Will my "bully" ever change?
by Denise
I have two cats, age 11 female spayed, and age 8 male neutered. I have a habit of feeding strays and that is how I ended up with my first tortieshell cat. She is a beautiful cat (Beauty is her name) but she is a holy terror to the other two cats, especially the female. Beauty is estimated to be about 1 yr old by the vet. She has been spayed, etc. about three weeks ago. I thought when you spayed a cat, they calmed down and were nice. Not so with Beauty. She is loving and affectionate to me though. However, she has a habit of whenever I clean out the litter boxes, she has to run to each one to see what's going on and she stalks the other cats when they try to use them. I even caught her sitting in one of the litter boxes so my male could not use it. When I feed the cats in their separate bowls, she has to go to each one to see what food is put in there (it's the same for all). She is very territorial with food and litter boxes. I don't know what kind of life she had before she came to my back deck, but could this be because she is a stray and is used to fighting for things? Or maybe she was mistreated? I have tried reading articles and introducing the cats slowly but it did not work. My 11 yr old and the new one do not like each other. It got so bad, the 11 yr would not use her litter box and actually peed on my bed!!! Never had that happened before. I have taken to separating them now. The 11 yr old has the run of the upstairs and the other two have the downstairs and the basement. I want to introduce them again, but even if they smell one another, it sets off hissing and growling. I have been using the Bach flower essences and am awaiting my order of the Bully Remedy and Peacemaker. I am afraid to try to introduce them again but would really like all the cats to get along. Whenever the new one sees the 11 yr old, she immediately attacks her. I am afraid they will never get along and I will have to give the new one up, but that is my absolutely very last resort. Is there something I'm not doing that anyone can give suggestions to? Thank you so much. RESPONSE: It can take about 8 weeks for all the hormones to leave the system once a cat has been fixed. However, Beauty is just coming into her own as an adult cat and, given her background, she has likely learned to be agressive in order to survive. Both of these things make her a threat and your 11 year old probably feels like a target because of her age so she has adopted the "attack first and ask questions later" policy. There are a few things you can try. Make sure there are several litter boxes both upstairs and downstairs and in seperate areas. Beauty can't guard all of them! Play with them as much as possible. Your 11 year old may not want to play but she may enjoy watching the others. Play will help burn off excess energy making them less inclined to pick on each other. Offer treats when they are in the same room together. This will help them to associate good things with each other. You may also want to try Bach Flower Essences or Spirit Essences to help calm the emotions while they all learn to live together. Try the suggestions and give it some time and patience and see what happens. Donna - House Full Cats Mom |
