. He almost seems to go back on what he says a bit.:

 

[Valerian]

It's so helpful to know where you're coming from you've had a bad experience before, and you're nervous to repeat that. It's obvious to us all that you care about your cat's and want things to go well.

- Baby's pupils dilating: It's normal for cat's pupils to get big during play.

- Ears: Also super normal for ears to move during play. Both my boys often have their ears back or down. This is to protect them from accidental injury during play. In this case, you'll see both of your cats have "swivel ears". Swivel ears just means ears in motion. It's a much more accurate term than "ears forward" for play between two cats.

- Puffing: doesn't mean agression, but can also mean startled or frightened. A young cat might puff up if they startle themselves during play! Calcifer once ran full-speed and Magnus was chasing him and he got spooked because he didn't realize my wife was downstairs and puffed right up! The cats have also startled each other during play which causes some intial puffing that goes down over the play session.

- Hissing: well Baby has been hissing at Jonny during play so now Jonny thinks when very excited to hiss. Because my late cat Nobel just hisses do damned much both Calcifer and Magnus hiss when VERY excited during play. I mean even at a toy on a wand stick.

-Claws: in your videos it looks like they are using they claws to pick at the gate, not to attack one another. Claws can also extend a cat's reach so you might see them use their claws when their feet are under the gate, in a grabbing motion. This is not mean either.

Jackson Galaxy's posts must be broad and easy to understand. He's giving cat guides to the world, and people wouldn't watch his videos as much if it was always, "Well this depends." He's able to get more in to the "this depends" topics when he is commenting on other people's cat videos. This is the most excellent video example of this from Jackson Galaxy. He almost seems to go back on what he says a bit.:

As much as I'm relieved to hear it all looks like it's going well, I have another worry lingering on my mind...
Just an hour or so ago, we let them meet each other again (first time today) and I don't know what to think about Baby's biting/snapping at Zacky (I guess he has two names, sorry for the confusion xD)? It's happening throughout the whole video (only from Baby), but gets more prominent from around 4:40 s into the video.

Also, what was that at 6:20? To me agqin it looks like a mini fight from Baby's side? am I seeing it all wrong again? Hopefully I am.. it's just her launching herself at him repeatedly, swatting hard her body language just looks like she's agitated...am I the only one that sees it this way?
I do see her calm down a bit later, but then again, she never bites slippers - she goes to do so at cca 7:28 (in my mind it's her frustration from not being qble to get to Zacky when she repeatedly tries to bite him, and then goes for the slipper instead?..).
Zacky staying there and just rolling on his back playfully, relaxed and gentle, makes me think he doesn't see her bites as threatening (but maybe that's because he's being 'protected' by the gate and doesn't realize it completely? )

This does remind me of Bowie chasing after Cookie and biting him in the same snapping motion (the senior pair I mentioned in the previous post, Cookie being our resident cat). Cookie was so scared, running away, and always walking low to the grownd, moving very slowly with his tail tucked under him ...

Is there anything negative happening in this video or is it all play again?

I also noticed Baby is nore calm at the begining but gets more and more energetic as times go on, while Zacky looks at about the same energy level (remains gentle and his moves are totaly relaxed, in contrast to Baby's)

I'm sorry for the turning of the camera but I wanted to get as much of the cats in the frame as possible.

 

[Valerian]

These guys are doing much better than mine. They look to be testing boundaries with play.

Mine are just constantly testing boundaries, no play. 🫤
Our RC hisses and growls at NC just looking at him. We are at a certain level of tolerance if I’m in the room, but distances must be maintained. Our RC is just not ready to interact any more beyond that.

Your RC is initiating interaction, the rolling and swatting is playing; sometimes there is a little surprise, but they are returning for more. I think you and they are doing great.

I'm sorry to hear you are having a tough time with your introductions.
How old are your NC and RC? How long has it been since you brought home another kittie?

 

[Valerian]

Future in-person play is going to look rough too! Keep watching videos to learnt the subtle body language. My MIL kept thinking the boys were fighting when she would visit. It really is those subtle details.

Check out some other threads too. You're not alone in your introductions: Another cat introduction thread... again!
Casper’s new “Little Brother.”

I will Read through both of the threads, thank you!

 

[Valerian]

Is there anything negative happening in this video or is it all play again?

Not sure why, but I can't edit my posts anymore?...

Anyway, I reflected a little bit on everything I've wrote here and realized something.

The thing I've actually been worried about and wanted to ask all along was if the current behaviour has any negative indications in the sense if it might lead to a fight in the future, once I let them together.
Or on the other hand, if I allow myself to be more positive and optimistic - are there any indications that point to them becoming good friends?
Or is this not ss easy to predict in this phase?

My previous pair seemed like they were tolerant of each other nore or less, but then it started with subtle things - the biting started, and chasing and not allowing the other into more and more rooms (all from NC), and then it seemed like RC had enough all of a sudden, stood up for himself and those subtle things lead to huge fights that broke out

 

[Caspers Human]

I just watched your last two vids. Those cats are playing through the screen.

They both seem to be equally matched in size and disposition. Each seems to want to initiate play at equal times.

Honestly, I think they'd be okay to be out, together, as long as there's a human to supervise. By 'supervise' I mean like a referee. Let them play on their own as long as one doesn't get the upper hand on the other. If one cat gets the other down but doesn't let up when the 'down' cat cries uncle, that would be an infraction which requires breaking up. If one cat gets the other down but lets up when he 'wins the round' that's okay.

Teach both cats what the words, "Play nice!" mean. If one cat wins the round but doesn't 'go to his neutral corner' when the round is over, say, "Play nice!"

If the cats obey and go to their neutral corners, all is well and the game can continue. If they don't listen, clap your hands and say it louder. If they still don't listen, pick both cats up and put them in their respective rooms and close the doors for ten or fifteen minutes.

When I was in college, my roommate and I each had cats. Spike was a big, 20-pounder and Jerry was a little, gray tabby, half of Spike's size. Jerry would often make a "fly-by" attack on Spike. If Spike wasn't in the mood to play, he would wrestle Jerry down and sit on him.

Yes! Spike would physically sit on top of Jerry! Jerry would cry out and meow. When Spike thought that Jerry had learned his lesson, he would let Jerry up and casually stroll away, leaving Jerry to go on his way.

It wasn't until a few years later when I learned that this is the way mother cats discipline their kittens. They sit on them until they cry!

I thought Spike was pulling off some new wrestling move on Jerry but I was happy to learn that it was just the way cats naturally interact.

If I was you, I'd let both cats out for an hour or two at a time while you are in the house to referee. If you leave the house or if you get tired of refereeing the cat wrestling matches, put them in their rooms and close the doors.

Keep letting them out for longer and longer times until you can let them out for the whole day Only put them in when there won't be a human to supervise. When the humans go to bed, put them in, too.

After a few nights or a week, let them out while you go to bed but put them in when you leave the house. When they learn to behave themselves while you are asleep for several nights in a row, it's probably time to let them out all night long.

When they get that far, try letting them out while you go to the grocery store or something... Just an hour or two. If everything works out okay, give them a few days of being out while you run errands but put them in when you'll be away for a longer time.

If the cats can go for a week of being out while you run errands and there's no evidence of fighting when you come home... torn furniture, upset objects, or other bad signs... go ahead and set them up for their "Final Exams."

Let the cats out while you go to work (or do what you normally do) for the whole day, without supervision.

If you can come home from your day out and the house doesn't look like a war zone, your cats have passed their exams and you can let them out full-time!