Any ideas on this behaviour

I'm trying to figure this one out. I have two 5 year old males neutered, brought up since kittens. I introduced a 9 month old female spayed, to the household almost two years ago. We did the whole careful introduction, and everything got off quite smoothly. She really is mommies cat and has quite an obsessive clingness to me. For about the last 4 months, she has become very domineering with the other two. She will chase them off the bed at night, having to be the first on the bed. If I pet one of the other cats, as soon as I'm finished she will attack it, biting it on the head or legs. If I cuddle her when she doesn't want to cuddle...she attacks her brothers. So far they will just hiss and growl but be the ones to move away, but it's becoming tiresome to have them constantly pounced on for what seems like no reason. Since they are all indoor cats, I really can't think of anything that has changed to provoke this behaviour all of a sudden.She came from a feral colony and in the colony she used to be bullied terribly and she was the most submissive cat of the whole lot. But, she has been living in the lap of luxury for the pass 20 months. Have I spoiled her with too much attention and am now reaping what I have sown??? Any ideas of how I can handle this?

I don't know too much about the behavior of formerly feral cats but two thoughts on why her behavior might have changed: her age. .. I noticed that when my cat was nearly two years old, her kitten behavior began dropping and a more timid adult behavior began (the timidness brought out fear aggression); your cat's general circumstances. . .maybe another change occured in the household 4 months ago that has nothing to do with the boy kitties that triggered a more territorial response (boyfriend moves in, new job, new hours, new furniture, new noisy neighbor, new cat in neighborhood that taunts indoor kitties, etc)

One thing that would really help is to get a Feliway plug-in or spray. I see you are not in US so I don't know how available that product is. Another suggestion is to separate them for a couple weeks, then reintroduce them as if she were a new cat again?

Good luck!

I agree that she may have simply grown into a dominant personality or that she may be responding to stressors in her environment. Although this is the most likely explanation, you might want to take her to the vet just to be safe because if a cat isn't feeling well they often become aggressive toward others.

Thanks for the replies. It is possible that she is outgrowing kitten status. Someone said to me that the reason that the older cats are not fighting back is that she is still so much younger than them, but they might get to a point when they will. Can someone point me in the direction of the Feliway plug in...er..what is it???

Thanks again

Here is a link for you that explains a little. This product works great. I think the spray might be more available overseas because you don't have to consider a different electrical system with a spray, as you do with a plug in.

Thanks Maui

Sounds like a god-send to all cat owners!!! I've never come across anything like that here, but there are lots of places in the US that will ship here, so I'll start looking

Thanxs

from what I understand, cat families are matriarchal, meaning the female is the top honcho. she will assert her dominance over lesser members. this may vary with different cat personalities, but Amber is the dominant one here! but she is my first, so that may have something to do with it.

Munchie, check with your vet before ordering Feliway from the U.S.. Here in Germany the Feliway plug-ins and spray are sold in vets' offices - maybe it's the same in South Africa.

Thanks guys, will check with vet to see if they have heard about it. You have such great stuff for animals in the US, it's almost worth a plane ticket to fill up the suitcases....of course I would have to explain to customs what is the super-self-deoderising-auto-cleaning kitty-litter-box-set-plus-assesories in my luggage