Aggression, innapropriate peeing, and spraying problems

We have 3 cats: a 3 yr old male Bengal (Stark), a 5 yr old female Bengal (Kirri), and a 7 month male Savannah (Ari). All are fixed. We have three litterboxes: a litter robot, Petsafe SimplyClean, and a plain old fashioned hand-scoop version.

Our problems are with Kirri and Stark.

Kirri first: Kirri has some long-running litterbox issues that we're mostly resigned to at this point -- she prefers cardboard boxes, laundry baskets, or piles of freshly washed laundry over her litterbox, even when the litterbox is brand new and very clean. However, if none of those are available, she'll use the litter robot without a problem. She's been tested for a UTI in the past and came back negative.

Stark, however, came back having a chronic UT disorder, which led to the next set of issues. Both cats are extremely finicky about food. Kirri eats one brand of dry food in one flavor with very occaisional supplements of one brand of pouch wet food in one flavor (80% of the time she turns her nose up at it). She barely eats as it is and is very skinny... vet says she's healthy despite being on the thin side.

With Stark's UT issues, he's no longer allowed to eat dry food at all. However, his favorite food in the whole world is the dry food Kirri loves. Since we've taken him off of it and only allowed her to eat it (while we guard it), he has become EXTREMELY aggressive towards her. 80% of his attacks occur within 5 minutes of her eating dry food. He pins her (he's almost twice her size) and bites her hard enough to draw blood and big clumps of fur while she screams. We yell "No" at him, he lets her go, and she either runs and hides immediately or sprays the wall and then runs and hides and sometimes sprays later. Her inappropriate peeing increases as well in the hours after an attack, and she's clearly highly stressed most of the time and constantly looking out for him.

We don't know what to do, but it can't continue like this. Before the food change, Stark sometimes got too rough with Kirri while playing, but it wasn't a daily occurance like it is now. We've tried giving him 4 or 5 pieces of dry food right after we feed her to distract him, but that only works in the very short term. Our vet recommended getting the new kitten to give Stark a more willing companion for aggressive play, and this has helped to cut back on random non food related attacks to a certain extent.

We're considering rehoming Kirri with the hope that in a less stressfull environment, the spraying at least will stop. No idea what to do to stop the preference for boxes and laundry though, and I'm not sure if I can find a good home for her so long as her litterbox habits are spotty.

Anyone have any ideas on what to do?

Thanks in advance,

-Calix

Was Kirri only UTI tested once? It's not unsual to test a cat & within a few weeks re-test to have it come back positive (had it happen to a few of mine).

I agree with the above... could it be a food issue?? ie allergy???


Did you COMPLETELY ( ie get new ) potty boxes after the uti issues started ??? what do you use for litter??? Have you tried using feliway??

Are they neutered? Almost all unnentered males will spray.

Try really hard to find a wet food that she will eat.... I have heard good things about Fromm with cats that will not eat any other wet.

Good Luck, this is a though issue indeed!

It sounds to me that most of Kirri's issues are Stark's extremely aggressive attacks and dominant presence. Bengals can be much more aggressive in nature then your basic domestic kitty. Its also not to say that if you did find Kirri a new home, he wouldn't turn on your other kitty.
I would separate them in different rooms during feeding time, maybe finding a soft dry food they can both eat. Why is it he can't eat dry food after he had UTI? Wet, canned food is the worst for their oral hygiene. Her spraying is a definite stress behavior. Although her seeking out laundry and card board, this could be stress related yet at this point probably a characteristic behavior. My beloved Sweety would pee on any carpet, towel, clothing, left on the bathroom floor if you gave her the chance. SO we simply didn't tempt her

Originally Posted by cheylink

It sounds to me that most of Kirri's issues are Stark's extremely aggressive attacks and dominant presence. Bengals can be much more aggressive in nature then your basic domestic kitty. Its also not to say that if you did find Kirri a new home, he wouldn't turn on your other kitty.
I would separate them in different rooms during feeding time, maybe finding a soft dry food they can both eat. Why is it he can't eat dry food after he had UTI? Wet, canned food is the worst for their oral hygiene. Her spraying is a definite stress behavior. Although her seeking out laundry and card board, this could be stress related yet at this point probably a characteristic behavior. My beloved Sweety would pee on any carpet, towel, clothing, left on the bathroom floor if you gave her the chance. SO we simply didn't tempt her

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You likely need to do some reading... Unless these Bengals are F1 -F3 s they are in fact no more aggressive than a regular house cat of any breed or mix, often even the early generations are well mannered .

Uti cats Do Far Far better on a all wet diet . Actually most cats would do better on a all wet diet according to the most recent studies . Wet food provides the right moisture , protein and fat levels similar to natural prey. Which is harder to clean your teeth from a apple or popcorn?? Many vets are now realizing that wet food in some cases actually aids in dental health , as the old thought of dry food cleaning has been proven false as cats do not chew.

Originally Posted by sharky

You likely need to do some reading... Unless these Bengals are F1 -F3 s they are in fact no more aggressive than a regular house cat of any breed or mix, often even the early generations are well mannered .

Uti cats Do Far Far better on a all wet diet . Actually most cats would do better on a all wet diet according to the most recent studies . Wet food provides the right moisture , protein and fat levels similar to natural prey. Which is harder to clean your teeth from a apple or popcorn?? Many vets are now realizing that wet food in some cases actually aids in dental health , as the old thought of dry food cleaning has been proven false as cats do not chew.

Click to expand...

Good point-s, especially the contribution to the subject at hand.....

Have you ever used vanilla to cover the scents??

Since some of it is a bit better since the kitten showed , likely the two older ones just dont like one another.. How were they introduced in the beginning?? Have you tried redoing intros ( see vanilla under their noses and tails)??

Thanks for all the responses!

We haven't had Kirri tested for UTI in the last year, but after reading the forum and some of your throughts I agree that we should take her in again. I'm going to try to take her in next weekend.

Stark has FLUTD, which is in remission on a completely wet diet. We agree with Sharky's remarks that dry food's cleaning teeth benefit is a myth, since none of our cats ever actually crunch the food; they swallow it whole.

I've had both aggressive and non-aggressive Bengals, so in my experience it's just the individual personality of the cat and not so much a breed characteristic. The irony is that Stark is the sweetest, most trusting ragdoll of a cat towards me (I can do absolutely anything to him and he just goes limp in my arms), but then full of angst at Kirri when she eats.

When there's no food around, he's generally okay with her. I even found them cuddled up together on the same chair the other morning... They got along beautifully for the first couple of years. The change was clearly the point at which we took Stark off the dry food. :-(

I'd love to find a wet food that Kirri consistently likes so maybe we can remove the dry food trigger altogether. I've never heard of Fromm but I'll check it out.

We think her big issue is wet food texture -- she refuses to eat anything from a can that comes out as a big mushy mass. The only wet food she currently tolerates is Nutro's pouch food which is meat chunks in gravy. And so far, I haven't been able to find any other brand that puts out that style of food. Anyone know of any?

Thanks again,

-Calix

wellness has a pouch

by nature has pouches

meow mix ( yes it is decent )

Ever heard of food aggression in dogs? It's not that uncommon in cats....I tend to see it in kitties who come into the shelter starved to death....but it's possible that is part of Stark's problem.

I know you said she like chunks, but something to try with the 'normal' canned food is to try adding a couple spoonfulls of water to the can, see if she likes that.

I had a cat that refused to eat her wet food unless it was the perfect consistency (ie, 2-3 spoonfuls of water added per can). She didn't like it if I added too much water though... Had me trained well.