Moving House with cats who are already at war

hello all

i am about to move house with 2 cats and 2 dogs. one cat Rabs who is a year
old gets on with the dogs very well. the other cat Monday cannot stand either
the dogs or the young cat. they have to be kept seperate all the time - which
is a pain. the oldest cat was the 2nd cat i had, and the first cat, who was
top cat, disappeared about 1.5 years ago, after we got our first dog
(unlikely to be related to dog). Monday appeared unafffected for a few
months and suddenly developed what we can only describe as pathological fear
of the dog. we thought getting another cat would help distract her from the
dog but from the beginning on she was so aggressive that we kept them
seperate. the kitten became friends with the dog, and about 4 months after
her arrival, we got another puppy. kitten and pup became fast friends.
in effect we have a situation where we either have monday in the room and the
other 3 elsewhere or reversed.
a few times when the cats have met and started fighting (immediately - no
warnings) the dogs have joined in and stuck up for their mate Rab's. usually,
Monday is on the offensive, snarling under doors etc. yesterday they were
accidently in the garden at the same time and this time Rabs was on the
offensive, maybe because she knew that if she was getting the worst of it,
she only had to return to the garden where she was safe with the dogs.

we speculate that Monday as the oldest pet, and who was never top cat, cannot
deal well with the other pets.

we have never left them to "fight it out" as with dogs, since cat injuries
have a habit of taking long to heal (especially in the tropics where we live)

we are now about to move house and are wondering if this would be the time to
try to re-introduce them to each other on neutral ground. Monday is the
oldest pet and has not tolerated intrusion by any other species.

any comments or advice welcome
thanks
zhaopin

It sounds to me like the best solution would be to find Monday a home where
she will be the only animal in the house. Maybe you could fine a retired
person or couple to take her so she'd have a nice quite home.

Celeste

"zhaopin" u26574@uwe wrote in message news:6639b60d8e639@uwe...
hello all

i am about to move house with 2 cats and 2 dogs. one cat Rabs who is a
year
old gets on with the dogs very well. the other cat Monday cannot stand
either
the dogs or the young cat. they have to be kept seperate all the time -
which
is a pain. the oldest cat was the 2nd cat i had, and the first cat, who
was
top cat, disappeared about 1.5 years ago, after we got our first dog
(unlikely to be related to dog). Monday appeared unafffected for a few
months and suddenly developed what we can only describe as pathological
fear
of the dog. we thought getting another cat would help distract her from
the
dog but from the beginning on she was so aggressive that we kept them
seperate. the kitten became friends with the dog, and about 4 months after
her arrival, we got another puppy. kitten and pup became fast friends.
in effect we have a situation where we either have monday in the room and
the
other 3 elsewhere or reversed.
a few times when the cats have met and started fighting (immediately - no
warnings) the dogs have joined in and stuck up for their mate Rab's.
usually,
Monday is on the offensive, snarling under doors etc. yesterday they were
accidently in the garden at the same time and this time Rabs was on the
offensive, maybe because she knew that if she was getting the worst of it,
she only had to return to the garden where she was safe with the dogs.

we speculate that Monday as the oldest pet, and who was never top cat,
cannot
deal well with the other pets.

we have never left them to "fight it out" as with dogs, since cat injuries
have a habit of taking long to heal (especially in the tropics where we
live)

we are now about to move house and are wondering if this would be the time
to
try to re-introduce them to each other on neutral ground. Monday is the
oldest pet and has not tolerated intrusion by any other species.

any comments or advice welcome
thanks
zhaopin