Bob, the terrorizer , what can I do?

I brought home a stray/feral kitten who was about 8 weeks old at the time. He and my other cats got along just great, except for one. The kitten is male, and ever since the day I brought him home, he has badgered, pestered, and literally made one of my female cats life hell.

Since he was 8 weeks old! He's now closing in on a year old and it's just gotten worse. My female cat is at the point where she will not leave the safety of the closed bedroom.

The kitten has no other behavior problems. He's the sweetest little thing, except he seems to enjoy terrorizing the one cat. It's a constant thing.

Why is he doing this and what can I do about it?

PS. All my cats are fixed.

He is probably an alpha cat, defending his territory...
Vanilla extract can be helpful on some cases... Rub a little bit on his chin, and a little on hers...
Also Feliway could be good around the house at all times. Besides that, make sure your girl has access to the house, even if you need to put him in a room while she is outside... What you can do is to use a pet gate in a room restraining him, while she is around the house, so that he is used to the fact that she also belong in there...
Beside that, all I can think of is good luck!

I have two female cats, and three males, including him. He gets along great with the male cats, plays with them all the time, cuddles with them, etc. I thought if there were going to be problems, it would be between the three male cats. Bob ( the kitten) became instant friends with one of the males who took him under his wing when he first got here.

If he were an alpha cat, wouldn't he be getting in fights with the males?

Originally Posted by virraszto

I have two female cats, and three males, including him. He gets along great with the male cats, plays with them all the time, cuddles with them, etc. I thought if there were going to be problems, it would be between the three male cats. Bob ( the kitten) became instant friends with one of the males who took him under his wing when he first got here.

If he were an alpha cat, wouldn't he be getting in fights with the males?

Click to expand...

It really depends on their personality... If the females have a more subdued/submissive personality, then the alpha, or a cat with stronger personality will bully on them...

More thoughts for you to ponder......

Does anyone else ever pick on the female? Some cats, often time females, can be the house "pariah". For some reason other cats don't like them. I had a pariah once and I ended up having to keep her separated from the others.

How old is the female, and when is the last time she's had a health check? Cats can go after others if they sense illness in them.

Its not always the dominant cat that goes after other cats. It can be a lesser male that senses a lesser stature in another cat and tries to exert dominance over anything he can. My Eightball does this out of frustration sometimes. He'd like to be alpha, but doesn't have the charisma to be one. I give him extra attention for a while and he settles back down.

I have a shy cat (Oscar) that felt terrorized by an outgoing female (Koko). He finally figured out that all she wanted to do was play with him. Once they had that settled between them, they now sleep together.

No one picks on the female. In fact, both females are mother and daughter. The thing is that Bob, ( the kitten) has targeted the one female from the day I brought him home. He couldn't have been more than 8 weeks old. He was all lovey dovey with the others, and wham! the site of Cleo and he was off like a pistol after her.

The only thing that I can possibly think of is that since he was abandoned by his mother, that he wanted Cleo to be his female mommy and when she didn't agree to it, it pissed Bob off and he's out for revenge...lol Or, he's just trying to be friends with her and she is is hissing at him and pawing at him and since he won't leave her alone, she hisses when he gets near him.

I just feel bad for Cleo because she gets so irritated by him, and I can't blame her! Cleo, the female is about 6 yrs old and she is perfectly healthy. I thought for sure after 8 month of being together they'd have worked out their differences, but that hasn't happened.

Cleo is not submissive. Actually, I would say her daughter is the top dog in the house, and Bob gets along with him just fine.

I have a feral I want to integrate. I've been looking at the gate on-line and most are only three tree tall. Won't my jumper resident cat be able to get over that? Can't the cats climb the gate? I'm not sure what kind to get. Please help.