One cat picking on another

Hi Kelly ,
You don't say how much room you have or if your cats are allowed
outside but six cats is a lot of cats in one area. Cats are
territorial rather than pack animals (actually you could have just as
much trouble with six dogs, as dogs don't have a strict pecking order)
and while most cats rub along and tolerate each other, adding a new
cat adds extra stress to *all* the cats including Bartleby. It's not
so much him being in charge, as him wanting to protect what he feels
is his .
You might all feel happier if you rehome either Bartleby or Newcat,
it's not fair for all of them to live like this . It's just as
stressful for Bartleby to have to defend his territory as it is for
Newcat to be stalked.
Do you have enough food dishes and litter trays in different rooms?
Also, don't spray him when he chases her, you want him to associate
her with good experiences and not bad experiences which will make him
more angry and more inclined to chase her.
If you don't want to or can't rehome any cat, then you could try
reading Pam Johnson- Bennett's books, she gives lots of tips and
advice on how to encourage cats to get along. I hope this helps , let
us know how you get on.
Alison



"KellyH" wrote in message
news:i4Eic.16480$YP5.1208520@attbi_s02...
I need some advice here. I have a 6 cat household, 3 boys and 3
girls. My
alpha male cat Bartleby has started picking on NewCat, an 8 year-old
female.
Not to confuse things, but NewCat isn't the newest cat in the
household,
it's just her name. We added cat #6 about 3 months ago, I'm not
really sure
if that has anything to do with the trouble. This has happened
periodically
before, but now it's every day.

Bartleby will stalk NewCat when she's just sitting there, minding
her own
business. He chases her off from the food sometimes. Basically,
all he
does is run her off and chase her into a corner. There's no
fighting or fur
flying, because NewCat is such a wimp, she won't stand her ground.
Bartleby
challenges the other cats sometimes, and they all either ignore him,
or
fight back. It's never anything major, just rolling around,
wrestling. I
think he does it just to make sure everyone knows he's in charge.
Anyway,
NewCat spends a lot of her time under the bed now. When I see
Bartleby
going for NewCat, I squirt him with water. So I think now he's just
learned
not to do it in front of me. I hear him chasing her from the other
room
sometimes.

What can I do about this? The whole reason I have NewCat is that
she was
being terrorized in her previous home like this, but a lot worse.
NewCat
pretty much stays to herself, doesn't socialize much with the other
cats.
She doesn't like it when they are all running around like maniacs.
She's
very much a lapcat, and her favorite thing to do is sleep above my
head at
night.

--
-Kelly
kelly at farringtons dot net
Check out www.snittens.com

in article 5VOic.30730$aQ6.1628520@attbi_s51, KellyH at
wrote on 4/25/04 8:18 AM:

"Karen Chuplis" wrote in message
...

I always use time out on the "stalker". It seems to work. I would however
suggest a vet check as I've noticed my boy gets more agressive if his anal
glands are bothering him. You never know.


He had a check-up a couple months ago, and has never had any anal gland
problems, so I don't think that's it. I'm going to try Feliway diffusers.
I've tried the spray before, but it didn't do much. My mom's had good luck
with the diffusers with her two cats, one tends to pick on the other in much
the same way. She said she didn't really know it was working until the
diffusers ran out and they started fighting again.
I wish I could just tell NewCat to toughen up and stand up to him!

Feliway is a HUGE help with mine. Twice now I've wondered "why are you
getting so snarky?" and each time my diffusers were empty. I think it truly
helps. It is a gigantic change, but they just do better.

Karen

in article 5VOic.30730$aQ6.1628520@attbi_s51, KellyH at
wrote on 4/25/04 8:18 AM:

"Karen Chuplis" wrote in message
...

I always use time out on the "stalker". It seems to work. I would however
suggest a vet check as I've noticed my boy gets more agressive if his anal
glands are bothering him. You never know.


He had a check-up a couple months ago, and has never had any anal gland
problems, so I don't think that's it. I'm going to try Feliway diffusers.
I've tried the spray before, but it didn't do much. My mom's had good luck
with the diffusers with her two cats, one tends to pick on the other in much
the same way. She said she didn't really know it was working until the
diffusers ran out and they started fighting again.
I wish I could just tell NewCat to toughen up and stand up to him!

Feliway is a HUGE help with mine. Twice now I've wondered "why are you
getting so snarky?" and each time my diffusers were empty. I think it truly
helps. It is a gigantic change, but they just do better.

Karen

In article ,
enlightened us with...
in article i4Eic.16480$YP5.1208520@attbi_s02, KellyH at
wrote on 4/24/04 7:59 PM:

I need some advice here. I have a 6 cat household, 3 boys and 3 girls. My
alpha male cat Bartleby has started picking on NewCat, an 8 year-old female.
Not to confuse things, but NewCat isn't the newest cat in the household,
it's just her name. We added cat #6 about 3 months ago, I'm not really sure
if that has anything to do with the trouble. This has happened periodically
before, but now it's every day.

snip

I always use time out on the "stalker". It seems to work. I would however
suggest a vet check as I've noticed my boy gets more agressive if his anal
glands are bothering him. You never know.


My two cents - I also have a brat that gets obnoxious with the others,
and a timeout works great for her, too. If she's being evil, she gets 5
to 10 minutes all by herself in the bedroom to chill out.

No punishment helped. She actually got worse with getting squirted, like
she blamed them for her getting wet. *g*
Punishment increases stress levels, which can lead to more aggression
problems.

Oh, and if she's being good or stops being a **** when I ask her to, she
gets a game with her favorite toy, a shiny ball thingy on a fishing
pole. She adores it to pieces and only gets it as a reward when she's
behaving nicely (so it stays special).

--
--
~kaeli~
User: The word computer professionals use when they mean
'idiot'.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace

In article ,
enlightened us with...
in article i4Eic.16480$YP5.1208520@attbi_s02, KellyH at
wrote on 4/24/04 7:59 PM:

I need some advice here. I have a 6 cat household, 3 boys and 3 girls. My
alpha male cat Bartleby has started picking on NewCat, an 8 year-old female.
Not to confuse things, but NewCat isn't the newest cat in the household,
it's just her name. We added cat #6 about 3 months ago, I'm not really sure
if that has anything to do with the trouble. This has happened periodically
before, but now it's every day.

snip

I always use time out on the "stalker". It seems to work. I would however
suggest a vet check as I've noticed my boy gets more agressive if his anal
glands are bothering him. You never know.


My two cents - I also have a brat that gets obnoxious with the others,
and a timeout works great for her, too. If she's being evil, she gets 5
to 10 minutes all by herself in the bedroom to chill out.

No punishment helped. She actually got worse with getting squirted, like
she blamed them for her getting wet. *g*
Punishment increases stress levels, which can lead to more aggression
problems.

Oh, and if she's being good or stops being a **** when I ask her to, she
gets a game with her favorite toy, a shiny ball thingy on a fishing
pole. She adores it to pieces and only gets it as a reward when she's
behaving nicely (so it stays special).

--
--
~kaeli~
User: The word computer professionals use when they mean
'idiot'.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace