my cats hate each other

Hi folks,
I'm so in love with my furry friends, only one problem. They don't like each other. I have a female cat , around 9 and a male cat around 3. The boy moved in a few years after the girl, and had not been neutered by his previous owner. I did have him neutered, but for awhile the fighting was so bad I found him a new home. When things didn't work out there, I took him back. The cats are getting along better, but the male still chases the female and dominates her sometimes. I try to discipline him with a water bottle and by shouting at times, but it hasn't changed the territoralism. I wonder if they will ever be able to coexist happily. Any suggestions....

The flower remedies are very good for helping to destress out cats.



Flower Remedies

In multi cat households the cats need to sort some of hirarchy (sp?) among themselves. This means some amount of friction and hostility is to be expected. With time the severty and frequency of hostile encounters should diminish.

What happens very often is that owners are worried about the fights and try to "break it up" by shouting or punishing the cats (and the water pistol counts as a punishment). This scares the cats and makes them associate each other with negative experiences (i.e. "whenever I'm with this other cat something scary happens, there's shouting and water squirting and I feel threatened"). Next time the cat sees the other cat he or she is bound to become even more aggressive in prepration for the threat (it's fear induced aggression and the cat has very little control over it).

So the first thing is to stop shouting or using the water pistol or any other frightening measure when the cats are together. Try to make their encounters as pleasant as possible by giving them treats when they're together. Have some on hand and if you see that one of the cats is planning an attack or becomes tense throw her a treat and throw another at the other cat. Make sure you give them the treats at different locations in the room so they don't end up fighting over the same piece.

The most important thing again is to avoid any sort of punishment or anything stressful when they're together. I know this can be hard as you will probably feel the need to protect the attacked cat. But in the long run it's the only way to get them to work out their differences and stop fighting.

Thanks for that advice Anne.

I have tended to yell at my male persian when he moans at and hits/bites the girlie persian.

I know to avoid that now.

Thanks for all your help everyone. The cats are actually quite spoiled. But, I will surely try the treats, flower remedies and to stay out of their business so to speak.
Cocosmom:tounge2: