2 different breeds of cats = OK? And other cat questions

tbh i pity the pair of them, you simply dont just throw two cats together and hope that they get on or in time sort it out by fighting, especially when one has already claimed territory over your house, on top of which I cant help but get the impression that rather than owning two lovely pets your main concern was how "hard" they are, IMHO you should have got a dog, and that dog should have been a Rottweiler.

Sorry if this sounds like a dig but its how this thread reads.

LOAM
 
LOAM said:
tbh i pity the pair of them, you simply dont just throw two cats together and hope that they get on or in time sort it out by fighting,
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I'm not sure if you are a cat expert or something...maybe you are.

Ive posted a lot of messages on dedicated cat forums, to get advice from the "experts". They have all stated that the pairing of a 4 month old Egyptian Mau and 3 month old Bengal is fine. The breeders of both have said all is good. All the responses I'm getting from the people in the know, are saying that this is normal. In fact, it is me who is getting worried and not the "experts".

Can I ask if you have cat experience?

LOAM said:
especially when one has already claimed territory over your house,
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He's a 4 month old kitten. As a guide, in human years, he would be about 9yrs old, so he isnt really capable of claiming territory or doing damage. To avoid territorial disputes, I have also made sure both are neutered.

LOAM said:
...on top of which I cant help but get the impression that rather than owning two lovely pets your main concern was how "hard" they are,
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I'm not trying to make either of them hard. I just want them to be fit and healthy. I donot want fat cats. Which means lots of exercise, which I ensured that the Egyptian Mau received and the Bengal will also receive. At no stage do I tolerate biting and scratching - the Egyptian Mau knows this. Bad behaviour is not rewarded and I have been strict on the Egyptian Mau. Both cats receive top quality food and no expense is being spared in ensuring they receive the best care that I can give them.

If I wanted "hard" cats, then I would ensure both were not neutered.

Its interesting, if I dont give them exercise, then I'm being irresponsible. If I give them lots of exercise, I'm trying to make them "hard". Damned if you do, damned if you dont.

LOAM said:
IMHO you should have got a dog, and that dog should have been a Rottweiler.
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I can't do dogs unfortunately. I live alone and while at work, a dog would go out of his mind. Research had told me this. Originally, I did want to a dog, a greyhound in fact - which is NOT a "hard" dog.

LOAM said:
Sorry if this sounds like a dig but its how this thread reads.
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No worries. This is a forum and people are allowed to put their views across, so long as they are not being offensive. I would like to know though, if you have any cat experience at all.

I'm posting on this forum to get opinions from people who, in particular, have experience with cats and hopefully, their own experiences will make my own experience, go smoother. If I didnt care about the animals or just wanted "hard cats", I wouldnt bother posting on this forum. I would just have some mates around and have a laugh while the cat fighting ensues.

I'm currently uploading a video of the 2 cats play fighting, so it will give you guys a better idea of what I am seeing. I still dont know if this is normal or not, so perhaps the educated cat owners can tell me if this is normal behaviour.
 
sunama said:
40e562ab.jpg

"Imma chargin' mah lasers."
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sunama said:
I would like to know though, if you have any cat experience at all.
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Yeah we have a couple of cats, who fought like, well i guess like cats when we got them, but from your last post you do seem to have looked into in thoroughly, I would disagree on the territory front though, ours claimed "areas" as there own within hours of getting in the house and fought like mad (even though one was only 9 weeks old) if the other ventured into it. Took a good few weeks before we were able to leave them in the same room unsupervised without them tearing strips of each other.
 
I left both in the same room unsupervised last night. They slept in the cat tree. This morning it looked like they had had a bit of play fight, but the Bengal didnt look shaken up or anything.

I posted up a video of what they were doing this morning, on a cat forum and the people there said they are behaving normally, so its not x-rated, but it does get a bit rough. The Egyptian Mau is very fit and I think it will take a week or 2 before the Bengal is upto speed.

High quality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsWXOx3LMCc&fmt=18

Standard quality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsWXOx3LMCc

The Bengal is very affectionette. Although, he has only known me 50hrs or so, he feels comfortable sitting/sleeping in my lap. The Egyptian Mau is a lot more highly strung.

And here are some pics of them an hour or so ago. They are a lot more relaxed with eachother now. Reflex never hisses or growls at the Bengal, though the Bengal still hisses at him.

24hrs ago, this would not have happened:

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...and 15 minutes after eating:

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They are now both fast asleep.
 
LOAM said:
I would disagree on the territory front though, ours claimed "areas" as there own within hours of getting in the house and fought like mad
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Reflex (the 4 month old Egyptian Mau), doesnt seem to be at all territorial. He seems OK with the new arrival sleeping in 'his' cat tree. Its just the non-stop chasing that Reflex instigates on the Bengal, after getting a full feed. Reflex eats at least twice that of the Bengal, though he is more active.

TBH, there were times during the last month that Reflex (having come from a large cat family), was looking very bored. And I think he was crying out for a play mate. Now that he has a new play mate, its almost like a new toy, that he cant stop playing with.

Keep in mind that the video I posted, are 2 young kittens play fighting and to the untrained eye, it can look quite vicious, but I am reliably informed, this is not the case. I can confirm that there are no injuries to either cat and both cats, after the play-fight, seem pretty relaxed and are happy to eat from the same bowl, side by side (as shown in the image), immediately afterwards.
 
Loving the new influx of excellent photos!

The Youtube link for Standard quality is being viewed as we speak :)
 
You've already done it now, and they look fine in those last pictures so well done :) However if it was me i would have taken the exisitng cat to a neutral area it had never been to before (a friends house) and then introduced the two of them there. Introduction in a neutral enviroment helps a lot with either cats or dogs. If you dont mind me saying so you are wrong about them being to young to hold territories yet, the exisitng cat would definately feel threatened on his own turf by the new cat, which is why them meeting for the first time somewhere they both havent been is best.

Amazing looking cats anyway, just started a thread myself for my new kittens :)
 
I wouldn't worry *too* much about the fighting, especially if they're happy sleeping near each other and eating from the same bowl. We got two kittens from the same litter who play fight at lot... it looks seriously vicious but when neither cat has been hurt or seems bothered by it afterwards. It's funny sometimes watching them stop in the middle of a frentic battle to start washing each others faces :p
 
Kreeeee said:
I find it weird how you go on about how athletic and lean your Mau cat is =/
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I must say I find that a bit odd myself, but each to there own I suppose. I just hope the cats sort out their differences. I would keep an eye on the cats eyes and look for any damage followung these fights. I have three cats and on one occasion one cat got a scratch to the eyeball, I presume from a fight, and it resulted in a nasty operation. So even though you say they are alright fighting as much as they do it is not without risk.
 
Bubo said:
I just hope the cats sort out their differences.
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Reflex is already a lot more calmer now, with the Bengal, ie. he isnt so obsessed with the Bengal and is happy to play with a bottle top and not attack the Bengal at every opportunity.

Bubo said:
I would keep an eye on the cats eyes and look for any damage followung these fights.
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Ive been checking both cats over every few hours and I cut both their claws yesterday.
 
sunama said:
High quality:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsWXOx3LMCc&fmt=18
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Well Sunama, i just watched this and i'd have to say it looks completely normal, its the same as my two kittens are doing and they are brothers of the same breed. Its simply them burning off energy. However you do need to clean up your room ^^ And is that the only room they are allowed in? The reason i ask is because if fighting is the only way they can burn off energy then its going to get worse, if you want them to stop them you need to provide other distractions, which can be hard in a single small room.
I think your getting a fair amount of unwarrented stick in this thread, however i can see what people are reacting to you, your posts read more like a live coverage of a Roman gladiator fight than of someone whos just got two loving kittens.

Anway they both look fine, i wouldnt worry about the fighting unless you either see blood or they start pacing about with flattened ears.

And yes i have cat experience.
 
BTw why haven't you named the other cat yet, are you waiting till it develops its best physical attribute before giving it it's moniker?
 
Makunouchi said:
Well Sunama, i just watched this and i'd have to say it looks completely normal, its the same as my two kittens are doing and they are brothers of the same breed. Its simply them burning off energy. However you do need to clean up your room ^^ And is that the only room they are allowed in?
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Yeah, even on the cat forum they said this is normal. So its a relief, otherwise, I wouldve had to go through a very pain staking process of separating them and introducing them the slow way. The Bengal is very affectionette and friendly and I dont want that trait to be taken away, so even though I'm not into lap cats, I do give it a lot of lap-time.

The cats have the full run of the house (not the garden though). Had I not edited the video, you would have seen the cats run off into the long hallway. That is where I play the laser chase game for the cats to stretch their legs and run at full pelt.

The room is preparing to undergo decoration, which accounts for the boxes and lack of seating. The cats do spend most of their time in there though.

As the hours tick by, there have been incidents where the Bengal chases the Mau, so at least, it isnt one sided and both cats understand that it is just a game.

No name for the Bengal yet, as I cant gauge its personality. Nothing is standing out yet. The Egyptian Mau's outstanding quality were his reflexes, so the name followed easily. The Bengal isnt as easy to categorise. His pedigree name is MisterBengal, so Ive been calling him that for the time being.
 
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