HELP HELP HELP!!

Tayla is the most affectionate cat I've ever had... she throws herself all
over you and rubs her little face all over yours, giving nose kisses and
purring. But...

I just don't know if we'll be able to keep her. The yowling and chasing and
posturing with Demi, Jessie and Sammy are expected and that's not what I'm
worried about. It's her behavior with the kittens. Ben told me she was
"rough" with the kittens, but I hadn't seen what he was talking about until
today - I just thought she was holding them down to lick them. Ozzy was
laying on the back of my couch and Tayla jumped up next to him and started
licking him. Then, out of the blue, she started growling, hissing, biting
and scratching him. He went totally limp, so there wasn't any physical
damage - I squirted the heck out of Tayla until she jumped down. Then about
half an hour later Ozzy and Archer were laying in the same spot and Tayla
did the same thing, savagely (to me) attacking them for no reason.

Granted there wasn't any blood that I could see, but were I a kitten this
would have been *REALLY* traumatic for me to go through. Does anyone know
what might be causing this? Could it be that she just had her own kittens
taken away from her that eliciting this kind of behavior? Since there's no
blood should I not worry about this or is this something I need to really
worry about (as if I ever needed an excuse to worry)?! She has never been
alone and unsupervised with any other cat, and at this point I don't know if
I could go to work with her loose in the house with everybody else!

I do have the option of returning her to the no-kill rescue that we adopted
her from (in fact I had to sign a contract saying that if I ever wanted to
part with her we *HAD* to bring her back there). But man, I would really,
really hate doing this. On the other hand, I have Jessie traumatized, Sammy
fighting with Jessie, and the possibility of Tayla doing some real damage to
the kittens. There was a notation on her adoption papers that she went
ballistic around dogs - there was nothing at all about her behavior around
other cats.

As sweet as she is to humans, I think she would make a perfect "only cat",
but I just don't know if she'll ever be safe around other cats. On the
other hand, being an adult cat during kitten season I have a feeling she
would not be adopted for a long, long time.

Please, can anybody help me with this?



--

Hugs,

CatNipped

See all my masters at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/

On Jul 22, 5:01 pm, "CatNipped" wrote:
Tayla is the most affectionate cat I've ever had... she throws herself all
over you and rubs her little face all over yours, giving nose kisses and
purring. But...

I just don't know if we'll be able to keep her. The yowling and chasing and
posturing with Demi, Jessie and Sammy are expected and that's not what I'm
worried about. It's her behavior with the kittens. Ben told me she was
"rough" with the kittens, but I hadn't seen what he was talking about until
today - I just thought she was holding them down to lick them. Ozzy was
laying on the back of my couch and Tayla jumped up next to him and started
licking him. Then, out of the blue, she started growling, hissing, biting
and scratching him. He went totally limp, so there wasn't any physical
damage - I squirted the heck out of Tayla until she jumped down. Then about
half an hour later Ozzy and Archer were laying in the same spot and Tayla
did the same thing, savagely (to me) attacking them for no reason.

Granted there wasn't any blood that I could see, but were I a kitten this
would have been *REALLY* traumatic for me to go through. Does anyone know
what might be causing this? Could it be that she just had her own kittens
taken away from her that eliciting this kind of behavior? Since there's no
blood should I not worry about this or is this something I need to really
worry about (as if I ever needed an excuse to worry)?! She has never been
alone and unsupervised with any other cat, and at this point I don't know if
I could go to work with her loose in the house with everybody else!

I do have the option of returning her to the no-kill rescue that we adopted
her from (in fact I had to sign a contract saying that if I ever wanted to
part with her we *HAD* to bring her back there). But man, I would really,
really hate doing this. On the other hand, I have Jessie traumatized, Sammy
fighting with Jessie, and the possibility of Tayla doing some real damage to
the kittens. There was a notation on her adoption papers that she went
ballistic around dogs - there was nothing at all about her behavior around
other cats.

As sweet as she is to humans, I think she would make a perfect "only cat",
but I just don't know if she'll ever be safe around other cats. On the
other hand, being an adult cat during kitten season I have a feeling she
would not be adopted for a long, long time.

Please, can anybody help me with this?

--

Hugs,

CatNipped

Oh, I hate to hear that. Think when they're older, and not "kittens''
any more it would help?
I might get flamed for this, but some cats need to be "only" cats.
Boots does. She has
Biskit cowering all the time. Biskit has learned to stay out of her
way. If Boots comes in the
room, Bik will go under the desk. That's not good, but it's not going
to change. Most of the time
Boots begrudgingly tolerates the other cats. And she's near nine years
old now. She will never "like" them.
I've never let her get within paw-reach of the kittens. I'm pretty
sure she would hurt them.

When they're older, they'll learn to avoid Aunt Tayla, too. I"m not
sure if that's going to be enough for you. It's easy
to give advice, but not everyone knows how complicated the dynamics
are in a 5 cat household. I've got all
day home to referee, but I know you don't.

Long post, and not a whit of usable info for you, so we'll just purr
for peace in your house.

Sherry

--

Hugs,

CatNipped

See all my masters at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/


"Sherry" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Jul 22, 5:01 pm, "CatNipped" wrote:
Tayla is the most affectionate cat I've ever had... she throws herself
all
over you and rubs her little face all over yours, giving nose kisses and
purring. But...

I just don't know if we'll be able to keep her. The yowling and chasing
and
posturing with Demi, Jessie and Sammy are expected and that's not what
I'm
worried about. It's her behavior with the kittens. Ben told me she was
"rough" with the kittens, but I hadn't seen what he was talking about
until
today - I just thought she was holding them down to lick them. Ozzy was
laying on the back of my couch and Tayla jumped up next to him and
started
licking him. Then, out of the blue, she started growling, hissing,
biting
and scratching him. He went totally limp, so there wasn't any physical
damage - I squirted the heck out of Tayla until she jumped down. Then
about
half an hour later Ozzy and Archer were laying in the same spot and Tayla
did the same thing, savagely (to me) attacking them for no reason.

Granted there wasn't any blood that I could see, but were I a kitten this
would have been *REALLY* traumatic for me to go through. Does anyone
know
what might be causing this? Could it be that she just had her own
kittens
taken away from her that eliciting this kind of behavior? Since there's
no
blood should I not worry about this or is this something I need to really
worry about (as if I ever needed an excuse to worry)?! She has never
been
alone and unsupervised with any other cat, and at this point I don't know
if
I could go to work with her loose in the house with everybody else!

I do have the option of returning her to the no-kill rescue that we
adopted
her from (in fact I had to sign a contract saying that if I ever wanted
to
part with her we *HAD* to bring her back there). But man, I would
really,
really hate doing this. On the other hand, I have Jessie traumatized,
Sammy
fighting with Jessie, and the possibility of Tayla doing some real damage
to
the kittens. There was a notation on her adoption papers that she went
ballistic around dogs - there was nothing at all about her behavior
around
other cats.

As sweet as she is to humans, I think she would make a perfect "only
cat",
but I just don't know if she'll ever be safe around other cats. On the
other hand, being an adult cat during kitten season I have a feeling she
would not be adopted for a long, long time.

Please, can anybody help me with this?

--

Hugs,

CatNipped

Oh, I hate to hear that. Think when they're older, and not "kittens''
any more it would help?
I might get flamed for this, but some cats need to be "only" cats.

I know, but *$#!%* I hate to have to make that kind of decision! She is
*SO* sweet otherwise. At least, thank gawd, we adopted her from the no-kill
rescue, SunMart, that operates out of PetsMart, so at the very least I know
she won't be euthanized. Also, they don't have a shelter and board their
charges with fosterers, so she won't be confined to a cage either (although
with her aggressiveness she may be confined to one room unless they can find
a fosterer with no other animals - there are some that will only take one at
a time (and if that's the case I think she could make a good argument for
herself to be adopted as an only cat))! ^&%*&()*&*(& I hate this! I guess
I'm hoping someone can tell me the secret potion to use to make all this
behavior go away! :

It's been four weeks and one day since her adoption, and I hate to keep her
confined to one room for much longer, though.

Hugs,

CatNipped

Boots does. She has
Biskit cowering all the time. Biskit has learned to stay out of her
way. If Boots comes in the
room, Bik will go under the desk. That's not good, but it's not going
to change. Most of the time
Boots begrudgingly tolerates the other cats. And she's near nine years
old now. She will never "like" them.
I've never let her get within paw-reach of the kittens. I'm pretty
sure she would hurt them.

When they're older, they'll learn to avoid Aunt Tayla, too. I"m not
sure if that's going to be enough for you. It's easy
to give advice, but not everyone knows how complicated the dynamics
are in a 5 cat household. I've got all
day home to referee, but I know you don't.

Long post, and not a whit of usable info for you, so we'll just purr
for peace in your house.

Sherry

On Jul 22, 6:01 pm, "CatNipped" wrote:
Tayla is the most affectionate cat I've ever had... she throws herself all
over you and rubs her little face all over yours, giving nose kisses and
purring. But...

I just don't know if we'll be able to keep her. The yowling and chasing and
posturing with Demi, Jessie and Sammy are expected and that's not what I'm
worried about. It's her behavior with the kittens. Ben told me she was
"rough" with the kittens, but I hadn't seen what he was talking about until
today - I just thought she was holding them down to lick them. Ozzy was
laying on the back of my couch and Tayla jumped up next to him and started
licking him. Then, out of the blue, she started growling, hissing, biting
and scratching him. He went totally limp, so there wasn't any physical
damage - I squirted the heck out of Tayla until she jumped down. Then about
half an hour later Ozzy and Archer were laying in the same spot and Tayla
did the same thing, savagely (to me) attacking them for no reason.

Granted there wasn't any blood that I could see, but were I a kitten this
would have been *REALLY* traumatic for me to go through. Does anyone know
what might be causing this? Could it be that she just had her own kittens
taken away from her that eliciting this kind of behavior? Since there's no
blood should I not worry about this or is this something I need to really
worry about (as if I ever needed an excuse to worry)?! She has never been
alone and unsupervised with any other cat, and at this point I don't know if
I could go to work with her loose in the house with everybody else!

I do have the option of returning her to the no-kill rescue that we adopted
her from (in fact I had to sign a contract saying that if I ever wanted to
part with her we *HAD* to bring her back there). But man, I would really,
really hate doing this. On the other hand, I have Jessie traumatized, Sammy
fighting with Jessie, and the possibility of Tayla doing some real damage to
the kittens. There was a notation on her adoption papers that she went
ballistic around dogs - there was nothing at all about her behavior around
other cats.

As sweet as she is to humans, I think she would make a perfect "only cat",
but I just don't know if she'll ever be safe around other cats. On the
other hand, being an adult cat during kitten season I have a feeling she
would not be adopted for a long, long time.

Please, can anybody help me with this?

--

Hugs,

CatNipped

See all my masters at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/

I am so sorry to hear this. Have you tried Feliway yet? I have
no experience with it. But it may worth a try.

If you have to take Tayla back, she may not have any problem getting
adopted. I think there are people like me who can only take one cat
and prefer an adult cat. I adopted Rusty at 1 year old during peak
kitten season. I know I can't deal with an energetic kitten and prefer
a full grown cat. With Tayla being an affectionate cat, she will be
welcomed at many households as an only cat.
Maybe the problem in your home right now is too many cats. I hope you
are not upset by my saying that.

Winnie

talking about until today - I just thought she was holding them down to
lick them. Ozzy was laying on the back of my couch and Tayla jumped up
next to him and started licking him. Then, out of the blue, she started
growling, hissing, biting and scratching him. He went totally limp, so
there wasn't any physical damage - I squirted the heck out of Tayla
until she jumped down. Then about half an hour later Ozzy and Archer
were laying in the same spot and Tayla did the same thing, savagely (to
me) attacking them for no reason.

This is all I can suggest. First off I would try a scent exchange between
Tayla and all of the kittens and vice versa. Feliway might be of
assistance here as well. What I think is happening is that the multi cat
dynamic is too much for Tayla at this time. Even though she tries to
assert her position among the cats I think that she feels threatened and
is not really in the position you think she is. Perhaps she is taking it
out on the only ones she feels she can. Which isn't occurring until
perhaps she is getting overstimulated while attending to the kittens.
Another possibility is that while she is licking the kittens one of the
other cats comes by or is noticed which causes the aggressive behavior.
It would probably help to separate Tayla and the kittens for a while -
with her not being able to see the other cats at all. Under supervision
of course. Or perhaps just Tayla for a while with frequent human visits
until the kittens get older and she gets used to her living situation.
She really has not been there that long.

rrb

CatNipped wrote:
Please, can anybody help me with this?

It's been, what? 3 weeks? Give them time!!! Cats are very stubborn
creatures. Xoxo took almost a year to assert himself to Luna and Maya.

--
Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

I don't have any advice but you have purrs and gentle headbutts from
my house to yours.
Julie, Hobbes, Lacey, Sam and Barnabus

"Victor Martinez" wrote in message
...
CatNipped wrote:
Please, can anybody help me with this?

It's been, what? 3 weeks? Give them time!!! Cats are very stubborn
creatures. Xoxo took almost a year to assert himself to Luna and Maya.

A little over a month now - but I miss my Sammy girl! :

Hugs,

CatNipped


--
Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

CatNipped wrote:
A little over a month now - but I miss my Sammy girl! :

My advice would be to give them time, a lot more time. New dynamics need
to be formed and a new hierarchy established. These things take time,
you know how cats abhor change.
Luna would be the happiest cat if she were an only child. But I can't
imagine our lives without her or without any of the other 6.

--
Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he

"Victor Martinez" wrote in message
...
CatNipped wrote:
A little over a month now - but I miss my Sammy girl! :

My advice would be to give them time, a lot more time. New dynamics need
to be formed and a new hierarchy established. These things take time, you
know how cats abhor change.
Luna would be the happiest cat if she were an only child. But I can't
imagine our lives without her or without any of the other 6.

Do you think Sammy may eventually come out and be my companion again? I'm
afraid that she won't - Demi never did (remember how she ran from everyone
in a total panic when you and Tom visited?). I am just truly heartbroken
without her company.

Hugs,

CatNipped


--
Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
Send your spam he
Email me he