How to stop two rescued cats fighting over territory in a small home?

The next step is to rotate rooms daily for at least 2-3 days. This allows the new cat explore the rest of the house while the resident cat spends some time in the new cat's room. This will give your resident cats a chance to smell the new cat and rub their own scent on objects. The cats should be fed in each area with wet food twice daily, and it is also good to play with the cats in each area at least twice daily. The practice of setting up a schedule of feeding treats of wet food, as well as a playtime routine, minimizes anxiety and makes the cats feel more secure. Keep the cats in separate areas for as long as it takes to allow them the chance to become desensitized to the smells and sounds of the cats in the other area. When they all seem particularly relaxed with this process, begin to expose them to the sight of each other. A good way to accomplish this visual introduction is to bring the new cat(s) in a carrier to meet your cats and sniff each other through the carrier wire door. Place the carrier on the floor and allow them to meet this way several times a day for about an hour. Continue these meetings for several days or until they remain calm in each other's presence. If and when the cats are able to stay calm in each other's presence during these meetings, it is time to let the new cat out into the rest of the house for a few minutes. The length of the visits can be increased gradually each day. Depending on the personalities of the cats involved, this process may take a few days or a few months. If it appears that any fighting maybe be close to occurring while you are supervising, put the newcomer back in his/her room and proceed more slowly. If those supervised play times go well, you can begin to allow them to cohabitate in your home. If any aggressive behavior occurs at any time, begin the introduction process again. It is very important to understand that this process can take as little as a few days, to sometimes much longer. It is all dependent on the cats involved. If things don’t go well right away... One of the most important steps to dealing aggressive behavior between cats is to recognize the different types of aggression and understand their underlying causes. A short list and description of some commonly seen aggressive behaviors include: chasing; ambushing; hissing; swatting; and/or biting. If you see these behaviors, seek help from your veterinarian. Most cats get along fine if the introductory process is done correctly. Please seek help from your veterinarian if you feel that things are not progressing well, or if you have other questions.

I'm sorry to hear that you're having so much trouble! Some cats, just like some people, may simply have incompatible personalities and may never make good housemates. It sounds like you have done everything right so far and given them plenty of time to adjust, so this is definitely a challenging case! Because of this, I would really recommend making an appointment with a veterinary behaviorist if you're committed to keeping both cats. He/she can evaluate both cats in person to help determine why they're having so much trouble getting along, and will put together a detailed plan for you to address the problem - this may include management recommendations to ensure that both cats are comfortable, training exercises you can do with them that may help, or even medication for one or both cats if necessary. You can search for a board-certified veterinary behaviorist in your area here: www.dacvb.org

You may need to make some adjustments so you can help keep your home a low stress and comfortable place for your cats and get Piper and your other cat to get along. Cats need at least one litterbox per cat plus one extra to help reduce stress associated with the litterbox. They should be placed in separate rooms, away from the food and water bowls, must be scooped at least daily (preferably multiple times a day)and washed out at least weekly with a mild soap, followed by thorough rinsing. Cats need a lot of space to explore, but keeping them indoors is much safer than letting them outside, due to the risk of injury from cars, wildlife, other animals, etc. The key is providing space (particularly vertical space for climbing, such as cat trees, ledges, and the like) inside the home. Visit veterinarypartner.com and healthcareforpets.com for tips on stress reduction. The following link has information on introducing a cat to your home: https://indoorpet.osu.edu/cats/felinelifestressors/new-pets Also look into Feliway, a synthetic pheromone that is available in a diffuser and spray form that promotes calm feelings in cats http://www.feliway.com , and feliway friends, which is a pheromone that can help cats get along with each other better https://www.feliway.com/ca_en/Products/FELIWAY-FRIENDS-Diffuser I highly recommend you have Piper spayed, as sometimes the hormones associated with not being spayed can worsen behavioural issues. Spaying also stops the heat cycle, eliminates the risk and cost of unwanted breeding, and can reduce the risk of uterine and ovarian cancer, as well as reduce the risk of potentially fatal uterine infections and breast cancer. Good luck, and I hope your kitties start to be friends soon!

Unfortunately it's going to take time. That said, there are a few things you can make sure of to help reduce stress, especially in a four-cat household (which is a lot!). Making sure each cat has their own space where they can eat, drink, play, observe, etc without the other cats bothering them can help reduce territorial disputes over these items. Pheromone collars and plug-ins (Feliway) can also be placed on stressed out individuals, or in shared rooms (since everyone seems to be stressed) to help reduce inter-cat aggression. Making sure to have at least one litter box per cat will also help reduce stress and competition over them, and reduce the chances of accidents elsewhere. Otherwise, continued slow introduction of the cats is best. If anyone starts to get agitated or too excited, removing them to let everyone calm down and settle back in is best. Continued aggression and upset may also need a trainer or veterinary behaviorist's help. That said, if your home is very small, four cats may just be too much for everyone to get comfortable.

If it has only been a few days since moving into the new house, I would give them some time to adjust. It can take up to two weeks for animals to feel comfortable in a new home. If after another week they are not adjusting I would talk with your veterinarian about anxiety medication for them. I would also make sure both cats are getting a lot of attention, play time, have enough litter boxes and have places they feel comfortable in. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Moving can be very stressful on any species. Cats will sometimes display signs of mis-directed aggression when they are stressed. I would recommend getting Feliway pheromones started asap. These come as plug in diffusers or even collars if the cats will tolerate them. They release calming hormones into the air that people won't smell, but do help relax agitate pets. Give the cats a safe place to retreat to - a room or hideout where they can get away from each other, the dog and people. If possible try to have items from their last home there (a bed or toys). Try to feed the same food, switching it over gradually. I would recommend having several litter boxes in different areas of the house while they are acclimating. If the fights are serious enough you may need to separate the cats into separate areas of the house and gradually reintroduce them to each other. If the behaviours continue or worsen, I would recommend consulting with their veterinarian. There are medications that can help in conjunction with training to decrease behavior problems. The following website has some great information about cat behavior by one of best behavior veterinarians there ever was. You may want to search for articles on aggression and anxiety in cats for some more ideas. https://drsophiayin.com/resources/cat_behavior/

Thanks for using PetCaoch! It’s not uncommon to hear about behavior like Alyssa. It can take a lot of time and patience for them to get along but here are some tips for decreasing stress for Alyssa in the short term. -Feliway- calming cat pheromone- comes in many forms from pet stores or online. 

 - Adding a litter box. Studies show that the ideal number of litter boxes for a home is #of cats +1 . This is regardless of how clean you keep his current litter box. 

- making sure she has plenty of “high space”. The safest (and therefore least anxiety-inducing) place for a cat is up. If you don’t already, get a cat tree or put up a shelf or two that she can go perch on. 
 Feeding them in separate rooms with two or three water bowls throughout the home is also a good idea as perceived competition for resources is a common problem in cats. Best of luck to you and your kitties!