Family of cat no longer getting along

[joelore]

Hi,

About 10 years ago we adopted 2 full blooded Bombay kittens. They are brother and sister. Before we could get them spayed and neutered, and was told that brother and sisters who lived together mature sexually much faster, they had a litter of 4 kittens, 2 boys and 2 girls. Well we felt it only fair to them that we keep them and then spayed and Neutered all of them after that.

Well, for the most part, they got along well, with the occasional dominance and territorial disputes. Lately however, with the mother and father being 11 and the kids being 9, they fight and hiss and wail at each other for hours and hours at night, every night.. This has been going on now for about 4 months and we have tried many remedies such as treats, feeding, distractions, playing, gentle calming, separation and some thing I do not like to do like water pistols etc...

Any suggestion on quelling this behavior would be greatly appreciated. It seems to always be one of the young girls that goes off at night whenever another cat is playing and or runs past her quickly.

Thank You for any help.

dev

 

[bbarb]

Feliway pheromones worked a treat when my four started fighting and soiling all over the place.  They are very expensive from a pet shop or the vet.  They work from an electric heater, like an air freshener, which you have to buy at the same time, and you plug them into an electricity supply.

I found Amazon were the cheapest at around £18 for a dispenser and small bottle of pheromones.

 

[thevegancuddler]

You can also get the Feliway collars. I used a combo of both. And if there are one or two cats that are particularly anxious, you can buy Thundershirts for them.

Has anything at all changed around the house? New people, departures, new food, new litter, anything?

 

[katluver4life]

It does seem that something may be going on, either in the environment (changes), or possibly with the health of one or more of them.

Cats can pick up if one in the group is ill, then the hierarchy changes and bickering can ensue. Usually changes in behavior indicate a medical issue is going on. Have you noticed if any of them is not quite him or herself? Cats hide illness VERY well, but the others could pick up that fact easily. It would be expensive to have all six taken to the vet for a check up, but if you can observe them and maybe see if it's 1 particular cat, then have them vet checked.

I agree that getting a few feliway diffusers may help settle them some. These do take some time to fully kick in, and you may need to get more then 1 to cover the whole house. When I bring in fosters, I have a diffuser in every room. Though these can be an expensive first time investment, for the diffusers, they can be bought on Amazon for much less then pet stores as BBarb said. Refills also.