Calico

While the 4 strays are having a great time and I am in love with them the Calico is a terror with the other cats all females except for the 2 month old kitten male and she is nasty to him. If I can not find a way to tame her down I am not sure what I will do as it is not fair to the other ones. She is very affectionate with me and my husband. I was told that Calicos are territorial to their humans is there any truth to this? Any one else have a calico that can give advice. All females are fixed she started it after she got fixed but I am thinking it is just cause she finally started to settle in .
Thanks
Merky Sky

We also have 4 cats, one being a calico who is also, as you put it, a terror to the other cats but very loving with us.  I was telling my vet about her behavior and he did comment that it is the calico in her.  That being said, cats, like humans, each have their own issues.  Our calico was a semi feral pregnant little lady when she adopted us so there were many issues we had to work on with her, including food aggression, lack of socialization, no indoor manners regarding appropriate places to scratch, how to play, etc.  A year and a half later, its still a works in progress.  The calico and two of the other cats, one being her son and she is even mean to him on occasion, and the other being our ragdoll, have worked out a truce of sorts.  They don't run from her, and so she doesn't chase them.  Snowy is the kitty that's been with us the longest.  She was almost dead when she was rescued.  She has skin issues from the mange she had, chronic upper respiratory, whether from birth, from how sick she was when she was rescued or from something she picked up in the shelter we will never know, but she gets a lot of special treatment - meds, steam treatments, grooming, etc.  Snowy doesn't think these things are so special, but the other cats are very curious about the things we do to her.  Snowy is also deaf, and also lacked socialization and indoor manners when we got her. 

Snowy and Bcups (the Calico) are never going to be friends.  They are both territorial and dominant.  Life on the streets can make you that way.  The problem is (was) that with Snowy being deaf (and her sense of smell being impaired from the chronic respiratory), when she sleeps it is easy for Bcups to ambush her.  She never gets away with this when we are home, but alas we cannot always be home.  As a result of these ambushes, Snowy became afraid of Bcups and often goes into hiding. If she sees Bcups, she will run.  If she runs, it triggers the chase in Bcups.  Sorry this is getting long, but the point I eventually am going to reach is that with the food aggression, the lack of indoor manners, the lack of socialization, these were all issues we needed to address with Bcups.  But the issue between Snowy and Bcups is something we have to work more on with Snowy.  Snowy has to be able defend her position, without starting aggression herself, and that means building up her confidence. 

Cats have a pecking order.  We really wanted Snowy to be the queen of the castle, but Bcups has ended up ruling the roost.  All 4 of them co-exist as indoor cats in an apartment, so hang in there! It can be done.  It might help though, when you are looking at what is going on and trying to figure out what to do about it, to consider all aspects and not just say oh, the calico is mean.  Figure out which are behaviors you can modify, and what is instinct that is just going to be what it is. 

1. Do the cats have spaces they can claim as their own (perches, window seat, towers to hide out in, private places to sleep)?

2. Do you play with the cats often and get their energy out?

3. Are the cats fed together, separate, regular meals or on demand?

it might help to address individual circumstances where the calico is being a terror, and then people can give you more specific advice.  Are there certain time or circumstances where problems arise?

THANK YOU for the information that is a big help.  I have read up on calico and it all seems to jive with what you said.  This one had babies someplace at some time as she came with what looked like milk sacks but the vet said she had them a while ago when she was dumped with the others I just assumed they all got along and it was freezing out so they all came in ASAP.  We have a large house with 2 basements the cats have access to the whole house.  There are two automatize feeders they are in the same place with some space between them this does not seem to be the issue they all eat when they want and will wait or just make their way up depending on which cat is up there.  The others are staying clear of her and as of this post yesterday was a tad better.  But If I go anywhere and she sees a cat follow me she is right there sitting and watching.   One cat the bigger of them the white and black one Zoe is standing up to her.  Lily the mom of Hobbs the kitten will do it if she is mean to her kitten.  Yesterday they all were in the same room with some growling but no major trouble.  My Pomeranian has started to not take it from her also.  But your right if one runs the calico is on the move.  I will starting figuring out way to help her adjust.  I would not just get rid of her if I had to possible new family would be vetted fully. Again I really appreciate your input.  I am considering one more feeder for the basement we just do not want to encourage mice even tho there are 4 cats in the house lol .  I will keep you updated 

MErkySky

You are probably okay with the two feeders, and it is good that the other cats are standing up to her.  Fighting isn't good, but standing their ground is good  Once my cats started doing that, they all found their space.  You just want to  be careful and make sure none are getting forced into seclusion.  One f the things we do with Snowy is physically bring her out when we are home.  With bcups, she will come all meek and desire affection when the other cats are around, but during the early times it seems when ever we would pet her and tell her how good she was doing getting along, she would then attack someone, like she had to assure herself she was "the cat" so for a while, if we petted her when another cat was around, we would automatically get up and go pet the other  cat...

WE do the petting of the other cats when she is near so she sees that they are part of the clan also.  There is one the black and white one named Zoe that she is the dominant one but on a nice level.  I try and make sure she stays that way.  At times I wondered if mamma and the kitten were going off by them selves which was why I wanted the extra feeder in the basement but then thought better of it as I want them to come to get food.  There is a litter box in the basement 2 actually and one up in our room.  But I am pretty sure they just like the basement and all our boxes so I brought up one of the boxes and the kitten is now up stairs playing in it with Zoe all the time.  Today was a good day.  She stalked them but only growled and the others walked past her and hissed and kept going.  I give her attention and all the others and sometimes there will be all 3 females that I am taking turns petting in the same space.  So I feel like it is hopeful.    And our house is big enough to handle them all.  There is an loft large loft that has been closed off as all 5 kids have moved out so one part is still my one daughters room for when she comes home from collage the other is just a throw stuff in room for now. We plan on remodeling all of that and our basement .  One we re open the lofts there will be even more room. 

Again thanks 

have a great holiday

Keep us posted, and have a merry Christmas! (or whatever you celebrate

MerkySky,

I would really work on building the confidence of each cat and I would try to associate the cats with good things (like play, food, and love).

I have found that cats that lack confidence are more likely to cause trouble. Once they feel confident and secure they tend to accept more.

So I would work on building confidence of the calico to begin with and then the most fearful cat etc. We do this by using play, food, height and love. Really step up play with them and after a good play session feed either treats or a meal. Try to get the cats up in the air (on cat trees, window perches, etc). Cats that are up are more confident. And then if possible without getting hurt give as much love and get them to purr if possible.

Are there any problem areas? If so, get the cats that get into trouble in those areas playing etc.

If you see a cat focusing on another cat try to distract with play or food. Anytime the cats are together without an incident (chase, attack etc) it is a positive. When a cat does not feel threatened they are less likely to attack.

Cats can take on our emotions. So please stay as calm and confident around them as possible.

And finally try to associate the calico and the other cats with good things. Try to feed them close to each other. Use play if possible as well. Do some scent swapping while feeding (take an old shirt and get the other cats scent on it and have it around where the calico is playing and eating).

I would like to understand the interactions between the calico and the other cats more. Any additional information will help me understand exactly what is happening and hopefully we can help resolve it.

Please ask anything anytime and I hope I can help.