Ophelia is trying to kill Twitch!

I swear World War III is going on at my house. I have to get Ophelia out of the office as she keeps on rassling dad's paperwork. I am afraid she will eat it & end up at the vet with an obstruction. So, I took her upstairs this afternoon. She hissed at Damita, didn't see Chico, Lily sniffed her but she didn't notice. Then she spots Twitch, stalks up behind her, & attacks with her claws & teeth! Twitch doesn't have front claws or teeth! So, I grab Twitch & put her in mom & dad's bedroom. I check her over to make sure she didn't get hurt, but the only thing really hurt was her ego. I go out & sit with Ophie, petting her & playing with her. She lays down to take a nap. I let Twitch out of the bedroom & Ohpie wakes up right away. She launches towards Twitch, but I got ahold of Ophie beofre she could land. Twitch is flaming mad now, so she is screaming, therefore Lily & Chico hide(Chico getting stuck in his hiding place) & Damita panicks so she freezes mid-step. I would have thought Twitch & Ophie would get along so well. Why on earth is Ophie set on killing Twitch? She lunges for her throat when she attacks. I even put Vanilla on their chins & at the base of their tails.

Ophelia got along with Chico & Damita before, but now she takes offense at them. I have never seen her so violetn towards Twitch before & for no apparent reason.

I have to clean the basement today so I can let Ophie loose in the basement. Damita & Chico live either upstairs on in my bedroom, so I can keep them seperate from Ophie. Twitch lives upstairs. Lily is upstairs & she sleeps in my bedroom at night. I *think* I can make this work. I can't help but wonder what happens if Twitch gets downstairs or Ophie upstairs? I seriously think Ophie will kill Twitch if given the chance. I thought that maybe Ophie would be off in someone else's home, but who is going to want a deaf white cat(esp. one that isn't all that friendly)? Ophie has come so far, but this is a major stumbling block. I am afraid I am endangering Twitch's life simply be keeping Ophie in the house.

I really don't know where to go from here. I love both Twitch & Ophie & I am willing to do wahtever it takes, but I am frusterated with Ophie. She got along so well with Damita & Chico. I considered taking Ophie to the HS when I take Damita & Chico so maybe that would unsettle her enough so she would behave better at home(when I took her to the HS with them before, she got home & was very calm, relaxed & a lot more friendly). I feel like I am just scaring the daylights out of her. One of the cats at the HS she gets along with really well, so I thought about taking her ot socialize with that cat to see if that helped. Then again, if there is any sort of disease/health issue at the HS, I don't want to bring it home.

Sorry that got so long, but I am getting desperate. I know what dad is going to think about this. Ophie will be gone if she doesn't stragithen up in the next few weeks. Mom really likes her & knows about this. She is willing to try anything we an to help(she won't admit it, but she loves Ophie).

Ophelia is 3 years old & spayed. I thought things would go good between Ophie & Twitch since they are both deaf, but I have been so wrong. I brought Ophie upstairs this morning again & while I was carrying her she was completely relaxed. I put her in the dog crate upstairs again for today. Things *might* be improving(she might like one of 4 cats)Ophie ate out of the same food bowl as Chico w/o hissing. That might have just been the fact that I forgot to give her canned food yesterday & she always gets canned food, though.

maybe it is a scent issue ... try putting a drop of vanilla under everyone involveds nose( the cats) .... I give Hissy a great big thank you for that tip

Sharky, you mean to put vanilla right below their noses?

I got the basement cleaned & movied Ophie down there. Now she thinks she wants upstairs. So, I let her upstairs & the moment she hisses or swats at anyone, I scopp her up & put her at the top of the stairs. Then I shut the door & ignore her for awhile. Then I repeat the process.

hi everyone, I am new here, so if I don't get it right at first, please accept apologies ...

our girl cat, Sashi, has become SO aggressive toward our boy, Lonnie - both are "fixed," both were "rescue" kitties; we don't know exactly hold old each is (even the vet could only approximate, but Lonnie would be the older), and although Sashi never cared for Lonnie, and has been cranky toward him from the start, he has always been very mellow with her, very tolerant and forgiving.

Sashi is fairly neurotic, seems compelled to break things, has night crazies, and so on, but we've still felt very attached to her, she's very smart and beautiful and a real "cat's cat," quite the huntress, and, too, we make allowance on account of her traumatic beginnings (lost her first set of kittens, etc.); however, things are now getting out of hand, and we don't know what to do.

Lonnie is adorable, with a sweet and calm personality, and we don't want him scared and miserable. All the aggression is starting to get to him, and it is definitely getting worse. We rescued him from a near fatal stabbing and he deserves all the peace and happiness in the world, not daily nerves and fretting on account of a mad housemate.

Have done all the usual, including feliway (not the diffuser, just the spray), except drugs (altho have tried homeopathics, and rescue remedy, which have helped Lonnie, at least), but it's reached the level of Sashi seeking Lonnie out and pouncing on him and scratching his face whilst he's sleeping.

Had never heard of using vanilla, do you imagine it's worth a try?

Is it the fact, perhaps, that Sashi just needs to be in a one-cat home?

We moved about 6 weeks ago, to a temporary rental, and it's just too small to keep them separated again. We don't think it's the move, 'cos both cats seem much happier here than at the old place ...

Shall we try the vanilla?

thanks for any advice, we are at wit's end ...

Welcome! I would suggest trying the vanilla, but otherwise, I am quite useless. You can try making a post of your own to see what kind of response you get there.

I showed dad info on declawing & expalined it to him tonight when he got home(it was his first reaction on what to do w/ Ophie). Apparently, Ophie is his favorite cat of them all. He gave me 2 years to straighten her out. I think I can do something about her by then. So, for now, she safe here. She can easily stay in the basement(I guess). Our house is big, but I hate to keep certain cats upstairs & certain ones downstairs.

thanks so much for the response, will try the vanilla tonight!

great that your Dad was so willing to be open of mind on the declawing issue, and 2 years is a nice trial period, certainly gives you the opportunity to try different solutions.

maybe establishing different territories (upstairs/downstairs) is a good thing, and once they've been established, perhaps the cats will gradually venture forth and mix and mingle, knowing they have their "safety zones" to which to return?

that could be part of our problem, here, just not enough space to have really separate territories ... the old house was definitely bigger, but there (rural area) we had loads of ferals around outside, leading to redirected agression ...

oh, well. will let you know how the vanilla works ... thanks again, and good luck with your feline crew, too!

We didn't have much luck with vanilla scenting. It actually made things worse for us. Guess they didn't like it.

Try lavender though, if it is indeed a scent issue.

Your issue sounds like mine though, but not quite the extreme. Whitey who is new to the group is trying all sorts of measures to dominate (according to the responses for my other threads) .

lunasmom, do you just spray lavender around, generally, or actually apply it to the cats? if applied, do you use it in an oil, or other form?

Try the oil form. I've always been told to apply it to the back of their necks as that's an area they can't easily lick off.

I think its kind of a free for all when it comes to the scenting. Some people I've talked with (such as Vet Techs) said to use Vanilla, then others said not to use Vanilla because cats can't stand the smell of it and to try lavender.

okey dokey, lavender oil it will be. I suspect our cats don't like vanilla, judging by how they react to certain "sweet" perfumes.

thanks for the tip, now today of course Sashi's inexplicably (but fortunately) calmed down a good bit. go figure.