Bullying

So we ended up having to return Paisley, after she ruined 3 beds, 4 sets of sheets, the entire carpet on our main floor, and a sofa. It was really sad having to return such a sweet kitty, I really loved her, but my parents decided it was just not going to work, plus she and Chewie, our resident kitty, didn't get a long at all...

But my mom really wanted another cat, so we adopted another cat from a different humane society, she is super adorable, really sweet, and really playful. We think she's about a year old and she's great! The cats were getting along great, until, one time, when they were playing, Precious, our new kitty, discovered the she has claws, and Chewie, our resident kitty, does not. Now every time Precious sees Chewie she attacks her, drawing blood and sending fur flying everywhere. Poor Chewie (10 years old) is now afraid to leave my bedroom because she is afraid of getting bullied and hurt, so she hardly ever leaves my room. When she does, she will wither go downstairs to eat, then come running up being chased by Precious, or she can't make it past the living room, so she poops on the floor there...

I hate Precious treating Chewie this way, and I don't know what to do about it. Precious will be all sweet in your lap one minute, and as soon as she sees Chewie, she turns into a vicious monster tormenting our poor older cat.  At first they played together and it was cute, but I can tell that it is no longer playful and I don't know what to do about it. Can you help me?

Thanks soo much (from Chewie too!)

You should reintroduce your new cat with your resident cat by keeping them separated by coordinating a section of your home using a bay gate if you have access to one.Let them get to know each other and get confortably by keep them separated by the gate.Slowly let the two spend time together by removing the gate and see how it goes.

Definitely separate the two cats now. Put Precious in a spare room with food and a litter box for a few days then start to reintroduce them little by little. Do a google search for "re-introduce cats" and you should find a lot of step-by-step instructions. This will take time and work but it's super important that you follow through and don't take short cuts. They need to develop a new relationship or this will just get worse and that's not fair to Chewie.

Another thing to do is to get Precious examined by a vet. Sometimes when cats lash out it's because they aren't feeling good or is in pain. This is how I discovered my cat has stomatitis. He started to be mean to the other cats but was still a total sweetie with me. But it turned out that he was in pain and this caused him to lash out.

Feliway plug-ins can be helpful for some cats. They have an about 600 square foot range so you may want to get a few to cover your whole house. I'd get these before you start the re-introduction process.

Sometimes, if other things don't work and there is no medical reason for the behavior, anti-anxiety medication can be helpful for a cat who is acting aggressive. A friend of mine has a cat, who is appropriately named Mad Cat, who takes Prozac for her aggression and it has been life changing for both kitty and her mom.

These situations is one of the reasons why it's such a bad idea to declaw a cat. They lose their ability to defend themselves and it affects their self confidence which can make them a target for other cats. Please don't get Precious declawed too in an attempt to solve the problem. It's just going to cause additional problems and leaves Precious defenseless and self confident.

I hope you can nip this in the bud soon and Chewie and Precious can co-exist but if that doesn't happen maybe these two are not right for each other. If it doesn't get better it's not fair to Chewie to make him live with Precious and it may be better to find her a new home. There are many things you can do before it gets to that point, though.

Good luck!

I tried reintroducing them, but did not help. Today I was making breakfast for my little sister and I looked over and Precious was literally sinking her teeth into Chewie's throat. Poor Chewie couldn't do anything about it, she couldn't even hiss. Precious was fine and happy before and then all of a sudden, out of the blue she decided to try and kill Chewie. I don't know what to do about it. Can cats be bipolar? Like, I know it wouldn't technically be called bipolar disorder, but something of the sort?

It's only been a few months, so the hostility could be definitely still (and is) going on. Mine did that out of the blue for a year.  (and still do once in a while) You have to be on the look out for signs, swishing tail, twitching rear end, any signs of aggression and step in. I say 'NO' very loudly and separate them, giving the aggressor a 5 minute time out in another room. You have to have zero tolerance for fights and step up every time, all I have to do now is start to stand up and the aggressor backs off. Did Precious actually draw blood and rip into Chewie or was it more of a dominance thing? There will be chunks of skin gone and blood flowing if Precious was actually trying to hurt, so I hope not. I wish I could tell you more but I really don't understand why some cats are this way, it's in their personalities. I hope you find a solution, all the luck!

I thought my two girl cats would never get along. Lucy would see Azula moving and immediately chase after her, it lead to Azula going pee on the bed and under the bed to try to claim some space for her own. We had to move the litter boxes around quite a few times to find where they both had their own space and felt comfortable. It took over a year but they are living together and both happy (most of the time). We had to give Azula pathways to get through the house up high where she feels safe, and step in every time Lucy starts to look like she wants to hunt Azula down. Hopefully if you keep working with them will begin to live together more happily! Good luck!