Help!

Hi there fellow feline lovers,

I need your advice please!!!

We were adopted by two 5 and 6 month old (female) cats Biscuit and Moomin on Saturday at the local SPCA..we took them both as they were sharing a cage and looked like they were mates...well we got them home and after an initial 'fact finding mission' and generally settling in (which involved smooching us BIG time, very nice too) Biscuit set about terrorising Moomin, chasing her round the place, stalking her, starting fights and generally giving her a hard time...Biscuit it seems tends to be the naughtier of the two (when we got her home she was the one who leapt out of the carrier and started scratching the sofa!) and the last thing I want is Mommin to be bullied and feel stressed in her own home...they are both on antibiotics as Biscuit had caught 'Snuffles' whilst in the shelter, and I don't want either of them to be stressed as this will make it worse...

We both work in the day and thought that having company in each other would make life more interesting for them...

When we got home last night, we couldn't find Moomin at all and then she suddenly turned up...was like she had been hiding....

Please help with any advice you can offer in all your feline wisdom....

Thanks so much

New Mum Sam

Congratulations on adopting your two kittens. Although it doesn't feel this way now, you were wise to adopt two kittens rather than just one.

It is still very early in the adoption process. The kittens are still getting used to their new people and the new house, as well as learning how to get along with each other outside of a cage. Part of their getting used to each other is figuring out who will be the Alpha cat (the dominant one). While they are figuring this out, you might see more chasing and wrestling, but as long as they aren't screaming and having fights where fur is flying, I wouldn't worry about it.

For now, make sure they have plenty of vertical and horizontal scratching pads. Put double-sided tape (only temporarily) on places they are scratching inappropriately and reward them with praise when they scratch the right places.

Give them perches where the dominant one can sit higher than the other cat. Oftentimes simply having the highest perch in the house is enough to calm aggression.

Give them many toys they can play with to burn off energy. Turbo cat, little fur toy mice, ping-pong balls, etc are wonderful for kittens. The more toys they have, the less aggression they will show toward eachother.

Good luck with your two new furry kids.

Thanks so much for the advice, I feel better already...it's so good to know that there is a source of advice and support available and fun too!!!

I have been watching them closely to make sure that it isn't too serious, but boy it makes my hair stand on end, let alone Moomins!!
Talking of toys..the catnip felt mice I bought have been a HUGE hit with them both, they scoot around for hours and even juggle with them!And there being 7 in a pack! Well they have always got one to hand (or should I say 'paw')


I will get some pictures this week to post, so you can see my little stars!!!



Thanks again

New Mum Sam

I'm glad you're relieved!

Keep visiting and asking questions. You'll find we are a great bunch of folks here at The Cat Site!