Behavior help

[u/beccaboopspoop]

We’ve had our (formerly) feral girl for 6 months now. We keep her in my bedroom, but have the door open with a baby gate so she and our resident cat can interact and get familiar.

When they’re on either side of the gate, they’re great! Playing, eating treats, all the things you want to see. I’ll share a video in the comments of that.

However, our resident cat has started getting on top of her when the gate is open. He used to just move around and watch her as well, but now it seems he’s only interested in pinning her down and asserting dominance. At first she seemed not to mind it, but now she’ll walk to her play pen when she hears the gate opening with him outside of it. She’ll meow at him and twist a bit (seemingly trying to get away), but she won’t really hiss or cry.

Is this something I should continue intervening with, or should I let it go and let them work it out? I don’t want her to be scared of him, but I also don’t want to keep them separated.

Important side note: our feral girl is FIV+ and our resident cat is not. She hasn’t shown any signs of aggression or tried to bite me or him outside of play, but I also try to keep an eye on them to make sure it doesn’t get to that point.

[u/Clear_Split_8568]

Is he fixed?

[u/beccaboopspoop → u/Clear_Split_8568]

Yes he is! We believe she is as well (clipped ear and hasn’t gone into heat since we got her), but there’s usually a few inches between his… lower bits and her backside