Lifelong friends suddenly fighting?

[tchotchony]

I've always owned a cat, and several months ago my previous cat passed away. Last week I decided it was time for another cat in my life and I went to the shelter on Monday. I asked for a cat that was fit for apartment living and was told that there were two, but they lived together the last two years and were inseparatable. It was either two or none. So yup, I returned home with two kitties. All went well for a week, they groomed each other, shared beds (they have separate beds, but prefer to be together), shared food bowls, when I came home from work one was alerting the other to my presence, ...

Now, Nienna is a 2 year old female, recently spayed (so recent that I have to return to the shelter tomorrow to get her stitches removed, I will ask them for advice as well). She's still very playful, but has lived her entire life together with Gimli. He's 5 years and a bit more settled. Both are very friendly towards humans, fairly behaved and up till today the only "scuffles" I've seen them getting into was Gimli grabbing her (but not biting) or swapping her with a paw without claws if she was pushing it (sleeping on his face, jumping on him while playing, chasing after his tail). Nienna is extremely people-orientated, she'll follow me everywhere, but is less of a lap cat. Sometimes she sits there, but after 15 minutes will go for her own basket. Gimli is more his own cat, but if I sit in the couch, he'll come to sit in my lap and get extra cuddles.

Last night, they slept together at the foot of my bed, all was well. Ate together and played together. Now, during one of those playtimes Nienna landed on Gimli, he got annoyed and he told her off. 5 minutes later, there was a full-blown scuffle with Nienna chasing Gimli into a corner and him defending himself. I separated them, tried reintroducing them with food. She eats, but as soon as she's done eating, she'll just go for him again. I also tried letting them sniff each other through a split in the door. Gimli honestly just wants to say hi, tried prying the door open and jumped on the counter to go and say hi, but as soon as he'd come close, Nienna would chase after him.

I set them apart for about 5 hours. Gimli was sleeping on a window sill at the front (completely opposite from where Nienna is sitting). She had calmed down, so I opened the door. She approached, all friendly, and they started mutual grooming. Gimli kept where he was, purring and all, Nienna came to sit on my lap for an hour. It was getting dark, so I lowered the shutters. Which scared Gimli onto the ground, he came close to Nienna and the fighting started all over again. I've separated them again for now, definitely don't trust them together for the night.

Any help/tips? Do I need to start reintroducing them all over again? I can tell Gimli misses his friend, but Nienna's behaviour really puzzles me. She's also confined in an area that I don't visit all that often myself and being such a people/active-cat, I fear she's being bored out of her mind. I'll swap areas tomorrow, but I can't help feeling like I'm punishing the cat that happens to be in the verandah. The door separating the verandah and kitchen/living room is glass, so the cat in there can see all that goes on in here.

 

[mservant]

What a shame you are all going through this.  It sounds like Gimli and Nonna still want to be friends but there is some anxiety, or a little shift in their relationship which would benefit from some time and space.

They are in a new environment which I am sure they have gone through before given you adopted them from a shelter.  However, now Nonna has been spayed this will have altered their relationship a little.  Was Gimli also recently neutered?  Hormones will still be settling down for Nonna and this could easily be affecting how she responds to her change in environment and to Gimli.  It will also alter their relationship with each other.  There will be some readjusting and determining of which cat is more dominant in the relationship.  Add to this that Nonna may well still be sore and a bit sensitive after her surgery.

It is worth keeping watch over them, and using some of the introduction techniques including scent swapping, and looking at things like feeding and litter box behaviours to ensure they are comfortable and feel they have enough space.  You may not need to go through a full re-introduction but take a look at the advice and see which parts you could use to help them along. If things don't settle and they seem more anxious then going through the process might be what is needed, but see if any lighter measures work initially if worth a go I think. See what others say.

 

[tchotchony]

Thanks! Gimli was spayed several years ago, it's just Nienna that has been sterilised. Yesterday evening I was able to keep them both together, they were both on my lap for about two hours even. Till Nienna decided Gimli had the better spot and started biting him. This morning I had to take Gimli through the space Nienna was, he jumped from my arms in fright (they're both not so happy being picked up) and fighting started again. Now he's in the space Nienna was yesterday, but he's so scared he hasn't even touched his foodbowl. He also barely goes to the litterbox (he went last night though, upstairs, far far away from Nienna). But as long as he knows she's near, he's now frozen in fright. Nienna acts around me like all is normal, until she goes to the door. Then she starts growling and staring down again.

 

[mservant]

It is possible Nienna was hurt in the initial scuffle and this has triggered things between them.  Hopefully with ongoing efforts to reintroduce them things will settle.  Make sure there are seperate litter trays like you have now so Gimli can get to one without being under threat, but try to reintroduce them, keeping them under supervision when together for a while, bringing feeding closer together, scent sharing.  It can take time when something has changes and they have to get to know and trust each other again. 

 

[skyefoxx]

It's possible that it's just redirected aggression.  If one of the cats is stressed out they may take it out on the other which is pretty likely since they are now in a whole new environment and need to adjust.  I see this every now and then with my two older cats who are a mother and daughter, Marlie and Abby.  They sleep together, play together, and groom each other, but if Marlie get's stressed out she'll hiss, swat and occasionally go at Abby on occasion.  I bought a Feliway plug in to help calm Marlie down and it was surprisingly effective.  Cats are very sensitive animals.  My uncle used to have a brother and sister who used to get this way after one was brought home from the vet.  They can sense the fear off each other.  I'm sure once they get better acquainted with their environment, things will start cooling off a bit.

 

[tchotchony]

Thanks for all the replies! I let them swap rooms instead of blankies, I want them both to get used to the rest of the family. One of the secluded areas is more at the back of the house, while the other is the living room + kitchen, I don't want one to feel like the master off the house while the other would be the intruder. They both settling down, and I've been able to call Nienna back once she starts to get too focused on Gimli. I'm also obedience training her, which is going really well as long as there's food in sight (she's learned 3 tricks in two sessions, not too shabby xD), and Gimli isn't too close. Although she's kinda in doubt when he -is- getting closer, so here's hoping that with a bit more training she won't care if he's near or not when we're doing it. Gimli is being a lot more relaxed, actually wants to approach Nienna all the time, or be in the area she's in. No more freezing up while she's staring at him through the door, he's eating and playing normally again. I fed them both treats on opposite sides of the door and there's no reaction at all from either of them. Though, once the treats are finished, Nienna starts staring at Gimli again. So here's hoping that with enough time, things will turn back to normal!

 

[mservant]

Nice progress.  I hope this works for you, it certainly sounds positive.