Suddenly two cats fighting

I have four male neutered indoor males. Mid last year, the 5 year old
bit the 9 year old. Recently he has bit him twice more - once
requiring two weeks of antibotics and a drainage of the wound. Previous
to this they both use to sleep near each other and groom each other.
They have lived together for five years. There was another cat (#4 - 2
years old) introduced about 1.5 years ago who tolerates both cats fine.
The other cat (#3 - 4 years old) loves all the cats. Now when the 5
year old sees the 9 year old, he hisses and stalks him and the 9 year
old runs and hides. We keep them separated now.

How do I improve the situation so they both like each other again (or
at least tolerate each other)?

Richard

BTW, all cats are healthy and are vet checked regularly.

Richard wrote:
I have four male neutered indoor males. Mid last year, the 5 year old
bit the 9 year old. Recently he has bit him twice more - once
requiring two weeks of antibotics and a drainage of the wound. Previous
to this they both use to sleep near each other and groom each other.
They have lived together for five years. There was another cat (#4 - 2
years old) introduced about 1.5 years ago who tolerates both cats fine.
The other cat (#3 - 4 years old) loves all the cats. Now when the 5
year old sees the 9 year old, he hisses and stalks him and the 9 year
old runs and hides. We keep them separated now.

How do I improve the situation so they both like each other again (or
at least tolerate each other)?

Richard

Do you have enough litter boxes for the 4 of them (should have at least 4)
and are they each getting their own food dishes? I found this happened to
me, also, when I added a fourth cat to my household last year. I would
always break up the fights. Also, do you have plenty of room vertically for
them (ie. window seats, etc).
Gail
"Richard" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have four male neutered indoor males. Mid last year, the 5 year old
bit the 9 year old. Recently he has bit him twice more - once
requiring two weeks of antibotics and a drainage of the wound. Previous
to this they both use to sleep near each other and groom each other.
They have lived together for five years. There was another cat (#4 - 2
years old) introduced about 1.5 years ago who tolerates both cats fine.
The other cat (#3 - 4 years old) loves all the cats. Now when the 5
year old sees the 9 year old, he hisses and stalks him and the 9 year
old runs and hides. We keep them separated now.

How do I improve the situation so they both like each other again (or
at least tolerate each other)?

Richard

Richard wrote:
I have four male neutered indoor males. Mid last year, the 5 year old
bit the 9 year old. Recently he has bit him twice more - once
requiring two weeks of antibotics and a drainage of the wound. Previous
to this they both use to sleep near each other and groom each other.
They have lived together for five years. There was another cat (#4 - 2
years old) introduced about 1.5 years ago who tolerates both cats fine.
The other cat (#3 - 4 years old) loves all the cats. Now when the 5
year old sees the 9 year old, he hisses and stalks him and the 9 year
old runs and hides. We keep them separated now.

How do I improve the situation so they both like each other again (or
at least tolerate each other)?

Richard

When I had a bully male cat to deal with, I did not know what to do so
I did something which is probably not all that great. I let the bully
know if he messes with the smaller cat, he will have to deal with me. I
would pick up the bully and bully him. He became aware of me. He no
longer attacked the other smaller cat. He would look at me first

If I saw the cat stalking the other cat, depending on my strength, I
would pick the cat up by the scruff of its neck, if I could, look it in
the eyes, and say firmly and steadily, No. Got it? No! The bully cat
above was too big to pick up by the scruff of its neck so I picked him
up by his chest. He was a big, mean cat who attacked everybody and
everything. He was go-go-go all the time.

I am sure there are more sophisticated measures, like "Clicker
Training" to distract the cat. You might want to ask in cat groups
where there are behaviorists and others who can finesse the situation.
I only did what I mentioned above because I did not have the time and
the bully cat was not my cat. I can't say my cat was all that innocent
since she attacked the bully cat first when he trespassed into our
territory, but that's another story.

What works great also is a coffee can full of marbles they hate that noise
worse than doorbells
wrote in message
ups.com...

Richard wrote:
I have four male neutered indoor males. Mid last year, the 5 year old
bit the 9 year old. Recently he has bit him twice more - once
requiring two weeks of antibotics and a drainage of the wound. Previous
to this they both use to sleep near each other and groom each other.
They have lived together for five years. There was another cat (#4 - 2
years old) introduced about 1.5 years ago who tolerates both cats fine.
The other cat (#3 - 4 years old) loves all the cats. Now when the 5
year old sees the 9 year old, he hisses and stalks him and the 9 year
old runs and hides. We keep them separated now.

How do I improve the situation so they both like each other again (or
at least tolerate each other)?

Richard

When I had a bully male cat to deal with, I did not know what to do so
I did something which is probably not all that great. I let the bully
know if he messes with the smaller cat, he will have to deal with me. I
would pick up the bully and bully him. He became aware of me. He no
longer attacked the other smaller cat. He would look at me first

If I saw the cat stalking the other cat, depending on my strength, I
would pick the cat up by the scruff of its neck, if I could, look it in
the eyes, and say firmly and steadily, No. Got it? No! The bully cat
above was too big to pick up by the scruff of its neck so I picked him
up by his chest. He was a big, mean cat who attacked everybody and
everything. He was go-go-go all the time.

I am sure there are more sophisticated measures, like "Clicker
Training" to distract the cat. You might want to ask in cat groups
where there are behaviorists and others who can finesse the situation.
I only did what I mentioned above because I did not have the time and
the bully cat was not my cat. I can't say my cat was all that innocent
since she attacked the bully cat first when he trespassed into our
territory, but that's another story.

Good point.

I have two litter boxes as I have had throughout the four cats living
with me.

They share a dry food dish like always (except the 9 year old gets his
own dish now). Wet food given once a day has always been served in
separate dishes.


Gail wrote:
Do you have enough litter boxes for the 4 of them (should have at least 4)
and are they each getting their own food dishes? I found this happened to
me, also, when I added a fourth cat to my household last year. I would
always break up the fights. Also, do you have plenty of room vertically for
them (ie. window seats, etc).
Gail
"Richard" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have four male neutered indoor males. Mid last year, the 5 year old
bit the 9 year old. Recently he has bit him twice more - once
requiring two weeks of antibotics and a drainage of the wound. Previous
to this they both use to sleep near each other and groom each other.
They have lived together for five years. There was another cat (#4 - 2
years old) introduced about 1.5 years ago who tolerates both cats fine.
The other cat (#3 - 4 years old) loves all the cats. Now when the 5
year old sees the 9 year old, he hisses and stalks him and the 9 year
old runs and hides. We keep them separated now.

How do I improve the situation so they both like each other again (or
at least tolerate each other)?

Richard

Richard wrote:
Thanks for the suggestion. It seems too aggressive for me to try
though.

Of course, I have never caught the cat when he bit the other one.

I guess I can consider some type of distraction noise when I see the
agressiveness.

Clicker Training is distraction but as an art form. There are groups
dedicated to this. Yahoo had one group by the person who started
Clicker Training. It's also good for teaching cats tricks and to give
them something to do. It can be used to stop dogs from barking
inappropriately, for example. But the people who work with aggressive
cats should have comments on behavioral modification methods. Clicker
Training is clicking a little thingee and rewarding with food when the
cat does something you want the cat to do, be it a trick or, in this
case, a distraction for play.

I do think you must do something when you see aggressiveness. Ask
around. Feliway diffusers have been suggested. I do wonder if the
younger cat is attacking the older cat because the older cat is now
less able to defend.