Still Fighting

I've noticed in the last week that there have been alot of posts about housecats that used to get along, that are now fighting.

I am in the same situation. I moved almost a month ago, and since the move my two female cats that used to get along are now fighting. The first week after the move I was away on business and the cats were not seperated, my boyfriend and I decided to see if they could work it out - and at first the fighting wasn't as bad as it got or as frequent.

The second week we seperated them while we were at work and tried to give them time together when we got home in the evening -the fighting still occurred and got worse & more frequent.

The third week we seperated them entirely, they were not even allowed to see one another.

Starting this week, we wanted to swap rooms, so they might get reused to the others scent. During the swap, the older one got lose and soon as she saw the younger one - went to attack her.

So they are now in the others room, still not seeing one another. My question is does anyone have a suggestion on how long I should keep them seperated, and when I should try to reintroduce them? I am worried that a pattern of fighting has already set in (from that first & second week that they were not seperated entirely). My brother-in-law is a vet and has checked out both cats and says that they are in fine health, our new place has brand new carpet - therefore there are no other animal scents there. One thing I can think of is that we are still in the process of unpacking - and maybe that is till setting off the older cat. Any suggesstions of how long this may take? My stresslevel is very high and I get so upset with the thought of them being like this.

Thanks!!!

They have to get used to the new setting before they can get used to each other again. There may be smells in your new place (like other pets) they are picking up. The best way to get them used to each other is just to swap bedding instead of rooms. Take the old bedding the cats lie on and put the blanket under their food bowls so they can get used to each other's scent and associate pleasure with the smell. They are also having to re-establish their heirarchy in this new place, and it could be that the once submissive one has decided that Alpha needs to be challenged. It also is that time of year for cat fights, pheromones in the air as the un-neutered males outside spray and try to entice females to come back into heat. Just go slowly with your kitties, and you can also buy some Bach's Rescue Remedy and start putting it in their water to calm them down some.

I know when we first moved here with our 5 cats, it was like a world war all over again! I found out later that the woman who had the house before us had miniature dogs and the smell was driving my crew nuts. I ended up putting all the cats upstairs and then gradually got the house clean using enzyme cleaners. But they still all tried to take over from my Alpha female when they finally were allowed to run free, but she held on her position here. Good luck!