My husband and I have two cats -- both rescues. One, Zoey, is F DSH about 7 years old with IBS, making her skittish and shy. The other, Monte, is M DSH, about 3 years old, and twice the size of Zoey. We've had the female for about 1 year, the male for about 6 months. Both are altered, both are entirely indoor, and both have their claws.
Relations have been a bit strained between the cats from the beginning, but it wasn't until after we moved about 6 weeks ago that things got really bad.
Monte was previously feral, lived in a schoolyard, and was not able to stay in his last adoptive home because he made another male cat spray. We went through a phase shortly after we brought him home where Monte, (probably neutered only shortly before we got him), would try to mate with our female (much to her dismay), and would hump anything else he could find that was more willing several times per day. When he "attacked" Zoey, it seemed to quite clearly be a sexual move. Attacks were occurring maybe twice or three times per week at most. We took him to the vet, did a brief course of hormone therapy, and waited it out until he calmed down. We haven't seen him try to hump anything in months.
We moved to a larger place about 6 weeks ago. It seems that Zoey was timid about her changing environment and stayed hidden at first, but Monte just canvased and claimed the place as his. He has since attacked her, in a way that seems very unprovoked, as many as three to five times per day. He hasn't drawn blood, but he's extracted some of Zoey's fur and has made her pant with fright. When he's not attacking he seems to be stalking her -- he'll follow her around, pounce on her, and try to scare her away from us when she dares try to spend any time with the humans. We aren't sure if his behavior is territoriality, jealousy, animosity directed at Zoey, or nerves about changing locations yet again.
For the record...we also went on a one week trip about 5 days after our move. (We're sorry, it was unavoidable). We hired a live-in cat sitter who said that while we were gone the cats got along fine.
We keep them separated while we are gone, and often at night. Someone is almost always home since my husband works from home. Neither cat is allowed in our bedroom at night. We have separate litter boxes, we've had to feed them in separate rooms to get Zoey to eat at all, and we try to shower both of them with attention. Zoey has crawled into her shell, so to speak, and pretty much hides in the back bathroom all day -- she was always shy, but used to be more social.
Monte is also a love/overstimulated biter. Between the biting of the humans and the attacks on our other kitty, we are about at wits end. We'd appreciate any suggestions.
Relations have been a bit strained between the cats from the beginning, but it wasn't until after we moved about 6 weeks ago that things got really bad.
Monte was previously feral, lived in a schoolyard, and was not able to stay in his last adoptive home because he made another male cat spray. We went through a phase shortly after we brought him home where Monte, (probably neutered only shortly before we got him), would try to mate with our female (much to her dismay), and would hump anything else he could find that was more willing several times per day. When he "attacked" Zoey, it seemed to quite clearly be a sexual move. Attacks were occurring maybe twice or three times per week at most. We took him to the vet, did a brief course of hormone therapy, and waited it out until he calmed down. We haven't seen him try to hump anything in months.
We moved to a larger place about 6 weeks ago. It seems that Zoey was timid about her changing environment and stayed hidden at first, but Monte just canvased and claimed the place as his. He has since attacked her, in a way that seems very unprovoked, as many as three to five times per day. He hasn't drawn blood, but he's extracted some of Zoey's fur and has made her pant with fright. When he's not attacking he seems to be stalking her -- he'll follow her around, pounce on her, and try to scare her away from us when she dares try to spend any time with the humans. We aren't sure if his behavior is territoriality, jealousy, animosity directed at Zoey, or nerves about changing locations yet again.
For the record...we also went on a one week trip about 5 days after our move. (We're sorry, it was unavoidable). We hired a live-in cat sitter who said that while we were gone the cats got along fine.
We keep them separated while we are gone, and often at night. Someone is almost always home since my husband works from home. Neither cat is allowed in our bedroom at night. We have separate litter boxes, we've had to feed them in separate rooms to get Zoey to eat at all, and we try to shower both of them with attention. Zoey has crawled into her shell, so to speak, and pretty much hides in the back bathroom all day -- she was always shy, but used to be more social.
Monte is also a love/overstimulated biter. Between the biting of the humans and the attacks on our other kitty, we are about at wits end. We'd appreciate any suggestions.