Are these interactions between our cats something to worry about?

Post date: 2021-04-12 03:52:34

Should I be concerned about my resident cat stalking my new cat to the point where the new cat pops off?

My wife and I adopted a kitten last summer (we'll call her J), and we adopted a second cat last month (we'll call her K). The two cats are both female, both fixed, and are around the same age (born in June 2020).

We went through the slow introductions and over the last week or so began to let them more freely interact, which has been a series of ups and down but on the most part, ups.

We've noticed a pattern of behaviour, though, that I want to query the hive mind on to see if it's something that could potentially dictate their relationship going forward. When one of them enters a room the other is in, J starts following K and K is usually fairly ambivalent about it. J will trot up behind K and give her a little play swipe on the backside: no claws, so I think it's playing. K typically doesn't engage (we were told that since she was a rescue, K would probably always be quiet and reserved compared to a kitten we had from when she was around 10 weeks), but sometimes J will corner/box K when she does this. Once that happens K will rise up and hiss/chase J for a few seconds. J usually takes that as a sign to leave K alone and K goes back to chilling somewhere quiet.

Is this behaviour something I should be concerned about or is it a natural process wherein both cats establish their boundaries? We know they may never be bosom buddies, but we also don't want them to actively dislike or fear each other. I also know that it takes time for cats to adjust, but we want to make sure we allow positive/natural interactions to carry on while we deflect/prevent negative ones. We're using Feliway in the house and we just bought a Thundershirt for J, in hopes that it tamps down some of her impulses to stalk and swat and that by cooling down J, they can interact more closely without it escalating.

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