Should we intervene?

I'm a new cat owner and know very little about cat behavior. We have two domestic shorthair neutered males The original cat was a stray that was estimated to be about 16 months old when he was neutered. After we'd had him for about three months, we got another cat from a shelter as a companion. The new cat was neutered at about 7 months and is now about 8 months. He's about a year younger and 6 pounds lighter than the older cat. They seem to enjoy being together and playing, but many play sessions and maybe all grooming sessions end with the older cat holding down the younger one and biting him. The younger cat does howl, hiss, strike back, and run away. I thought he wasn't being hurt because he wants to be with the older cat, but today he has a scratch on his face. Should I scold the older cat when he starts biting the younger one? When scolding doesn't stop him, I clap my hands. Today, he wouldn't stop until I tapped him with a newspaper. Will appreciate any thoughts about this.
cjlove

Hi,

It's always difficult when you try to have more than one cat, because each cat is so unique and they differ in so many ways. Look at your home and see if you can offer more levels for these cats to have. By that I mean, clear off a shelf or the top of a bookcase, so one can leap up there and sleep, and be away from the other. Make sure they don't share anything. Who is your alpha? Who eats first and then pushes the other away? Who runs to the litter pan right after you have cleaned it and put new litter in? That is your alpha, feed the alpha kitty first, put his bowl down first, then the other bowl, just minutes after. Don't feed them to close to each other, but still in the same room. Use three litter pans, in different parts of the room so no litter pan ambushes can happen after dark. Make sure there are two water bowls. If they have places where they can get up and out of each other's faces, and if your home is big enough for two cats, they will find their way with each other. It does take time.

You can also invest in a couple feliway comfort zone room diffusers. I hear they can be found at decent prices on eBay but you can see them here

www.biovet.com

The different levels suggestion is something we tried and saw work, very quickly. My elderly cat was getting very fed up with being bounced on and chased by my two enormous teenaged raggy boys, especially Jake who is our Alpha, and tempers were getting frayed. We found a good cat tree going cheap on ebay, which went right up to a near ceiling high level and offered three separate height levels. Plus because Vicket loves to hide, we got a cat igloo which is kept on a high surface with a good view of the room, and a mini cat tree which is just a cat house on a two foot high post, with a small entrance, so she had several hiding places around the house. Vicket loves them both, spends the night in there where she can watch without getting jumped on, and the spitting and snarling settled down in a few days. The tension level in the house dropped tangibly. The living room also has several cardboard boxes with holes cut in the different surfaces. All the cats play with those for hours and it seemed to take the heat out of play turning nasty, I think because they were playing with the boxes more than with each other, and it made it easier for Vicket to get away when she'd had enough. And something for the boys to work out their energy on other than her!

The other thing I do at times is deliberately shut the boys in one part of the house and the girls, one or both, in another for a few hours, just to give the girls a break. Jazzie's getting less bothered about this as she gets older, but Vicket really appreciates it.

Hope your guys settle down soon

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll put a refuge box on the second floor. He has a carrier and a couple of boxes in their room on the first floor. I assume the bigger one is the alpha; he grooms the smaller one. I always give him attention first, but he was never bothered by the smaller one eating with him or using the same litter boxes. They both use both boxes. They have the run of a two-story house except at bedtime when they're closed in their room. Their room is large with toys, boxes and a climbing tree. I don't know the background of the larger one, but we haven't completely stopped him from scratching and biting us when he wants to play. He's an aggressive cat. I just don't know whether he's being too aggressive with the smaller one and I should try to stop him from being so rough.
Thanks. cjlove