PLEASE help!

[Jodieb]

Hi, we have recently adopted a rescue kitten of 3 months, Darcy. We already have a kitten of 5 months, Lily. We have done the proper introductions a couple times over with different variations but there still seems to be some friction on Lily's behalf. They can be in the same room but lily often growls at darcy and has ran up to her and batted her. She also finds it hard to leave her alone. I'm sure her claws are not out and she has no signs of fighting other than the growling. Darcy has little bother with lily and doesn't growl back, she has hissed a couple times when lily has batted her. They can also fall asleep opposite each other too. Should I be re introducing or leaving them to it? I'm worried as me and my partner work and we are having work done which means for the day the two cats will have to be shut temporarily in the bedroom together?! Please help cause I would love for them to get on and really do not want to take darcy back to the rescue center thank you!!

[Themogfather]

Welcome to CatChat.
It depends how often the batting happens.
My two older cats live together but arnt friends they more tolerate each other but i got them when they were older and from seperate homes.
They are fine most of the time but sometimes the younger of the two decideds she wants to play and the older doesnt. There follows a bit of chasing , hissing and other noises but no physical contact.
Beauty the older one will sometimes shows dominance over Lilly but this is rare as she is laid back.
If the batting isnt hurting ( no claws) and isnt constant i would leave it and see how it goes.
It might be your Lilly is just saying whos boss eg i was here first so im in charge. Once shes done this and is used to Darcy they could become close or they might end up like my two as more housemates than friends.
Hope this helps and good luck

[Jodieb]

Thank you. That does put my mind at ease. There are no claws just a bit of growling, and following darcy everywhere and stealing her food!
Thanks, I'll keep an eye on them

[lilynmitz]

Have you had them neutered yet? If not, onset of hormones may be contributing to this. You would need to get them "fixed" not just to deal with behaviour, but also to avoid adding to the thousands of cats waiting in rescue centres for loving homes.

If they have already been neutered, it may just be that they're establishing the pecking order, and it may settle down. However, some cats simply do not like other cats, so they may never be friends, just tolerating each other (at best).

[Jodieb]

They aren't neutered just yet. Lily is booked in and darcy is too young I believe as she's only 3 months. Hopefully after lily is neutered she will calm down a little.
We are going to get some feliway plug ins and see if that helps in the meantime.

Hopefully they are just working out who's boss and once that's over they can get along. Thanks for your help

[Helen]

I tend to agree with whats been said that if the batting isn't too bad then they will likely as not work it out for themselves as long as no real damage being done. My first introduction i did by the book keeping them separated and increasing exposure but found i had to get through the initial introduction issue each and every time - second time round i have been more relaxed about it and gone with my gut instinct rather than rules and it seems to have gone much more smoothly. Once my older 2 twigged that this tiny new ball of fluff was in charge everything was fine

But I do think the natural order is that there is a pecking order and it does have to be established, all situations and cats are different of course but generally after a week to 10 days i have found things are pretty settled.

Good luck x

[Jodieb]

I have brilliant news. Our two girls were left alone today and when we came back they were completely different! I'm not sure what happened when we were out but there is no growling at all now! They are playing together and are getting close! I'm very pleased thanks for all your help giving us the confidence to leave them.
They are even sharing litter trays even though they have their own!

[SarahT1 [PLLE]]

Wonderful!