At First I thought it was Funny...

I'm a little concerned about my 1 yr old female Maddie getting overly aggressive, toward Franz, my 8 yr old male. Maddie is the new kid on the block here...one month, she is partially blind, has only one eye, remaining eye poor vision, but she manages beautifully. Franz is VERY tolerant of her kitten antics. The other night, they were play wrestling...all was well for about 5 minutes and Franz decided he had had enough. He got up to go away, and Maddie, bit him on his rather huge rear end. It really did look funny. She is 5 lbs, he is 17 lbs. At the time, I just gave a firm "NO Maddie" and left it at that. It did not seem to hurt him, but he turned around gave her a look, and gently batted the top of her head. Now Maddie's new trick is this...I've wittnessed this twice. She lays in wait unseen outside the bathroom door, while he uses the pan. When he emerges from the bathroom, she pounces on him. He does not seem to like it..but does not hurt her.

I'm afraid that the straw will break for him one day and she might get hurt. Otherwise they play all the time, especially running games. She is not aggressive toward me. Shoud I be concered. I've always had older cats, not sure if this just kitten behavior or aggression.

No, it is not just kitten behavior. Purdy (about 8) also does this to Red Cat (also about 8) sometimes. I really try to put a stop to it, as Red Cat is a highly anxious cat to begin with and I don't want more problems than I already have. Purdy used to do this often and still does occasionally when he gets in one of his playful moods. But I would definitely discourage it. They can find better times to play.

I would suspect this to be something akin to territorial aggression, basically something along the lines of her not liking him using the litterbox there.


Is this behavior only exhibited near the litterbox?

Does she do this consistently when he uses the litterbox?

If not, have you noticed any other pattern with her aggression?


It is definately a behavior to discourage, however the simple way of discouraging it is to actively admonish the aggressor, yet given the proximity to the litterbox, I would hesitate to reccomend this action, lest you create a situation that could lead to litterbox aversion; for either animal.

Allowing this behavior to continue, may also lead to litterbox aversion, so a passive solution needs to be found.

Moving the litterbox, or better yet providing an alternative, may be a better solution.

I would also highly reccomend placing a feliway diffuser in close proximity, hopefuly it will live up to it's name and diffuse future aggressive acts.


Spotz

Originally Posted by Spotz

I would suspect this to be something akin to territorial aggression, basically something along the lines of her not liking him using the litterbox there>>>>

Thanks Spotz
Is this behavior only exhibited near the litterbox?
NO
Does she do this consistently when he uses the litterbox?
I've only seen it twice
For the first 2 weeks she was here, she had her own litterbox, she refused to use it!
If not, have you noticed any other pattern with her aggression?
The only pattern I've seen is that it always starts with play...over stimulation perhaps, when she bit him?

It is definately a behavior to discourage, however the simple way of discouraging it is to actively admonish the aggressor, yet given the proximity to the litterbox, I would hesitate to reccomend this action, lest you create a situation that could lead to litterbox aversion; for either animal.

Allowing this behavior to continue, may also lead to litterbox aversion, so a passive solution needs to be found.

A firm no and separating her from him for a short while after the bad behavior... a time out...maybe???

Moving the litterbox, or better yet providing an alternative, may be a better solution.

I would also highly reccomend placing a feliway diffuser in close proximity, hopefuly it will live up to it's name and diffuse future aggressive acts. Will do


Spotz

Click to expand...

>>>>>>>>>>>

I would try the diffuser first, and I would try to keep an eye on her behavior. Look for some patterns, and let us know if you see anything.

I know we have a behaviorial specialist on board here, the more information you can provide the better we can all help you abate the situation.

I would also try adding a second litterbox again, if you have a place for it.

Spotz