Desperate - Kitty Attacking Older Cats

We have a 10 month old kitty who is attacking playfully our other 2 cats. Now with the other male, they have their tumble & thats it but with the female he seems to be leaving scars that turn into absecus's.. She has had 5 now 2 of which have needed treatment by the vet & the latest one she had to have cut out of her as it was a huge ball of puss under the skin that wouldn't go away.

She now has a drain in it for the next 5 days..

We are about 99% certain that our kitty is doing this. He jumps at the other from behind and she had 2 abcuss's one of the left & right side of her back area. She barely ever goes outside & if she does she is always around us but when he jumps on her she growls & hiss's but continues to do it each day.

Now is there any method we can use the try & train him to know this is a NAUGHTY thing to do? Its becoming a joke as we have spend over $600 in vet bills in the past 6 months. He is not a bored cat as there is always something for him to do + he goes outside during the day (we usually let the 2 boys outside).

We are starting to pull our hair out here so does anyone have any suggestions??

Can't anyone help me?

gosh I am sorry i cant help with any advise - it just sounds awful what is going on though - no wonder your about to pull your hair out.

I hope someone will come along soon and offer some advise - sometimes our expert members dont always check in each day

good luck - and keep us posted

Do you think it is from biting or from claws? Because if it is from claws you could keep them trimmed. If it is biting, I am not sure what to do. Did the vet have any suggestions? Is there a veterinary behaviorist in your area? All I can think of is separation and reintroduction. Plenty of opportunities for play. Places for the female to hide? Has she been tested for FIV? That would make her more likely to get abscesses since it decreases the immune system. Everyone is neutered, right? Becky

Try stopping the behavior BEFORE it happens. This is NOT easy to do, granted. Anytime you see the young cat in the pouce stance or about to do what you do not want him to, shake or rattle a small can with something in it to make a loud noise. Distract him/her before he realizes that he wants to do what hes about to and gets a chance to follow through. If he does jump or pounce, you may want to move to a squirt bottle and give him a good spray as quickly as possible. If you see him walking towards the other cat and suspect hes going to get into it, call his name, toss something his way to play with, or distract him with a treat.

Defintly keep his claws trimmed or get him declawed or use an alternative method such as SoftPaws (vinal caps glued onto the claws). If you get him declawed while he is younger, it is generally a little cheaper. Some will argue that its inhumaine, but after talking to our vet and hearing how they medicate them before, during and after it seems like a reasonable alternative to having continuing problems for the next 20 years with cat claws. Good luck!

Becky has already asked if your kitties are neutered and this is the first thought that occurred to me.

Assuming your 10 month old is; have your tried Bach's Flower Remedies? I was extremely sceptical when a book by an animal behaviourist recommended using it. I have a young adult (neutered) male who was being very aggressive to my then 3 month old kittens. He never actually injured them though, because I never left them alone together (which was quite a pain!). I used Vine (for aggression), 4 drops in each meal and after a short while aggression gradually turned into normal kitty rough and tumble play. Now they're all fine together and even snuggle up in the same basket.

I never thought it would work, but I tried it anyway, thinking that I'd nothing to lose except a couple of pounds. Raffles might just have calmed down and got more used to the kittens anyway, without the Vine, but I'll never know. At least I felt I was trying something.

RaKKa-

If you can keep the cats separated when you aren't there to observe them, that might help you track down the behavior that is happening. I had a similar situation, but I would see the younger cat have displaced agresssion and attack the older cats. I kept them separated while I was at work, then would slowly reintro the younger "attack" cat. It took some observation and work to change the behavior, but, it DID change, and everyone ended up getting along great...and i could leave them together during the day.

Younger cats have so much energy that they can really wear old an older cat, so it's good to make sure the older cat can get away from the younger cat if necessary.

As stated, if your kitten is not neutered, neutering him will help immensely. He is just being a kitten and usually it is the older (female) cats that can quickly put a rambunctious kitten in its place. Is he biting? Or is he scratching? While you are not home, you would be best served to keep the kitten in an enclosed area away from the other cats. When you are home, let the kitten out and supervise the interaction between the cats without becoming stressed about it.

Look into www.biovet.com and invest in a few comfort zone room diffusers, and start burning those. Resue remedies and flower essences do work on some cats, while it may not affect others.Interactive play time in a room between you and one cat at a time works as well, if you do it on a daily basis.

WoW thankyou all so much..

All the cats were desexed as soon as it was possible so the 10 month old was done when he was around 3 months old, so all cats are done.. In regards to his behaviour what he seems to be doing is walking behind her & than launching himself on her back and wrapping his paws around her back, hence why she had an abcess each side.. He usually sleeps with us but we have stopped that in hope that maybe if we seperate him from us he won't feel like he is in control of the coupe.. Not sure if this will help but it's like he's trying to get 2nd place in the house hold because the other male is the dominate one..

I am just curious as to what this "Vine" is?

Bach's Flower Remedies come in little bottles, each one of them a different "flavour" or essence, or whatever they call them. Each one is supposed to be a remedy for different things, eg you can get one for timid animals/humans to make them more assertive (I think I'll try that one!). "Vine" is the one particularly recommended for aggression. Do a Google search on Bach's Flower Remedies and you should get some more information.

Like I said, I don't know if it worked, or Raffles just got used to the kittens, but they cost so little, they're worth a try. In the UK we get them at Health Food Shops or chemists.

Vine is a certain flower remedy used for aggressive cats. It can quell the aggressive tendencies.Vervain is also used You can also use valerian root. If the claws are causing the problem then perhaps soft paws is the answer?

I don't know if its because im an Aussie but im sure i haven't really ever come across these things before..

I will do a search now, thankyou again..

Finally i logged into my old account (forgot password years ago), but i have ordered some of the Vine.. I will let you know how it goes..

Just wondering how the essence works? How do you apply it? spray it on their coat?

I have no idea so your help would be appreciated..