Having more problems with two cats I posted here about here last year

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uprc

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Hi there. I posted here last year in October about the two family cats, Jack and Norman. Things are started to get really frustrating with these two cats, but before I go into detail here is my post from last year, just to give some of you folks some insight into what these two have been through:

Originally Posted by UPRC

Hi, I've come here because my family and I are having some pretty big problems with our two cats. The first one, Norman, has been with us since... 2000 I think. Up until we brough home the new cat, Jack, Norman was a very nice cat. Heck, he was everyone's dream cat. Well behaved, affectionate (in his own little indirect way), and he loved to play, especially with me.
When brought Jack home in August, I will admit that we did not introduce Jack to Norman in the way that all the cat sites out there say we should have. Instead of putting Jack in a room for a week or two and all that, someone (I forget who) lowered Jack to the living room floor after we walked in the door.
Norman was there, and he looked very confused. I guess everyone figured that Norman would accept Jack pretty well because he's always been such a great little cat (well, big and fat cat since we had him fixed in January or February...), but I suppose some of you know how Norman reacted to Jack. He hissed and charged at him. I remember Jack ran and Norman decided to chase him, hissing as he did so. I knew that we were definitely doing things wrong, or at least not in the best way, but I also knew that I had next to no control over the situation so I just let everything play out.
Ever since the initial encounter, Jack has been free to roam the apartment. Norman remained hostile towards Jack for a little while. After he stopped, Jack constantly tried to play with Norman and this just caused Norman to grow hostile again.
Now, since then things have been pretty weird. I don't think anyone really knows what to do with the cats right now. Jack rarely ever tries to play with Norman (poucning, playfully swatting) because he knows that Norman will freak out on him. Just because Jack has pretty much stopped trying to play does not mean that Norman has calmed down though. Jack can be doing anything at all now.. Sleeping, walking around, eating treats, whatever. Norman will just randomly meow in an angry tone and attack him. He swats at him, hisses, tackles him, etc. Just today I noticed that Jack actually avoids Norman at times now, as if he is trying to limit his contact with him on his own or something...
I didn't mention something though. There are RARE times when both cats are laying close together, usually on the same bed only two or three feet apart, or we may see Norman grooming Jack (that is what it looks like, he licks Jack's head).
So.. Norman seems to tolerate him at times, letting Jack near him, but he usually attacks Jack. We usually clap or hands, make loud noises or something when Norman does this because we read that doing so will break up the fight. It doesn't always seem to work though..

On their own, both cats are very well behaved usually. Norman is usually found sleeping somewhere, and he'll let you pat him any way you want, something he never used to allow.. And just today, I heard him purr for the first time. Others say they have heard him purr before, but I know I haven't.

Jack has settled down a lot since we first got him. He was six months old when we brought him home, so he was a real hassle to take care of. He can still be difficult to handle at times since he likes to jump up on counters we don't want him on, but he seems to be starting to break that habit.
Jack is generally a pretty calm cat. He's without a doubt just as kind as Norman (.. used to be..) and enjoys playing from time to time.

I don't know if the problem lies in Norman's personality, or if it is because of how the two cats were introduced, but I would really appreciate it if anyone could give some advice.
Click to expand...
This is NOT what is going on any longer. Jack ended up as the "bully" of the two last Fall, usually charging Norman and either tackling him or just plain jumping right on top of him. Norman hates this, in fact it infuriates him. You can tell from the hateful noises he makes at Jack.
Immediately after Norman would get attacked by Jack, and after he would make noises at Jack (I am assuming that they mean "leave me the hell alone"), Norman would try to get away from Jack, usually resulting in Jack pouncing on him again. This would usually last until someone yelled something or made a loud noise. In my case, I would simply approach Jack and he would run away from me as if he knew that he shouldn't be pouncing on Norman.

Now, we moved back in July and are now able to let the cats outside. For about two months, this seemed to help things (I am assuming) since Jack didn't attack Norman as often. In fact, I don't remember him doing a heck of lot during July and August, but he slowly started going back to his old habits in late August or early September. He is getting progressively worse, his attacks on Norman becoming more frequent. In fact, just before I came here to post this, Jack was chasing Norman. It was without a doubt the worst conflict between them yet. Norman was practically screaming at Jack, making the most hateful screeches imaginable as he continued looking for a safe haven. I didn't see any claws out (I wasn't RIGHT there watching, I was about 10 feet away and the cats were in a darkened hallway), but Jack just would not back off. He chased Norman all throughout our home, all the while leaping on top of him, tackling him, etc.

Even though it pains me to admit this, I want to smack that Jack.. It is getting very, very frustrating. The attacks occur multiple times every day. They usually don't last any more than a couple seconds, sometimes reaching maybe 5-10 seconds. The attack that prompted me to post this lasted about thirty seconds, maybe slightly longer.

Honestly, I need advice. Nobody else is going to do a damn thing about this problem. Throw some stuff my way.


Also if it helps in any way at all, these are the cats.
http://star.walagata.com/w/uprc/Jack.jpg
http://star.walagata.com/w/uprc/Norman.jpg

Jack is also slightly larger than Norman.
 
S

schwarzekatz

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Boy that does sound frustrating. Maybe Jack needs some kitty prozac or something?
 
T

tru

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Jack and Norman are very beautiful cats.


I have a cat playpen in my living room that I got for ferals waiting to be fixed that also serves as cat jail for those that want to be too aggressive.

As a rule, none of the cats have to stay there too long, but if one is misbehaving then it's to the playpen they go for a short period.

My Magic is the one that has spent the most time in the pen for chasing Monique, but now that I think about it, he hasn't chased her in a long time. Now Monique is the biggest trouble maker with all the other cats in the and has started logging time in the pen. She seems to have calmed down since her last stint too.


I'd suggest either using a carrier or getting one of those small dog cages for "time out" and whenever one of them starts getting aggressive with the other, put him in the cage for 10 or 15 minutes. If you are consistent, the behavior should smooth out some.

Don't do like I've done and forget they are in the cage though. I've forgotten and left Magic in there overnight before. I'm such a bad mom sometimes.

I must add that the playpen always has food, water and a litter box whenever there is a cat in it though so other than losing freedom they don't suffer terribly.


Good luck with Norman and Jack. I do hope they finally settle down with each other.
 
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