Don't know what do to about Gizmo and Little One! (warning..long post)

Background info...I have 6 cats. Harley and Monster were first (they are now almost 4), Little one was added when the first 2 were still kittens about 6 months old if that so they all bonded pretty quick because she was about 4 months old when we brought her home. Everything was fine until the summer before last when we took in 3 kittens who lost their mother and needed bottle fed.

When we got them, we had just moved to my MIL's old house (much smaller than our old one and FILLED with boxes) while our house was being built so it was a big change for my first 3 but Little One was the most timid which really surprised us. About 2 weeks after the move is when we brought the kittens in. THe first few weeks weren't a problem as they were kept in a box so the other cats ignored them after the initial inspection.

When the kittens got old enough to go out of the box, everything seemed fine but Gizmo picked Little One as his "play partner", which did not impress Little One at all! She would growl if he even came near her, and prefered to spend most of the day on the screened in porch, away from the "kids".

When we moved to our new house things calmed down because it was much bigger and the cats could spread out more. We also added two dogs, but they didn't seem to bother her at all. Things were fine, for a while. Last spring though she started getting really moody and begged to go outside (she was originally a barn cat and was old enough when we got her to remember outside, and we were back on the same land) so, since we don't have a screened in porch on our new house yet, we started letting her out during the day for an hour or so, and she was a much happier cat. I know, bad decision because she disappeared for a week and came back badly injured. It took about 3-4 months (and huge vet bills) to get her back to normal, and she still walks with a limp.

Anyway, during her recovery, everything was fine with her and Gizmo. Then, the last few months we've been finding cat pee everywhere. We didn't see who was doing it so they all got checked out (more vet bills) and everyone is in perfect health so it isn't UTI. The litter boxes are cleaned regularly and nothing has changed with that so we were at a loss.

So, tonight, we finally witnessed something we hadn't thought of. Little One was sitting there minding her own business, and out of the blue Gizmo attacks her! And, not a play attack...as in hissing, yowling, tail twitching, fur flying! After I clapped to break it up, Little One runs (limps) off...and Gizmo chases her and starts again! I break it up again...and Little One jumps up on the counter. I thought it was to get away from him, but the next thing I hear is scratching and found out Little One peed on the phone book and our cell phones!!

So, now I'm thinking she is the one that started the peeing party. Our new carpets are ruined (between the cats and the dogs muddy paws), and we've scrubbed them SOOO many times. I'm just heart broken.

I just don't know why. He isn't trying to play anymore, he is getting very aggressive (he was fixed when he was 5 months old, Little One was fixed right after we got her so she was about the same age). Do you think it is an Alpha issue? I always thought Little One was the alpha of my little family...could Gizmo be challenging her? If so, why doesn't she just put him in his place?

What can I do to stop this? My husband is ready to put them both outside, and honestly there are days when I want to also. I wouldn't, but I can't live like this. I'm sorry this is so long, but I felt like I needed to give the full background. Any suggestions?

I could be way off base here, but it seems to me maybe you're right about this. Gizmo may be taking advantage of her weakness - now that she's not actually ill.

Little One is clearly stressed out - big time.

We had a kind of similar problem (without the pee) after Tuxedo basically recovered from his autoimmune problem. Lazlo became very aggressive against him. Here's what we did.

We got Feliway spray and used it everywhere (except near cat trees/condos/scratching posts and litter boxes). The flower essences didn't work for us, but they may for you. I'd try Multicat Household Harmony (or whatever it is) available here: http://www.catfaeries.com

You have been using an enzyme cleaner to clean the carpets? When Spooky had her problem, we got Nok-out and literally used gallons of it. The couch needed to be treated three times from one pee. It's available here: http://www.nokout.com

And you've gone through the house with a black light to find all the pee? That's also a must.

You should also try switching to Cat Attract Litter for a while. This may help the peeing - it won't help the stress.

So - back to the stress. The Feliway - at least for us - helped the most when we used it for two weeks and then gave it a one week break: two weeks on, one week off.

Do scent swapping. For at least two months. Rub Little One all over with a towel and get it full of her scent (you may not be able to smell it - it works better if you washed it without fabric softener). Do the same thing with another towel - rub it all over Gizmo.

Give Gizmo and Little one as much alone play time - at least twice a day - as you can. We would take Lazlo into the guest bedroom and play the heck out of him. Then we'd put treats down for him on the Tuxedo scented towel. Then we'd take Tuxedo into the guest bedroom, play the heck out of him, and put treats down on the Lazlo scented towel. It takes time and effort. But the extra attention will help reduce Little One's stress, and it will help reinforce Gizmo's sense of importance. But putting the treats down on the towels scented like the other cat, over time, will help them come to associate "good" things with each other.

Every two weeks we would take a new catnip toy and give it to Tuxedo. Then we'd take it away. It'd have his drool all over it. Then we'd give it to Lazlo. Same idea.

Do you have a lot of vertical space? This also can help dispell tension, especially if it's an apha issue.

Because Little One wants to get out - any way you can build a cat enclosure? Any way you can build one that has access from the house? Even better yet - two entrances?

In our old house, it was a more standard layout, and there was one entrance into and out of the kitchen. It was a major place of attacks and hassles. In this house, there are two entrances into/out of the kitchen, and it has really changed that dynamic. (We feed them in the kitchen). If we had half a brain, we would have started feeding them in the living room of the other place - that way they wouldn't have the entrance/exit problem, but moving solved that one for us, and it wasn't something we thought about, we just got lucky, I guess.

If you want links to some cool things that people have made themselves, or cool things you can purchase and put up pretty easily, I've got links to threads and cat enclosures you can purchase.

Hope these ideas help,

Laurie

Originally Posted by LDG

I could be way off base here, but it seems to me maybe you're right about this. Gizmo may be taking advantage of her weakness - now that she's not actually ill.

Little One is clearly stressed out - big time.

We had a kind of similar problem (without the pee) after Tuxedo basically recovered from his autoimmune problem. Lazlo became very aggressive against him. Here's what we did.

We got Feliway spray and used it everywhere (except near cat trees/condos/scratching posts and litter boxes). The flower essences didn't work for us, but they may for you. I'd try Multicat Household Harmony (or whatever it is) available here: http://www.catfaeries.com

You have been using an enzyme cleaner to clean the carpets? When Spooky had her problem, we got Nok-out and literally used gallons of it. The couch needed to be treated three times from one pee. It's available here: http://www.nokout.com

And you've gone through the house with a black light to find all the pee? That's also a must.

You should also try switching to Cat Attract Litter for a while. This may help the peeing - it won't help the stress.

So - back to the stress. The Feliway - at least for us - helped the most when we used it for two weeks and then gave it a one week break: two weeks on, one week off.

Do scent swapping. For at least two months. Rub Little One all over with a towel and get it full of her scent (you may not be able to smell it - it works better if you washed it without fabric softener). Do the same thing with another towel - rub it all over Gizmo.

Give Gizmo and Little one as much alone play time - at least twice a day - as you can. We would take Lazlo into the guest bedroom and play the heck out of him. Then we'd put treats down for him on the Tuxedo scented towel. Then we'd take Tuxedo into the guest bedroom, play the heck out of him, and put treats down on the Lazlo scented towel. It takes time and effort. But the extra attention will help reduce Little One's stress, and it will help reinforce Gizmo's sense of importance. But putting the treats down on the towels scented like the other cat, over time, will help them come to associate "good" things with each other.

Every two weeks we would take a new catnip toy and give it to Tuxedo. Then we'd take it away. It'd have his drool all over it. Then we'd give it to Lazlo. Same idea.

Do you have a lot of vertical space? This also can help dispell tension, especially if it's an apha issue.

Because Little One wants to get out - any way you can build a cat enclosure? Any way you can build one that has access from the house? Even better yet - two entrances?

In our old house, it was a more standard layout, and there was one entrance into and out of the kitchen. It was a major place of attacks and hassles. In this house, there are two entrances into/out of the kitchen, and it has really changed that dynamic. (We feed them in the kitchen). If we had half a brain, we would have started feeding them in the living room of the other place - that way they wouldn't have the entrance/exit problem, but moving solved that one for us, and it wasn't something we thought about, we just got lucky, I guess.

If you want links to some cool things that people have made themselves, or cool things you can purchase and put up pretty easily, I've got links to threads and cat enclosures you can purchase.

Hope these ideas help,

Laurie

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I've tried Feliway, but it doesn't help, but I've never tried it two weeks on, one week off. That may make a difference. I may try it again.

For cleaning the carpets, we have been using a carpet scrubber and using Oxy in it that is supposed to have enzyme cleaner in it. I've also been scrubbing spots by hand with woolite pet and stain remover that also should eliminate any odors. It's a lost cause.

Do we have elavated levels? We used to. We had an eight level cat tree in the family room, and when we went to rearrange the furniture (last week), we found out the base of the cat tree was saturated with cat pee and it had already ruined the laminate floor we spent $700 dollars on to put in. Needless to say, DH was PISSED, and threw the cat tree out the back door (no deck yet, so it was a 10 ft drop). I convinced him the next day to go out and rescue it, and it can be repaired; it just needs a new base and a good cleaning and it will be fine. But they still have plenty of levels, and I haven't seen a cat sleep on the cat tree in ages. But, they did use it as a scratching post, so that is good.

I honestly can't deal with this anymore. Going though the house with a black light?? I can't even imagine what I will find. And, honestly I don't think it's all Little One. I know she's stressed. Now, we allow her in the basement for a few hours each night because she wants to get away from everything. But we can't trust her in the basement. She has her own litter box down (I don't give food, since it's just for a little while) but she is still peeing, but in boxes, not on the floor.

The scent swapping thing is something I should have thought about before. DH and I are so busy, and making the time to do that is so hard. But, we need to try it...hopefully that helps.

I just feel like a terrible mommy. I clean the floor and the dogs go out in the mud (don't have a choice!) and there goes my clean floor. I clean one litter box, go clean another, and someone poops outside the newly cleaned litter box...just because. My pug insists on chasing the cats our of their litter box...just because she can, and she won't stop when I say no. I've tried the "holding down to show dominance" thing from the Dog Listener, but that doesn't help because she is so stubborn and fights me constantly and tries to bite me. My cats don't get along after almost 2 years. These are my kids, and I want them all to get along and be happy. I honestly just want to get rid of all of them and get fish.

Sorry, just needed to vent.