Introducing adult neutered males

[Carykd7kau]

Kilifi, being the first one here, has taken possession of me and the house. Azidi is older at 3 yrs vs. Kilifi's 15 months but has only been here for 2 months. She is also very skittish and is afraid to come out of her quarantine room. Kilifi wants to play...She will chase anything that moves .. and Azidi is terrified of her, so runs and hides under the bed. Lately, Azidi is getting bolder and as long as Kilifi is on her leash, Azidi is fairly calm. Kilifi is the strong willed one Azidi is timid. BUT Azdid is a stong fighter more so than Kilifi. In fact when I tried to put Azidi in her carrier to go to the Vet today, she fought with me and dug my arm with her back claws then ran under the bed and would not come out. So, she did not go. But Kilifi did. Oh well. The life of a Savannah servant.

 

[Patti]

Poor Azidi, I'm convinced she will come around eventually. I would make a point of feeding her snacks in the carrier, at least for a few days before a vet appointment. Does she come out of her room if Kilifi is on the leash in the livng room?

 

[Carykd7kau]

No Patti. She won't come out at all now. Not since the last time I had Kilifi on the leash with her in the living room. I am feeding them both treats now when I take Kilifi into Azidi's room.
I will try the treat thing before the vet visits. I am trying to get her to get in the carrier on her own. Maybe we would have less stress that way. kilifi is good about going in.

 

[Patti]

Azidi associates bad or scary things with the carrier (going to a strange home, going to the vet, etc.) which is why you need to create new, good associations with the crate. Feeding her in it is one of the easiest ways to do this.

I'm afraid if you continue to take Kilifi into her room, in essence invading her safe space, she will never feel truly secure anywhere. I know it's tough getting her out of the room, but hasn't she come out before when you had Kilifi locked in your room? They should ideally be meeting face to face on neutral ground, not in her sanctuary... just my 2¢ worth... I know it's easier said than done...

 

[Carykd7kau]

Ok. I will see if I can coax her back out. She is just so darned stubborn. I will have to let Ms Kilifi just be in the room for a while. It is gonna be a long row to hoe Methinks.
I also will feed her in the carrier. See if I can make it a nice place.

 

[Charley]

Azidi associates bad or scary things with the carrier (going to a strange home, going to the vet, etc.) which is why you need to create new, good associations with the crate. Feeding her in it is one of the easiest ways to do this.

I'm afraid if you continue to take Kilifi into her room, in essence invading her safe space, she will never feel truly secure anywhere. I know it's tough getting her out of the room, but hasn't she come out before when you had Kilifi locked in your room? They should ideally be meeting face to face on neutral ground, not in her sanctuary... just my 2¢ worth... I know it's easier said than done...

For us neutral territory is life saving, they don't like going in each others rooms yet. They will, they will sniff around but they seem to prefer the downstairs common area. Jengo especially is weary of Wiggles room because he isn't sure if Wigs is hiding. I have to sit with him in there for him to explore yet seeing Wigs in the kitchen means food. It's a process. A long slow process.

 

[Charley]

So we just had our first big fight. It was really scary. I'm not even sure how it happened really, I was editing a video and turned around to see them rolling around bear hugging each other. There was some of their fur on the ground. I yelled and they stopped, I separately inspected each of them and do not see any marks, scratches or blood. They had their ears flat but no sounds - I'm certain it was a fight especially looking at the fur - there isn't a lot but it's enough to concern me.

We've been having a really good week with community play. Should I consider reintroduction or is there a chance it's a one off?

They've batted each other but thus far nothing horrible just some light smacking.

When the fight was over and everyone was calmed down. I fed them since it was their lunch time anyway - they ate side by side without any issue.

I'm not sure if I should separate them for a bit or not? Seems they are fine now. I know there will be fighting I guess I'm not sure how to handle it. I don't want them thinking it's okay to fight. I wanted to put them both in the bathroom for a few minutes but I thought if I did they might run out more upset.

They've had a few play fights - very clearly play, ears up, no hisses, some batting at each other and jumping. Wiggles is the biggest instigator but Jengo plays along. Is it possible play got aggressive? They've been running around all day "tagging" each other and having a great time. They've engaged in nose bumping and grooming- Well, Wigs grooms Jengo - Jengo hasn't returned the favor yet. They are sniffing and butt sniffing like crazy.

 

[Carykd7kau]

When mine do get into a furball, it is NOT quiet. 2 cats are yowling, spitting, hissing and rolling around in a blur of Savannah spots. Scares the He11 out of me.

But I am glad yours ore ok.

 

[Chris Elliott]

Ziggy and Jax get into it pretty rough at times, but if it gets too rough one of them will yelp and the other will take it back a notch.

I'd say if there was no noise that they were still play fighting. Everytime I've seen a real cat fight there's a godawful racket.

Also realize that this time of year in many cases cats are still shedding their winter fur, so some fur may not be a concern.

Ziggy usually has his ears up as he is ready to play, but sometimes puts them down during tussles. Jax more often has his ears down during the breaks, but that might be because he's half Ziggy's height, so his ears are right at target level!

If there was no physical damage done, I'd say let them work it out. Maybe clip their claws if they're sharp. It sounds like it did no damage to their relationship--another sign to let them work it out.

 

[John Campbell]

What about a different carrier (different smell, or one that even looks different). May the association is with that one carrier and not all carriers.