we have had our neutered tom,"thomas" since he was a kitten.he is 14 years old.his feline friends have gradually died,the last one last summer.he seemed lonely so we had a female rescue cat "katie"a few months ago.they tolerated each other well until a catfight few weeks ago over a piece of pork.now when in close proximity katie attacks him what can we do as we love them both?
2007-01-20 23:26:29 · 6 answers · asked by eugenia dwitsend 1 in Pets ➔ Cats
Try and separate them and they gradually reintroduce. Letting them eat on either side of a closed door is said to work well as they associate the smell of the other cat with a good thing (the food). You could also try Feliway (http://www.feliway.co.uk/) which is meant to calm kitties down.
2007-01-20 23:34:48 · answer #1 · answered by Perversia 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It might be a dominance thing. Thomas is an older cat now and Katie has successfully challenged his authority and standing in the house.
Keep them apart and challenge any aggressive behaviour (Loud clapping and firm 'no' or a water spray - never hit or pull them apart!) and remind them that you are the boss! They may grow more tolerant of each other in time.
Try feeding them in different places and ensure that treats are equally dealt out!
It may also be worth getting a health check done for Thomas. As an older cat, he may have something going wrong which Katie is sensing. Cats will often be aggressive towards a weaker cat and reject them from the 'group'. This is a natural reaction to protect the group from illness.
I witnessed a similar thing with a friend's cat who was attacked without notice by the other cat after years of being very close. The 'victim' was diagnosed with a bowel obstruction about two days later. Both are ok and tolerate each other now (but their friendship isn't the same).
I hope your household is a little calmer and more peaceful soon!
2007-01-20 23:59:09 · answer #2 · answered by Rats 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
All you can do is discourage the aggressor each time the unwanted behavior happens until the desired outcome has been achieved. I have two cats that have done this towards each other since they were very young kittens. Same as yours Older Male vs. Younger Female, even though they are only 6 months apart in age. They just love to hate each other.
The only solution to the problem is to rehome one of them, or just tolerate the behavior. I just worry as Thomas gets older then he is that he will become reclusive in an attempt to get away from her and start eliminating in spots he is not supposed to and not eating, etc.
2007-01-21 05:28:11 · answer #3 · answered by Jo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is a hierarchy thing, dont get involved unless there is actual fur flying, I have three cats, they all hate each other, and they have worked it out for themselves so they dont cross paths too often, they all have their own sleeping places, if there is a punch up throw a cusion at them, feed them at the same time in different places, but apart from that let them work it out, dont worry, they will be ok, cats dont often really hurt each other, granted you get the odd bite, but its very rare to get serious injury, its mostly just noise that sounds like they are killing each other!
2007-01-21 09:45:46 · answer #4 · answered by magpyre 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We have a pair of cats like that. And it is also the younger one (7) going after the older one (15). They take turns in the bedroom with the door shut. Luckily, cats love to sleep a lot. If we forget and leave them out together, they seem a bit better with each other (they probably had words and got it out of them).
2007-01-20 23:41:06 · answer #5 · answered by GoodGuy53 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
get rid of them
2007-01-20 23:33:44 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 5⤋