Aggressive behaviour

Question
I am in desperate need of advice and don't know where to go or who to ask. I have 2 Bengal queen entires Duchess was my first she is 11mths old and Iesha is 3yrs and pregnant. Iesha came to us less than a week ago, she is Duchesses mother. Both girls are beautiful but Iesha has started in the last 2 days showing violent aggression towards Duchess. I know it takes time for any new addition to settle in more so being pregnant but Duchess is to afraid to leave the lounge room so I have had to put a litter box, food and water in with her because Iesha will hunt he down and attack her to the point where she is getting injured. I would like to find a way where they both have free run of the house is this possible? I have begun giving Iesha time out in another room everytime she begins to show aggression and also using a squirt bottle. Will this help or make the problem worse? I did have reservations before agreeing to take on Iesha (she had a dislike to 2 other cats) and the breeder thought because they were mother and daughter they would be fine. They re-homed Iesha and other cats and kittens because they were caught up in the Queensland floods. Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Sharon,

My bet is, besides the fact that these two no longer know each other, Iesha is probably being rather hormonal as she is pregnant.  I would isolate Iesha to the area in which she is to have her kittens.  I would supply her with a birthing box (we like a "jumbo" cardboard storage chest, which is about 66 cm X 41 cm X 25 cm) with old toweling or bed clothes in the bottom in a nice warm area away from drafts and other cats.

This will temporarily resolve the issue.  Once the kittens are weaned and away from mama you can see about introducing Duchess and Iesha to each other.

Please let me know when you are ready to do this and we can talk about strategies. Good luck on Iesha's upcoming litter.

Best regards... Norm.