Cat Chat Feline Forum

Hello. I'm new here, but need some help. I'll try not to bore you, but I feel some context is needed. I live in a semi, I own my side of it, but the other side is let out to short term tenants. Six months ago, there was a cat in my garden. Every day. So I fed him and basically looked after him. It turned out he belonged to the tenant. Who was always, apparently, "working away". Then a month ago, a new cat, a kitten, appeared. Again the tenant's. So again I looked after him. To cut a long story short, the tenant lost his job and the landlord threw him out. He's now disappeared with no number or forwarding address. The cats were still here! So I took the kitten to the vet, he has a clean bill of health and he's been booked in for neutering, vaccination and microchipping. Obviously I have to keep him in until then. The thing is - they don't get on! Every time they see each other there's a fight and I end up putting the elder cat out for a while to cool off. But he seems so scared of the kitten. Is it possible for them to get on? I love them both dearly.

congratulations on your adopted family - how lucky are they to have someone like you just next door

first question - is the older cat definitely neutered?

second question - how certain are you that they are fighting rather than indulging in rough play? do they growl at each other? Or hiss? do they raise the fur along the spine, and fluff up their tails? has either drawn blood?