I don't know, they were doing well for a while, but now it seems they fight all of the time. The weird thing is they'll sleep side by side or right next to each other if I'm sitting with them, but if we are asleep they'll just rip at each other. They stare at each other all the time. They don't even fight over the same toys. They'll stop a fight just to kill the same bug together. But Cal just goes nuts and is always trying to start something with Taylor, so Taylor just goes and hides under a futon. I feel bad for my sweet kitty, because now he hardly ever comes out to visit unless I pull his butt out from under something. He'll stay in the bed if I bring him there, but then he'll be looking around waiting for Cal to pounce. I don't think he's getting enough rest.

Any suggestions?

-- Anonymous, November 18, 1999

Answers

Oh, it's awful seeing your kitty suffer! It sounds like they're in the process of working out who is dominant, and once the pecking order is firmly established they'll get along better.

If they aren't doing a lot of serious damage to each other, they will probably solve it themselves. If poor Taylor is really getting hurt, maybe they need to be separated?

-- Anonymous, November 18, 1999

You need to find an evil crime-lord cat that will run for Mayor, so that the only way he can be thwarted is if your two fighting cats join forces to expose him as the evil crime-lord cat that he is.

-- Anonymous, November 18, 1999

This may be a silly question, but are they honestly fighting, or just playing?

I have two kitties, sisters, who love each other to death but who stay up all night long play-fighting on my bed (where else?). It's like a constant pointy kittypile rolling around all the time.

I realized that lately it's been getting worse, and I think it's because I'm busy and not home as much right now, so I don't play with them as much as I used to. Whenever I try to take time out to specifically play with them before bed, even for a half hour, I notice that they don't play-fight through the night as much. In fact, the boy and I just bought them a 6-foot tall carpeted cat perch/toy thing, and they've slept most of the night since we got it (it tires them out to climb up and down it all day!).

So, yeah, I don't know your exact situation, but I'd recommend making an extra effort to play with them together, and see if that chills them out any. My kitties would like to heavily recommend a shoelace with a rabbit-fur mouse tied onto the end. :)

-- Anonymous, November 18, 1999

*chuckle*

I just thought I'd mention that your pictures reminded of the Cat Scan Contest page. Be sure to read his hate mail. =) (I should also probably mention that that site has some rather strong language, just in case you're upset by that sort of thing.)

I only have one cat so I've never had to get two cats to get along. Judging by the way she bares her teeth at every cat that wanders by the front window, though, any cat I introduced her to would be in teeny tiny pieces in a matter of hours. I wish you luck!

she's actual size

-- Anonymous, November 18, 1999

Hello? Drugs. Drugs are the answer. Keep them hopped up on catnip, and they will be too stoned to fight. Feed the addiction....after all...they are cats. It isn't like they operate heavy machinery or nuclear weapons.

-- Anonymous, November 19, 1999

I have two cats, brothers, who are a year and a half old now. When they were younger they fought constantly. But worse than the fighting was the late-night cat sex that would take place on my bed. I would wake up in the middle of the night to "whump. whump-whump. whumpwhumpwhumpYEEEOOOOWWW!" and, thinking they were fighting again, switch on the light to try and make them cool it, only to find that Cortez had Ufo pinned to the bed. Cortez would give me a guilty look and scamper off, and Ufo would try to hide under the sheet.

But that stopped completely after they were neutered, and the fighting has calmed down considerably. Occasionally they still fight, but only about once a week.

Oh, and I would be careful of the catnip suggestion -- for my cats it's like speed. They sniff a little catnip, and then they start the feline 500 races. You can hear them coming across the house, it's like galloping -- whadabum,whadabum,whADABUM, WHADABUM, MRRROWWWWRRRR...

-- Anonymous, November 19, 1999

I'm assuming you've seen this page, right Pamie?

http://www.cat-scan.com

love,
stasi

-- Anonymous, November 19, 1999

Yeah, I saw the cat-scan pictures a few months ago. I wouldn't scan my poor kitty's face, though. That light is bright.

-- Anonymous, November 19, 1999

Beezus, my older and sicklier kitty is constantly harrassed by Stamps, my youngest and dumbest cat. Beezus just growls and yelps as if she is being skinned alive whenever Stamps walks within three feet of her.

I don't think she is getting any restful sleep, either.

To make matters worse, Ramona, my middle cat is literally stuck in the middle of them bot. She gets along with Beezus when the two of tem are hanging out, but she prefers to romp and frolic with Stamps.

I wish that my vet would come up with a better solution than: "just separate them all" because my apartment is not big enough to give them each their own wing.

-- Anonymous, November 23, 1999

Beezus and Ramona! That's so cool.

-- Anonymous, November 23, 1999