Advice Needed...

[Midnight2069]

Just looking for some advice here as we are at a loss as to what to do at this point.

First off, we have 13 cats currently. We rescue cats in general and over the past 2 years we have slowly ended up with a house full that we haven't been able to get adopted out. They are all 1.5yrs old or older at this point.

Over the past 6 months an issue of bullying has developed with one of the females, Elsa. She is a super sweet cat and just loves people and all of a sudden out of the blue, one of the males that she used to play with all the time started chasing her around. Over the course of time, the other cats have started doing the same thing to the point that Elsa is afraid to come out of her "safe" spaces to even use the litter box. We have tried changing up the environments, keep them away from each other, encouraging them to play as a group etc. but nothing seems to be helping.

At the same time the bullying started, at least 4 of the males started to periodically spray in various places. All of them are neutered. A couple of them are older and we've had them for 3+ years and they had never displayed the behavior before. We have tried anti-marking spray, both homemade and store bought, added new litter boxes and we always make sure they are clean, used calming spray everywhere, scrubbing and such daily to make sure the smells are gone etc., but we just cannot get them to stop.

We are at a loss at this point as to what to do. We are still trying to get most of them adopted out but it's difficult, as most know with adults. Any advice anyone could give would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
KLS

 

[kat hamlin]

Is there any way you can alter your house into sort of colony rooms? I know it's asking a lot, but 13 cats is a lot to ask for everybody to get along. Something happened to upset the balance and now everybody is feeling it. I think if you could separate some of them out and give them time to resettle and recreate a social order that works for everybody, it may help a lot.
We have 12 right now, 2 owned and 10 fosters, and it is definitely a delicate balance. Luckily most of the fosters (all but one) are kittens and they are pretty laid back having been raised in this home. But I think if they were all adults, and maybe coming into that situation as adults, we might have a different story. We do have the means to separate them out if we had to, and that has been the saving grace in the past with uppity mom cats.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Has anything changed in the home at all, or in the yard around the home? Sometimes, especially with larger numbers of cats, it doesn't take much to totally upset the order of things. Even a subtle change can bring on this sort of reaction.

 

[Midnight2069]

Nothing in the immediate past though we did take in the newest addition around the same time as the bulling first started 6ish months ago.

I'm not entirely sure we would be able to separate them into separate rooms. It's worth a shot though to give it a shot and see what we can come up with.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

all of a sudden out of the blue, one of the males that she used to play with all the time started chasing her around.

Has anything changed in the home at all, or in the yard around the home? Sometimes, especially with larger numbers of cats, it doesn't take much to totally upset the order of things. Even a subtle change can bring on this sort of reaction.

Something happened to upset the balance and now everybody is feeling it.

Nothing in the immediate past though we did take in the newest addition around the same time as the bulling first started 6ish months ago.

Midnight2069 - I've boiled down the above four quotes in order by intent. I have eleven cats currently, and my observation over just about sixty years of living in multiple-cat households is that the larger - and older - a clowder grows, the better everyone gets along.

The new behaviour began, "out of the blue," and coincided roughly with the addition of a new cat. Mamanyt1953 is dead on when she observes that, "...even a subtle change can bring on this sort of reaction..." and kat hamlin is clearly right that, "...something happened to upset the balance and now everybody is feeling it."

What was the initial interaction between your "newcomer cat," and the male who first began chasing Elsa? Was there any trace of a dominance issue, or or territoriality? My primary reaction was that the male who instigated the bullying of Elsa was displaying displaced aggression, and your reply in Post #4 reinforced that suspicion.

Can you place the instigator and the newcomer into a space where their interactions can be readily observed? If they seem to get on well, I'd then try Elsa and the newcomer in the same space, and watch for signs of ill will. Narrowing down the field to the pertinent players should make the underlying problem clear to you.
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[Mamanyt1953]

If you would like to attempt a re-introduction, this article may help:
How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction

 

[Midnight2069]

All good suggestions. We are going to try getting the ones that are having interaction problems in a room together and seeing what's up this weekend. Thank you all for the help. It's very appreciated.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

That's what we're here for! When you have a minute, if you haven't yet, head over to New Cats on the Block and introduce yourself and your furry family! Pictures are MORE than welcome!