cats fighting help!

Hi;

I was checking out your website and I hope you can help me.

I have 3 cats, 2 who were together as kittens. The third came around 3
years later. I found him and rescued him from the highway. That was close
to 3 years ago. My first cat (Gizmo) never liked the rescued cat (Lucky).
He usually swats and hisses at him, but it is tolerable. But now, he seems
to attack him all the time. I could be walking and bang my toe, and when I
yell "ow", Gizmo attacks Lucky. When there is a loud and strange noise on
the TV, Gizmo attacks Lucky. He goes after him alot.

Last night for the first time, I actually saw hair flying. I am so upset
by this !. I get really mad at Gizmo. I tried spraying him with water or
hitting his bum, and he know that I am mad, but he does it anyways.

What can I do? I am so upset by this !!. Obviously I want them to get
along. I know that will never happen, but I would at least like Gizmo to be
tolerable of Lucky.
I love them both and want to keep them, but I feel so bad for Lucky. He
seems to be really saddened today by the behavior last night .

Also note they are all neutered males, and strickly indoor cats!
Please help !!
Thanks, Debbie

First off do not spray water on cats, this just gets them more aggrivated and more aggressive. When the cat attacks lucky, put him in a room by himself to calm down a bit, if you do this each time,he will get the message.

Don't know what to say to help, but I hope things improve with your kitties!

Sometimes when another cat attacks a feline it lives with, the cat being attacked is coming down ill. The scent on the ill cat changes, triggering stress and causes the battle to escalate. Getting pounced on and hissed and swatted at, can stress out a cat, and stress can make a cat ill. I would watch the one under attack closely and if you see anything *off* about his behavior, I would take him directly to the vet.

I would also invest in a Feliway Comfort Zone Room Mister for your home and I would STOP swatting and spraying the aggressive cat, as this just makes the cat more aggressive and puts him on edge. Check into the Bach Flower Remedies- Chicory would be a good one to use on the aggressive cat. There are also excellent cat behaviorists that are available. If you go to www.meowhoo.com and look under Behavior you will find many links. Some have phone consultations, and this can really help to get an outside pair of eyes looking at the problem.

Good luck- and again, please stop spanking your cat on the bum.

Any improvement?

I strongly second the Feliway idea too, after making sure everyone is healthy. I've had great results with it.

You may also want to try separating them temporarily, then reintroducing them following these hints:
http://www.thecatsite.com/cat_behavi...=introductions
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...threadid=22138

This tactic worked for me once after my younger cats started attacking my older one after she had been at the vet.

Sometimes an outside stress, such as a stray showing up outside that the others can see or smell through the window, or a loud noise or other stress-inducing event (such as the TV incidents you mentioned) can cause redirected aggression - the cats can't strike out at the object of their fear, so they stike out at their housemate instead. Separation and reintroduction can help this, too - as long as the outside stress is removed (close the blinds if a stray is coming around, etc.). Try observing your cats when the behavior appears, and searching for possible triggers. Perhaps you might even find it helpful to move the cats to another room when watching TV shows that might frighten the cats, or try watching it with the volume low?

Hope this helps.