Help, I have a 6 year old British short hair / moggy called Maddie and have recently introduced my Bengal Rosie after my other kitten Livvy got run over a little while ago (4 months ago). The problem I'm having is that Rosie is very playful and Maddie just doesn't want to play these days. Infact Maddie finds Rosie to be a major annoyance and tolerates her at best but attacks her when she comes to play.

This morning I woke up to find blood everywhere, Maddie had taken a swipe at Rosie and cut her paw open only by a few millimeters but enough for her to walk blood through the whole house.

I'm concerned that four months down the line, they are still not getting along and the scrapping between them appears to be escalating, so I have a few questions...

1. Can two cats get along after such a long time since their introduction?
2. Other than provide two litter boxes are there any other tricks I could use?
3. Does the Feliway product work well, has anyone got any experience with the diffusers?
4. what other things can I do to encourage them to get along?
5. Does playing with the cats at the same time work?

Looking forward to hearing your suggestions and thanks for taking the time to reply....

Hi Luke, sorry to hear you are still having issues.

Firstly - Do you know for certain that Maddie cut Rosie's pad, or os this an assumption because of the angst? Could Rosie have caught it on something and cut it herself? I would have thought that a fight that bad would have been noisy and woken you up?

The Feliway diffuser is a very good calming tool - it would definitely be worth a try in my book.

Can you tire Rosie out so she doesn't harass Maddie for play time? That may help restore a balance of sorts, enabling you to reintroduce them gently and rebuild bridges, perhaps?

You may need to go through a whole cycle of reintroducing them - Do you have a safe room available still, and can you separate them as necessary?

Have you got a place that Maddie likes to use to get away from Rosie - Could you reinforce this in some manner for her? Keeping Rosie busy while she has time alone may help?

Do you have a climber or lots of higher ledges / places for Rosie to make her own as a diversion?

All thoughts, but Good Luck!

I would actually have 3 trays... 1 per cat plus 1.

I also second the thought that the cut could be from something else, it would be quite difficult for another cat to claw a paw pad. Unless its a bite, in which case Rosie may need antibiotics.

I have used Feliway which i think helps a little. I am currently trialing Pet Remedy diffusers as i have heard good things about them. They do a spray which i have heard has a great effect when socialising 2 cats together. http://www.petremedy.co.uk/ It is cheaper elsewhere though

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Lollo

I would also suggest the Feliways! I have been using them since we introduced a new cat into the home! Once I let him out of his safe room and into the house, with out moving the diffusers, things started to go down hill. I put some in our home in a few different rooms and everything is great again! Our vet also suggested the rescue remedy. He said he has better success with it then he does meds like prozac in some cases! So its worth a try! He also suggested we rub it on their head or back of their ears instead of putting it in his water. Also with playing with cats together, if both cats will play I would try! Get an interactive toy like " Da Bird" and play with them. They may not play at the same time, mine don't, but rather they take turns and you still burn energy from both cats at the same time.

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I'm not sure that it's going to get much better, to be honest.. This is what happens when you pair an older crotchety non-playful cat with a young, extremely active cat like a bengal. In fact it may get worse when the bengal becomes an adult. There may be a territorial dispute at that point. We'll have to see.

Felliway does work, but it's not a cure-all for every situation. It's mainly useful for marking issues, and issues of territorial disputes. That may come in to play later (as I mentioned) but I don't think that is what's going on now, based on what you've said.

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The little monsters 3

Maddie is generally a very sweet natured cat that prefers to love than get into a bit of rough and tumble (a real princess) and I was pretty sure that she would be fine with Rosie on account of having two kitten previously both of which died after being run over.

Maddie was really maternal with Both Basil and Livvy who both lived for about two years, so I was hoping that she would get along with Rosie without any problems.

Anyways I've just nipped down to the local pets and home and have picked up a Feliway diffuser, so with any luck the problem will be resolved in a short while. I'll provide an update tomorrow.

Thanks Everyone.

Your main problem with getting them to play together is that your 6 year old BSH may not want to play.

We've had our kits for just over 4 months now and have just recently noticed Ellie occasionally trying their tricks - eating their food,
and chasing them back. They have chased her and eaten her food, as she mainly kept out their way, but have seen the odd sniffed nose,
and 3 cats asleep on the bed or sofa, so there's hope yet.

Thanks for the advice everyone. So here's the update.

I've had the feliway plugged in since last week and I haven't noticed a great deal of change. They still swipe at each other from time to time, but when they are relaxed they seem more relaxed than usual. The intensity of the fighting seems to have cooled from a (on a scale of 1 to 10) 7/10 to a 6/10, so maybe a move in the right direction but negligible.

The good thing is that I can keep tabs on my balls of fur from my office as I've set up a cat cam at home. They tend to stay in different rooms while I'm at work.