Welcome to Itchmo, ideheights.  Your cats are NOT fighting... what you are witnessing is one cat trying to establish his dominance over the other cat... the one who is on top of the other cat is the dominant one, and as long as the bottom cat does not fight back, all will be well in a few days becuase the heirarchy between the two cats will have been established by then... my two boys went through the same thing... just watch and make sure no one actually gets hurt (very rare but could happen).

My first question is whether they have been neutered or not. It certainly sounds like it might be a dominance thing. I hope that others can give you some advice because it surely doesn't sound like a happy situation for poor Stan. Hope, if it is the dominance thing, that it has been resolved and they/you can live happily ever after.

catmom5

Welcome to Itchmo!

In my experience, any change with cats (move to a new environment, introduction of a new pet, new baby, etc.) can cause a shake-up in the hierarchy, and the dominant cats may feel the need to re-assert themselves.  Changes almost always make cats feel insecure.  I have seen this type of behavior (although not the specific neck-chomping that you describe)  happen with cats who have lived with each other for many years.  You described two cats who are independent of each other, although brothers.  So there does not appear to be a strong bond between them.  And they went through losing their original home, being in a shelter, and now a move to a new home.  Definitely a shake-up in their world!

As long as you are not seeing actual fighting or injury, my guess is that it will work itself out within a few weeks.  To help things along, you might try using a Feliway diffuser; that helps some cats in territorial situations.  Another suggestion I would make, if you don't have this already, is some type of "cat furniture" (or other furniture accessible to the cats) that has multiple levels of height.  Cats seem to think there is more space if they have more access to the vertical dimension, and that often helps with dominance issues.  Catmom5 mentioned neutering.  Were they neutered at the shelter, or had they been neutered by their original owners?  If they were only recently neutered, working things out may take a bit longer.

By the way, are they Siamese or Siamese mixes?  Some breeds, especially Siamese and similar cats that bond strongly with people, are more distressed by being re-homed.

Good luck!

Welcome, idleheights. My experience matches what everyone has said here. Every time cats go to a new space, it's new turf to claim and there are dominance displays for awhile until they sort it out. The "cat tree" type furniture is a good idea.

Hi, ideheights!

It's me, August in Tokyo!  I know you!   

It's so wonderful of you guys to adopt those two brothers.  I know they'll be well loved.  I hope you'll introduce me some time!

It sounds like their issues are just a matter of getting adjusted in the new home.  I'm so glad!

Welcome ideheights!

I have to agree with everyone - this is normal assertion of dominance. Nothing to worry about. Once they're comfortable in their new environment, this should settle down.

Thanks to Kaffee for sharig your story - It makes sense that Butter, being bigger, is the dominant one. I wonder, though, if there are stories about smaller cats being dominant?

To answer Catmom5's question, both Stan and Butter  were both neutered.

Catbird, I'd never really been aware of a hierarchy with our previous cats - Popo looooved Sai, but Sai couldn't have cared less about Popo. They weren't related; both had been found in a park as kittens - I wonder if that makes a difference.

I'll need to check with the shelter about when Stan and Butter were neutered - good question. I understand that neutering is felt to be 'unnatural' here in Japan, but I also know that the staff at the shelter are all for it. Since they were only in the shelter for a 'few months' the operation might have been fairly recent.

We did get a cat tower before they moved in, but even with catnip sprinklings, they just could not care less about it. Perhaps it's because the tower's a bit wobbly and the top layers are a little small for them. There are plenty of high cabinets and other furniture that they're accessing though - every time we come home there's something on the floor. Your point about vertical space widening their territory is a good one - we don't think they've ever been outdoors, and we're wondering if they feel the house is too small.

I've never heard of a Feliway diffuser - sounds like something that scientist on the Simpsons would have invented - what is it?

Is there a place on this webpage to post photos?

As you can see in our new avatar (a photo from this morning), the cats are beginning to sit with each other already - for the first four days we literally could not get them in a photo together. They're also figuring out that poop goes in the catbox, not next to it. Finally, we're actually seeing them sleep! For the last few days we've been wondering when they were sleeping.

Trudy1 and Orange Fuzzball, thanks for the reassurance - we're breathing easier now!

Finally, August - you say you know us - do we know you?