Hi all! I am new to this site, but have been reading over the posts here and everyone seems friendly with useful tips, so I thought I'd ask for some advice.
When my wife and moved in together, each of us brought two cats to the union. I brought Lasky, a big fat 7 year old spayed/declawed female, and Schramsberg, a 16 year old neutered/declawed Persian male. My wife added Marvin, a 4 year old neutered male, and Georgia, a 3 year old spayed female. My cats have always been friendly and laid back while hers are a little more on the skittish side. Being the insane cat lovers that we are, we determined a year ago to bring a new kitten nto the home that would be "ours".
He is Magnus(the strongest cat in the world). He is now a 1 and 1/4 year old neutered male and he is nuts. On the plus side, he is very friendly and outgoing. He loves people, he loves to play (especially "fetch") and is a big sweetheart some of the time. At other times, however, he becomes Hyper Crazy Cat. He sleeps only during the day, seeing nighttime as the best time to run around the bedroom and bring us toys to play fetch with. He eats past the point of being full(to the point of vomiting many times...he had a worm that has been taken care of, but he still eats too much). HE claws the furniture and carpets more than the other cats do(typical stuff). But worst of all, the real problem is that he will not leave Georgia alone. He and Lasky, the older female, get along wonderfully and play very nicely together. He typically avoids any real play with Shramsberg, the oldest, and he has a playful respect for Marvin. But Georgia lives if constant fear of attack from him. Anytime she goes upstairs, he is quick to run after her for attack. If she is resting on our bed, he stalks and attacks. It isn't a playful attack. She is not happy to be fighting, yowling and hissing to no avail. He doesn't make a sound when fighting her. He is very calm about his attacks. The only time he gets at all agitated is when me or my wife attempt to stop him from chasing her. He doesn't attack us, but he is in "Hyper" mode and doesn't accept any kind of calming. We've attempted many types of ways to stop him, from yelling "No, Magnus!" (which he must think is his name by now) to shooting him with a squirt gun or this Sharper Image toy which fires little soft discs(he was frightened of it at first, now he wants to play with it...much the same as with the squirt gun, which he now begs for when he sees it). Georgia was the cat who "mothered" him when we first brought him home and we wonder if, perhaps, he still has not outgrown his agressive kitten play with her even though she has (being that he is now a good 3 pounds heavier than she is).
That being said, does anyone know of a good, non-invasive method of encouraging Magnus to be nicer to Georgia? My wife and I love all of our cats very much and are upset by Georgia's obvious distress, but don't want to do anything harsh to Magnus to ruin his otherwise sweet nature.
Thanks so much in advance.
Jonathan
When my wife and moved in together, each of us brought two cats to the union. I brought Lasky, a big fat 7 year old spayed/declawed female, and Schramsberg, a 16 year old neutered/declawed Persian male. My wife added Marvin, a 4 year old neutered male, and Georgia, a 3 year old spayed female. My cats have always been friendly and laid back while hers are a little more on the skittish side. Being the insane cat lovers that we are, we determined a year ago to bring a new kitten nto the home that would be "ours".
He is Magnus(the strongest cat in the world). He is now a 1 and 1/4 year old neutered male and he is nuts. On the plus side, he is very friendly and outgoing. He loves people, he loves to play (especially "fetch") and is a big sweetheart some of the time. At other times, however, he becomes Hyper Crazy Cat. He sleeps only during the day, seeing nighttime as the best time to run around the bedroom and bring us toys to play fetch with. He eats past the point of being full(to the point of vomiting many times...he had a worm that has been taken care of, but he still eats too much). HE claws the furniture and carpets more than the other cats do(typical stuff). But worst of all, the real problem is that he will not leave Georgia alone. He and Lasky, the older female, get along wonderfully and play very nicely together. He typically avoids any real play with Shramsberg, the oldest, and he has a playful respect for Marvin. But Georgia lives if constant fear of attack from him. Anytime she goes upstairs, he is quick to run after her for attack. If she is resting on our bed, he stalks and attacks. It isn't a playful attack. She is not happy to be fighting, yowling and hissing to no avail. He doesn't make a sound when fighting her. He is very calm about his attacks. The only time he gets at all agitated is when me or my wife attempt to stop him from chasing her. He doesn't attack us, but he is in "Hyper" mode and doesn't accept any kind of calming. We've attempted many types of ways to stop him, from yelling "No, Magnus!" (which he must think is his name by now) to shooting him with a squirt gun or this Sharper Image toy which fires little soft discs(he was frightened of it at first, now he wants to play with it...much the same as with the squirt gun, which he now begs for when he sees it). Georgia was the cat who "mothered" him when we first brought him home and we wonder if, perhaps, he still has not outgrown his agressive kitten play with her even though she has (being that he is now a good 3 pounds heavier than she is).
That being said, does anyone know of a good, non-invasive method of encouraging Magnus to be nicer to Georgia? My wife and I love all of our cats very much and are upset by Georgia's obvious distress, but don't want to do anything harsh to Magnus to ruin his otherwise sweet nature.
Thanks so much in advance.
Jonathan
