Aggressive kitty - need help please

I'll try to be brief, but any help you can suggest would be great.

I have three cats. Spam is the oldest, a 13 year old cat with hind leg
problems. He doesn't play much anymore but has some special sleepy spots
he stays in, and he's in good spirits. Our youngest cat Simon
occasionally harasses Spam, I think because Spam is "handicapped". It's
to the point that Spam hisses at Simon if Simon gets near his sleepy
spots.

About 6 weeks ago I woke up and found a few drops of blood on the floor.
Spam had a small scratch on his nose, and Simon had a scratch on his ear.
They both healed quickly but I was shocked that blood was drawn.

Three weeks ago our middle cat Reggie got a cold, and an eye infection.
When we took him to the vet we found out the eye was not infected from the
cold, it had been scratched. It had to have been from Simon and it's a
serious scratch.

To top it off, my mother is extremely ill so we have her cat now, too.
Simon hasn't fought with the new cat, but he's now fighting seriously with
Reggie. Reggie and Simon have gotten along for three years since we got
Simon, snuggling together and playing. But now they're chasing each
other, hissing, scratching, howling, growling at each other, and Simon
always starts it, even though Reggie isn't doing anything.

My hubby can take Simon to the vet soon just in case he's got some pain
we don't know about, but he doesn't have any other symptoms of illness.
I am really worried that Simon is hurting the other cats when we're not
around and I don't know why he's suddenly so violent. Any thoughts?

Stacia

Glitter Ninja wrote:
I'll try to be brief, but any help you can suggest would be great.


snip

He's throwing a tizzy because you have your Mom's cat now. Any time
you bring a new cat into the house, there will be fights to establish a
new pecking order. Protect your disabled cat if he can't defend
himself. Trim all of the cat's claws short. Buy a feliway diffuser or
a couple of them, and place them around the house. In a couple of
weeks they *should be* over the fighting, because the new order will
have been worked out.

-L.

"-L." writes:
Glitter Ninja wrote:

I'll try to be brief, but any help you can suggest would be great.

snip

He's throwing a tizzy because you have your Mom's cat now.

Except this started before we got mom's cat. I probably didn't make
that clear -- sorry. This attacking started to get worse about 6 weeks
ago and we didn't get the new cat until 2 weeks ago.
They didn't ever fight when mom's cat came to visit before. I don't
know if that matters or not, but mom's cat has been here twice for a few
weeks each time.

Thanks,
Stacia

Glitter Ninja wrote:
Except this started before we got mom's cat. I probably didn't
make
that clear -- sorry. This attacking started to get worse about 6
weeks
ago and we didn't get the new cat until 2 weeks ago.
They didn't ever fight when mom's cat came to visit before. I
don't
know if that matters or not, but mom's cat has been here twice for a
few
weeks each time.

Thanks,
Stacia

It could be triggered by your other cat being disabled/ill. I'm sure
the new cat didn't help. Try the feliaway diffusers and trimming his
nails. If it continues, you might want to have him evaluated to rule
out medical issues with him, and possibly try some elavil.

-L.

Glitter Ninja wrote:

My hubby can take Simon to the vet soon just in case he's got some
pain
we don't know about, but he doesn't have any other symptoms of
illness.
I am really worried that Simon is hurting the other cats when we're
not
around and I don't know why he's suddenly so violent. Any thoughts?

I agree with what Lyn said about Feliway. It helps many cats, however
not all. I have a different situation where I intorduced a new adult
male cat to my 2 existing adult cats, one male, one female. That was
almost 10 months ago and they still have to be separated despite
Feliway diffusers, spray, correctly introducing them, putting up a
screen door inside the house so they can get used to each other, and
having the aggressive cat on Elavil.

Generally, it works out and I even have faith that someday my cats will
be able to be in the same room and tolerate each other but you may have
to separate them, at least when you're not home. You especially need
to keep Spam safe. Maybe your vet will have some suggestions although
they usually don't seem to be all that up on behavioral problems.

I would definitely give the Feliway a try, though, and you may just
have to reintroduce all of them all over again, even the original 3
cats.

Candace

in article , Glitter Ninja at
wrote on 4/18/05 12:29AM:

"-L." writes:
Glitter Ninja wrote:

I'll try to be brief, but any help you can suggest would be great.

snip

He's throwing a tizzy because you have your Mom's cat now.

Except this started before we got mom's cat. I probably didn't make
that clear -- sorry. This attacking started to get worse about 6 weeks
ago and we didn't get the new cat until 2 weeks ago.
They didn't ever fight when mom's cat came to visit before. I don't
know if that matters or not, but mom's cat has been here twice for a few
weeks each time.

Thanks,
Stacia


Do you have a room where you can keep the new cat and do a gradual
introduction? I would definitely buy a Feliway diffuser. I would certainly
look at separating the new cat. go to groups.google.com and research
"introduction new cat" and you will find a great deal of info on misplaced
agression and introdcing cats.

(Glitter Ninja) wrote:

I'll try to be brief, but any help you can suggest would be
great. I have three cats. Spam is the oldest, a 13 year old cat
with hind leg problems. He doesn't play much anymore but has
some special sleepy spots he stays in, and he's in good spirits.
Our youngest cat Simon occasionally harasses Spam, I think
because Spam is "handicapped". It's to the point that Spam
hisses at Simon if Simon gets near his sleepy spots. About 6
weeks ago I woke up and found a few drops of blood on the floor.
Spam had a small scratch on his nose, and Simon had a scratch
on his ear. They both healed quickly but I was shocked that
blood was drawn. Three weeks ago our middle cat Reggie got a
cold, and an eye infection. When we took him to the vet we
found out the eye was not infected from the cold, it had been
scratched. It had to have been from Simon and it's a serious
scratch. To top it off, my mother is extremely ill so we have
her cat now, too. Simon hasn't fought with the new cat, but
he's now fighting seriously with Reggie. Reggie and Simon have
gotten along for three years since we got Simon, snuggling
together and playing. But now they're chasing each other,
hissing, scratching, howling, growling at each other, and Simon
always starts it, even though Reggie isn't doing anything. I am
really worried that Simon is hurting the other cats when we're
not around and I don't know why he's suddenly so violent. Any
thoughts?

Clip the aggressor's claws. If you can't tell, clip all of them.
Clipping claws is not difficult when you wake your cat up from a
nap. I use a horizontal flashlight which lays on the floor shining
upwards. I put the cat between my legs and sit on it. Wear glasses
or goggles. If you have a problem with being scratched, stick some
packaging tape on the other paw.

However difficult, that is the solution to the worst part of your
problem. Of course, you don't want the cats to go outside with
clipped claws.

I would get to it and do it if I were you. And make it a habit. Just
clip them short enough so they won't be penetrating skin for a
while. I would not risk making them bleed.

I would not just go by which one appears to be the aggressor. I
would also try to determine which one is encroaching on the other's
territory. My older female cat, Kiki, has been very rough on the new
young male cat since he arrived over one year ago. However, he has
been gaining territory and making her nervous. Currently, his claws
are clipped because she has run out of fight. At the same time, he
is still very timid. Recently, she was very close to him and licked
his back a couple of times, and he leaped away and turned around
like she was trying to hurt him (that was amusing).

I would immediately give your older cat lots of attention. The
stress might not be so easy to notice but might be extreme.

Good luck.

To top it off, my mother is extremely
ill so we have her cat now, too. Simon
hasn't fought with the new cat, but he's
now fighting seriously with Reggie.
Reggie and Simon have gotten along for
three years since we got Simon,
snuggling together and playing. But now
they're chasing each other, hissing,
scratching, howling, growling at each
other, and Simon always starts it, even
though Reggie isn't doing anything.
=A0=A0=A0=A0My hubby can take Simon to the vet
soon just in case he's got some pain we
don't know about, but he doesn't have
any other symptoms of illness. I am
really worried that Simon is hurting the
other cats when we're not around and I
don't know why he's suddenly so violent.
Any thoughts?

Your cat definitely should be seen by a vet to rule out a medical cause
for this behavior, but this could also have been caused by his seeing a
cat outside and exhibiting redirected aggression, or stress caused by
some sort of upheaval in the home (construction, etc.)

It IMPERATIVE that you separate Simon from the other cats *immediately*
and allow *no* contact for at least a week or two. Allowing the fighting
to go on is seriously escalating your problem and if you continue to
let it go on it could permanently damage the relationships between the
cats to the point where you can't undo it.

Separate Simon for awhile and then try gradually reintroducing him to
the other cats. You can start that after the isolation period by
temporarily replacing the door to the room he is in with a screen door
so he can start out by seeing the other cats without being able to get
to them. At that point you can work on developing positive associations
with the other cats by feeding them together on either side of the door,
giving treats the same way and playing using a feather wand that they
can bat at on either side of the door.

After some time of doing this (probably at least another week after his
initial isolation period) and seeing that Simon seems calm when the
other cats are near, you can start letting him out, closely supervised,
for very short periods of time. NEVER allow the cats to fight, and if
you see something start to happen DO NOT yell at them. Yelling only
causes the aggressor to think that he is getting yelled at because of
the other cat and will blame him, making things worse. Instead be
gentle, quietly separate them while talking sweetly to both and remove
Simon from the situation and take him back to his room. As things
improve, you can allow Simon more freedom, but don't allow him
free run of the house again until you've been home for a weekend and
have had a full day or two to observe him out and about with the other
cats.

You have to be very consistent in doing this and don't expect overnight
miracles. Undoing bad behaviors that have been allowed to develop takes
a lot of time and patience.

Megan



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