One cat picking on another

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

"KellyH" dumped this in
news:i4Eic.16480$YP5.1208520@attbi_s02 on 24 Apr 2004:

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.

This is *exactly* what Bonnie does to Shadow. Shamrock does it sometimes,
but he ends up wrestling Shadow to the point where I have to step in, and
then Shadow runs off huffing . At least Shamrock isn't as persistant as
Bonnie is with Shadow, but these are reasons I keep Shadow separate from
Bonnie and Shamrock during the day when I'm at work. For when I'm here and
all of the cats are together and Bonnie starts stalking Shadow to chase
him, I have a container full of coins that I pick up and rattle which
always stops her. Chasing, per say, is not always a bad thing, but I think
with cats like Shadow and your NewCat, they don't need the added stress.

--
Cheryl

"KellyH" dumped this in
news:i4Eic.16480$YP5.1208520@attbi_s02 on 24 Apr 2004:

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.

This is *exactly* what Bonnie does to Shadow. Shamrock does it sometimes,
but he ends up wrestling Shadow to the point where I have to step in, and
then Shadow runs off huffing . At least Shamrock isn't as persistant as
Bonnie is with Shadow, but these are reasons I keep Shadow separate from
Bonnie and Shamrock during the day when I'm at work. For when I'm here and
all of the cats are together and Bonnie starts stalking Shadow to chase
him, I have a container full of coins that I pick up and rattle which
always stops her. Chasing, per say, is not always a bad thing, but I think
with cats like Shadow and your NewCat, they don't need the added stress.

--
Cheryl

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.

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.

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.

Karen

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.

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.

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.

Karen

"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.

The answer is simple. Openly reward NewCat in front of the others
while at the same time openly scolding the others in front of NewCat.
Little special treats (like tuna or salmon or fresh cream) should be
piled high for NewCat, but when the others try to steal NewCat's
treats, they should be severely chastised with a water pistol.
Especially if you can do it in front of NewCat. Allow NewCat to sleep
with you while kicking the others out. They will learn in a hurry what
they are doing wrong. Trust me. Cats are weird creatures. They demand
unorthodox approaches.



IBen G.

"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.

The answer is simple. Openly reward NewCat in front of the others
while at the same time openly scolding the others in front of NewCat.
Little special treats (like tuna or salmon or fresh cream) should be
piled high for NewCat, but when the others try to steal NewCat's
treats, they should be severely chastised with a water pistol.
Especially if you can do it in front of NewCat. Allow NewCat to sleep
with you while kicking the others out. They will learn in a hurry what
they are doing wrong. Trust me. Cats are weird creatures. They demand
unorthodox approaches.



IBen G.

"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!


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

"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!


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

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