never had cat like this? need ideas

tr32z

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all other cats i had in the past were great, no problems, i guess i was lucky.
need a couple of suggestion:
is there a fast way to break a severe territorial behavior in a female housecat. she will not share house with other female and 4kittens about 4 month old, but i can't leave them out for the winter. read story below for infomation.

i had a long story running but deleted it, i am short on time here, ok, cats, sugar was homeless i took her in last summer, she was already declawed in the front and missing 3 fangs, but they were not broken off, there was nothing there, were they removed? she is a biter big time. loves to get radical for no reason, no need for any stimulation, she'll go to her box and i know what she wants, she wants me to donate more blood and skin, anyway there were also other cats around when she came around, she decided to live in the front bushes, so i took her in.
one of the other cats, a female, i named sandy i believe homeless by now, had kittens this spring, she brought them to the porch to hangout with me, they almost are totally feral, it took me till just recently for them to come up and rub me on the legs, anyway, sandy then had another set of kittens[late aug.] which an animal found them and killed all but one which she brought to me for help at 4:30am, i was on porch haveing cigar playing with other kittens,[on the same morning when my 2nd cousins was being laid to rest, fire fighter NYC, found in the rubble of what was once the 37 floor of one of the world trade towers], but it was mortally wounded, brought to EMERGENCY vet, had to be put down, cost me 70$, brought back kitten so sandy could have closer, she never left the porch, so i let her in cause she also had a bad limp and i wanted to take her to the vet for a checkup, sugar was sleeping at the time, i put sandy in the spare bedroom, sugar found sandy and the scream she made was wild, super loud female, human like, blood curdling, scream that would wake the dead. i took sandy to the vet, her paw was taken care of and i had her fixed, she will not leave the spare bedroom cause sugar terrorizes her, sugar will go in and eat her food drink her water, even though she hates that food, i believe its territorial behavior, but winter is coming and i want to get those first kiitens in, i made the mistake of thinking sugar was sleeping and i let in sammy, but sugar had creeped up, and let out one of those screams and attacked sammy, since the front glass door was closed, and sammy not knowing what glass is, tried to jump through the glass at full speed serveral times leaving blood from his nose on the glass, meanwhile i am trying to hold sugar back and trying to open door for sammy, sammy then runs into family room and tries to crash through the sliding glass doors, i finally got sugar to stop and back away but sammy was just sitting there with a blank stare and blood coming from his nose, i picked him up, so he was diffenently stunned, after talking to vet, i decided that the cold air out side would be the best place for him, natures on ice pack, it is now 3 days later and all 4 kitten still come around, callie, rusty, delila, sammy,. time is short, it is getting cold.
thanks
 

Anne

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You said that Sandi was fixed. Is Sugar also spayed?

Declawed cats tend to have more aggression problems and the missing teeth indicate at the very least that she may be old or had a difficult life (or both).

It could very well be a territorial issue. You will need to seperate them for a few days and then re-introduce them properly. That means not just putting both into the same room. The newcomer should be isolated in one room and you should give her a few weeks to get used to the room and make herself at home. Keep a litter box at one side of the room and her food and water on the other side. Give her some toys and try to spend some quality time with her everyday playing interactive games such as with a toy attached to a poll etc. - the kind that won't expose you to attack.

For now, don't let any other cat near the room. I need to go now (hungry kitten crying
). This should get you started. We can then discuss the procedure of proper introduction with the other cats.
 

sandie

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My guess would be that someone declawed her and had her teeth removed. My guess would be that Sugar has issues either because of the declawing or she had this behavior before they did this to her.
First I would try what Anne suggested. Give her some time to adjust without having any physical contact. Maybe try and keep Sandy and the kittens in a closed room together. Leave a few blankets in the room for Sandy and the kittens to lay on. Bring them out and let Sugar sniff and investigate. Then bring it back to the other room. You can also try putting the food bowls next to the door so they are eating together but not in contact. After about a week or so I would make them all smell the same. You can use baby food, vanilla, pet wipes, etc. Carefully let Sugar come into the room or vice versa. You can also try putting one in a large carrier and set it in the middle of the room. This way they can hiss, spit and try to adjust without contact.
If these tactics do not work, and it is a case of compulsive aggressive behavior on Sugar's part you may want to consult a vet about trying Busporin. It is an antidepressant that usually helps with this behavior. It has worked in many cases.
 

sunlion

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I think people underestimate the amount of security a cat has from using it's claws. We had a cat who had been declawed by a previous owner, and she was very shy and "tetchy". I am pretty convinced it's because she didn't have that first line of defense to warn other animals or people away. She either had to put up with something that caused her mild distress or go right to the biting stage. She was a very nice cat when it was just the two of us, but other people or animals made her uncomfortable. I believe she knew I respected her and would leave her alone when she got overwhelmed, but she wasn't sure about the others and had no way to let them know she was grumpy except to overreact. I know it's not much for advice, but it might give you a bit of insight into what Sugar's going through.
 
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