Cat problem

I have 2 female cats. One is a faded- calico named, Bridgette. She is about 2 1/2 years old. She is anti social. The other is a 6 month old Bengal named, Lea. She is a typical Bengal. She is very high strung and affectionate. She is very vocal and runs around meow or howling very frequently, which is a Bengal trait. She is always trying to play with Bridgette even when Bridgette doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t want to play. My fiancÃ[emoji]169[/emoji] and I play with her constantly. If we don't play with her when she wants to play she will meow to get our attention or will bring us a toy. We also try to get Bridgette attention when she asks for it which isn't very often. We are always trying to get Lea to leave Bridgette alone but it doesn't work for long. I have tried to train Lea with a clicker but she never took to it. She also loves water but doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t like getting wet. Anytime she hears the bath water she comes to keep us company. She is constantly going around the house meowing or howling, which is a Bengal trait.

We have been having a few problems with them. One is, since we have gotten Lea, Bridgette has started to spray when she is in heat. We have been trying to fix this problem by trying to relax Bridgette by giving her more attention or locking Lea up so that Bridgette could be left alone, thinking it could be stress. We always clean it up and steam vac the spot whenever she does it. She only does it once when she is in heat. They both aren't fixed yet. We are getting them both fixed soon. We are hoping that this will help some.

Bridgette has always been a nervous cat and throws up undigested food at times. She mostly does this if she feels stressed in any way. So we are thinking it is stress related.

Lastly, Lea keeps climbing up our screen to our belconette window and our leather computer chair and has already ruined them both. She is starting scratching the carpet as well. She scratches our one chair frequently, So we put a small vertical scratching post (that we used to stop Bridgette from ruining furniture, it worked for her) by the chair but she still does it. Lea wonâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t even use the post anymore. She used it a little when we first got her. Bridgette loves it and uses it all the time. So we are looking for something for Lea to scratch on and climb that is inexpensive.

Any advice on this would be appreciated. Thanks.

Why haven't you had Bridgette spayed? There are low cost clinics all over and it would go a long way towards making you all feel better. She's not going to gain weight afterward if she stays active, but if it's not done she could develop serious diseases when she's older and being in heat all the time now is stressful for sure.

Bridgette is like my calico Joji (except for the throwing up) - a loner and not playful. By the way, one of my cats QT throws up undigested food when it's hairball time so maybe with Bridgette is the same thing.
Anyway, you must remember that Lea is a normal active kitten. I have 5 now and the house looks like it's been hit by a tornado I have discouraged them from scratching on the furniture with hissing, a firm and loud NO, cat toys and lots of scratching posts and thick cardboard boxes (they love shredding those to bits). Plus the fact that they go out to their favorite tree in the garden.
In regards to the Lea-Bridgette relationship, maybe they can work it out themselves. My adult cats are the ones putting the kittens in their place. If they get too rowdy, they get a scolding from the big cats which usually consists of a paw swat and a hiss.
Finally, you will be doing the right thing by spaying your cats. It will alleviate the spraying problem.

That helps alot. Makes me feel better. I have has cats all my life. I have just never had 2 female. I use to have a famale and a male but spays and nutored and declawed front and back. They were insepretable. When we had to seperate them for 1 month the male stopped eating. The male was my sister's she gave him to me when I moved out on my own because she couldn't take care of him. I had my famale since she was 1 month old. I had to give them up the year we got Bridgette because I had to move.We never had many problem with Bridgette just the puking problem. She has been a very good cat. Then we got Lea this year and the problems started

I forgot to add that they are both indoor cats. We live in apartment so the can't get out and we won't let them get out.

By having Bridgette indoors without being spayed, you are causing her to suffer... she just can't explain it to you. Why would you do this?

I'm curious as how this will cause her to suffer. I would be very interested in learning more about this and would appreciate a link to documentation.

However, both our females are scheduled to be fixed at the end of the month.

The reason Bridgette is acting like she is, is mainly due to her coming in and out of heat. She really should have been done long ago if you've had her as a kitten. Unspayed females can develop pyrometria or early cancer. So spaying her now is a good thing. The kitten is young too, and not spayed.

Spaying both will help a lot on both sides. Unspayed females are under a lot of stress - so you actually are psychologically hurting her.

Hopefully after both being spayed they will be more accepting to each other. Whole females will sometiimes fight each other. Its a lot of stress on them. The spraying is marking territory.

BTW Bridgette is called a dilute calico

Question - where did you get a female bengel at 5 months old that was not spayed? Most breeders now will spay/neuter the pet kittens before they leave.

All her hormones and instincts are telling her something's wrong, but having not been outdoors (or possibly never having met a male cat) she doesn't know what it is. However, we do, and it's that she 'needs' a man to alleviate pressure, tension, etc. I imagine it's not dissimilar to PMS in many cases. Maybe i sound cuckoo here, but I do like to err on the cat's side as they can't tell us what's wrong.

We didn't fix Bridgette earlier because she was the only cat in the house. She hadn't spray at all before Lea came. I personally, didn't know a famale could spray when there is no male in the house. However, we understand that spraying is it a territorial thing that cats do. We are getting them fixed at the end of this month ( November). We figured that after that it may help. Bridgette could still spray after she is fixed.

They do play with each other sometimes. They aren't mortal enemies. Bridgette isn't a very social cat or a very playfull cat. Lea keeps her active though.

We got Lea our Begal from a vet that breeds them for pets. We've had her since she was 8 weeks old. You can't fix them untill they are 6 months old, so the vet didn't do it.

We try to be sympethetic to our cats needs, we do anything and everything to keep them happy. We understand cats are like people and have needs to. We have both have had cats most of our lives so we do know something about them.

As for the scratching issue, we are thinking of just getting a scratching post for Lea since she doesn't like the one we have for Bridgette.

We appreciate all the advice we are getting so far.

I think someone has steered you wrong- female cats don't spray at all, and they (though not males) can be spayed at a month old! Speak to your vet again and see about getting her in sooner.

Leaving a female intact and not in a breeding program may trigger early cancer if left unspayed over a long period of time. I think once both are spayed you'll have less problems.

BTW your vet breeds bengels for pets and gives them away at 8 WEEKS? That's so wrong! Kittens should not be leaving mom/siblings till 10-12 weeks old because they need the important time of interacting with other adults and when you deprive them of that step you wind up with behaviorable problems. They don't know the proper "cat rules".

That might be part of the problem too.


Larke - females can and do spray if not spayed. Just not as much as a whole male!

Lea tends to be pretty independant. When we got her she couldn't wait to get out of the cage and play. Btw: The vet did take them out of the cage after hours and play with them. I think Bridgette was 8 or 10 weeks old to. We have had much problems with her. Since she was young her like ot like our blanket but I think that is her showing afection. Before I got these two I've had 2 others a female and male. I got my female at 1 motnh old it wasnt a breeder just a person who her cat ran aways came back pregenat and she gave the kitens away. I had her untill she was about 3 years old and she was normal ( other then being a bit nervous). But I can see how taking them away from there mother to soon can cause problems.
Everything I've read every vet I've talked to vets, it is recomended not to fixed them untill they are 6 months of age other wise its bad for the cat. We are getting them fixed this week.

Can any one recommend a good inexpensive scratching post that is tall and can fit in an apartment for Lea? That should help and keep her from tearing up furniture.
Everyone has there own opinions and things that work for them. We can't always agree, which is fine.