mean boys

For the past 2 weeks, my 8 month old male, George, has begun to be very mean to my little female, Pearl. She is very timid and spends most of her time under the bed or in the closet. When she comes out to eat, use the box, or for her evening visit, he attacks her. I can soak him down with the water bottle, and he just won't stop. Leo, my big guy, thinks they are playing and he chases her. He will stop when I tell him to. George is just mean to her. They were buddies until recently. She has been spayed, but he has not been neutered yet. I have never had this problem in all my years of having cats. Do you think it will stop once he is neutered? I would never get rid of any of my babies, but I have to find a way of stopping this. They are tormenting this poor little girl terribly. She had begun to make some progress as far as socializing with us and I don't want this poor baby to be so traumatized she will live under the bed permanently! Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated.

The problem should stop once he is neutered. It sounds like he is just about the right age to become a very dominant male. Until then, I would try and keep them seperated. If it continues too long before he's neutered, she may develope a fear of him that may not go away once he has calmed down.

KK - I am having a similar problem with Ripley 'attacking' Smudgie - his sister. They are 7 months old now. He has 'matured', but thankfully, Smudgie has not! The spay/neuter appt is still two weeks away! Can't come soon enough for me! Good luck.
Deb

I had two cats for many years, one of them, (Midnight), is now an .
When Snowball reached the age of six or seven months, he no longer wanted to play with Midnight, who was older and already spayed. At that age, whenever Snowball got anywhere near Midnight he either tried to mate with her or fought with her. After Snowball was neutered he did calm down quite a bit, and the cats were able to get along again, but for the rest of Midnight's life, he was the dominent cat.