Aggression

I have 2 cats both are about 3 years old. My male, Carmel, just turned 3 this month & my femal, Peek-A-Boo, will be 3 in March. Several months ago we were having litter box issues with Carmel. Our vet put him on an anti-anxiety pill which has worked wonders there is no longer a problem with that. When we first adopted Carmel he was a stray that my little sister found in the back woods. We took him in because we couldn't stand her tears. My female we adopted 6-8 months later from the local humane society. My husband & I love dearly. We moved out of our apartment Back in April & they were getting along fine. About 4 months ago Carmel began to become very domineering over Peek-A-Boo. He started running her out of every room she was in & keeping her from the food dish. As time has gone on he has become worse. Carmel rips out clumps of her fur, drags her by her neck. Peek-A-Boo doesn't just hiss at him she actually howls out in pain. She has plenty of places to get up out of his way but he is relentless he'll sit & stare at her till she has to come down. Most of this behavior happens at night when my husband & I go to bed & in the morning when he gets up to go to work. We are both home on the weekends & I have noticed it doesn't happen then. I am becoming concered becuase Peek-A-Boo is getting to the point where she is terrified of him. He can't even just walk by her w/o her hissing & running away to hide most of the time. I have this concern that one of these days he is jut going to kill her. I have considered putting them in separate areas of the house for a few days with their own food dish & litter box. Is there anything that we can do to get this aggression to settle down?

The first thing I'd do is take Carmel to the vet. Aggression is often a sign of pain - and given that he had some litter box problems before, this may be a sign that something is going wrong inside. If the anti-anxiety medication your vet gave Carmel is Elavil, it works as an anti-anxiety medication, but it also functions to cause kitties to have to pee less often, encouraging them to use the box because they're only going like once a day.

Our kitty, Tuxedo, had a problem peeing outside the box. We took him to the vet, and there appeared to be nothing wrong. Long story short, it turns out he had a "cyst" of crystals attached to the lining of his bladder wall, and the MRI at the vet wasn't strong enough to see it. After going to a specialist with a stronger MRI, it was discovered. He had to have surgery - and this solved the problem. If we hadn't have pursued it, he would have remained in terrible discomfort, and he was becoming VERY aggressive (though he often tormented her anyway) towards our girl, Spooky.

If you are absolutely certain it isn't a medical problem, I would separate the two and start over. I'd rub Peek-A-Boo all over with two towels. Put one under Carmel's food dishes. Leave treats out on the other one at least once a day. Do the same thing with Carmel for Peek-A-Boo. The idea is to help them come to associate good things with the other's scent.

I'd then consider getting Feliway plug-ins for the house. This is a synthetic hormone that mimics the friendly markers in cats' cheeks and helps to promote a calmer atmosphere in a stressful situation with a multi-cat household.

I'd keep them separated for at least a week, and then begin supervised sessions together. During these sessions, Carmel should be praised to high heaven for any positive interaction with Peek-A-Boo. Keep a can with coins in it to rattle if he goes for her. This will startle him out of aggression. Then separate them again. I'd start with a short session - maybe 10 - 15 minutes. See how it goes. Lengthen the time each time (if possible).

Again - the idea is to associate "good" behavior with good things (praise and treats), and "bad" behavior with being ignored and getting separated again.

I'd also consider extra play time for Carmel while being separated - and if the reintroductions go well, I'd consider continuing the extra play time. It helps work off the extra energy he seems to have.

Hopefully these suggestions will help,

Laurie

I am certain that it isn't medical he was at the vet recently & she is aware of his aggression. He is on amytriptoline for his anxiety & he definatly has no issues with going to the potty we have to clean it every day. I think that I may have figured out what has been causing all the aggression. Carmel is always getting attention from me but my husband is usually laying with Peek-A-Boo. Over the last 3 days he has been spending more time letting Carmel lay with him in the evening & the aggression towards Peek has calmed way down. I am wondering if it is possible that he may have been a bit jealous. Of course since Carmel is getting so much of my husbands attention Peek has been coming to me more for a person to snuggle with she has even been sleeping with me at night which is unusual for her. If the fighting starts up again then I am definately separating them for a week. You gave me some very helpful advice thank you.