Behavioral Problems with a Senior Cat

I am so with you on that.

Hi Duchess,
You are not alone, so many of us cat owners live in a multicat household where all the cats just can't seem to get along. So to shead a little light on the subject, our cute little domestic kitties occupy A LOT of space on their own in the wild. For example a female can occupy 15 acres all by herself and males can occupy 150 acres all by themselves ....yes a 150 acres! So, when we put several kitties in one house, it can cause a world of trouble. Many times they duke it out over territory and resources, such as napping spots and food, even litterboxes. In a situation like this were the aggression has gone on for more than a year I recommend medication. We basically need to get Tedi to be less hostile/aggressive and Lexi to get some confidence. I would suggest approaching a vet in your area that has some experience with treating behavioral issues and advise them that you've spoke briefly with a cat behaviorist and that I think it is a good idea to try buspirone for Lexi to help build her confidence and Prozac for Tedi to make him less aggressive. This should help level the playing field in your home, because at this point, behavior modification will not do a whole lot since Lexi as learned to fear Tedi, her submissiveness eggs Tedi on and Tedi thrives on the thrill of chasing her, so it's a cycle that it feeding off of each of them, so medication I think would be the route to take. Also make sure there are plenty of resources and territory, such as plenty of food at several feeding stations placed randomly through out the home, and multiple litterbox stations also randomly placed through out the home, because Tedi cannot stand gaurd at all of them at once, so Lexi will always have a back up litterbox if needed. And also make sure there is plenty of 3-dimensional space, like window perches, scratching posts, and chairs for them to nap on, the more resources available, the less they will feel inclinded to fight over them. I hope this works for you, I wish you the best!
Kerry

Kerry-

First of all, I really respect what you do. I really appreciate you coming on here and helping. Thanks! But my only question is that you recommend medication? Isn't there anything else they can try first? I just hate to see cats on meds if there are other solutions. But what do I know!?!


Tiffany

I believe your question was already dealt with:

I see what you mean, I only recommend medication if the situation has persisted for more than a year and the quality of life is greatly lessened. What she described was that not only Tedi, but all the other cats pick on Lexi. They ambush her in the litterbox, and spend the rest of the day taunting her. This is no life, it's one thing if the aggression is occasional, but all day, everyday, even when trying to use the restroom is not the life for a cat. The litterbox ambushing can easily lead to a litterbox avoidance issue and Lexi using the restroom outside of the litterbox and the cat aggression can also escalate. The medication is not permant either, and Buspar is non-addictive. The cats are generally on medication for an average of three months, then gradually weaned from it to a medication-free household. Yet Feliway is a good idea to try, it generally helps to reduce stress caused by aggression, but when actions have become habits, well they are just hard to break and Lexi's submissive behavior feeds into Tedi's aggressive behavior. It would be different if Tedi was aggressive and Lexi was too, they would eventually work it out, but in situations where the aggressor has totally dominated the submissive one and the submissive cat has took the submissive roll yet the aggressor insists on bullying her, sometimes medication has to step in, because at this point it is more of a bullying issue and not a working out of the cat's hierarchy. I agree with you, I hate to recommend medications, but sometimes I feel it is in the cat's best interest and in this particular case I felt it was, as a rule, I use it as a last resort too, this was just one of the few I recommended it on. Have a good one!
~Kerry

In your situation if you are going to add another kitty to your household, I would suggest a female kitten. Those are the least threatening to the already established house cat. Males require more territory so it's more difficult to bring in a male than a female, and of course kittens are easier to introduce, so I would suggest a female kitten to help make things go more smoothly. Good luck!
Kerry