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We have had our male American short hair Tuxedo kitty (Ghost) since February 2025. He’s about 1 3/4 years old and has been our only kitty for a while now. Last month some of our family friends were moving and weren’t going to be able to take their cat with them so we took her in. Shes also a tuxedo kitty (Marshmallow), but is an American long hair as you can see above.

They were getting along fine at first but now it seems Ghost is getting very territorial, or at least that’s how I’m understanding it. He won’t take his eye off her, anywhere in the house she goes, he goes. For a couple days he’d growl at her too over food and toys but that’s calmed down. A lot of the time she’ll just be laying down and he will go and antagonize/attack her and they’ll start fighting. There’s rarely any hissing, growling, or yowling (had to google search the meaning of this but basically mean “meows”) at each other but I’m still worried he’s just being mean to her. He also has stopped snuggling with us, sometimes he’ll come for a little attention but most of the time it’s short lived until he’s back to attacking her. His pupils also always seem large and in hunt mode, rarely does he ever have slit pupils anymore and I’m just worried that he’s stressed and confused.

I am just looking for assistance, I need to know if they are fighting and he’s being territorial then what can I do to help them become acclimated. If they are playing then how can I know when it’s gone too far.