Hi! I'm new. My name's Steff, and I currently have ten cats under my roof, along with two adults and two children. Six are kittens. They have cat trees, and it's a pretty big duplex. Multiple litter boxes, plenty of food, lots of love and lots of toys.
The story goes like this: Two happy housecats, spoiled rotten, named Mike and Fergie live here. Then, one evening while I was outside, this lovely, exceptionally pregnant tortie came running to me, meowing. Immediately, my partner brought her inside, upstairs to our bedroom and named her Reinette. I facepalmed, but I went along with it. She remained isolated from the other cats.
Reinette was taken to the vet to be tested, and came back FelV/FIV and heartworm negative. I called around to see if any vets in the area could do a late spay on her. None would. I didn't want to go that route, but there are so many kitties in this area already homeless; in fact, our two cats were rescues. She was estimated as one or two weeks from giving birth to a guesstimated four kittens. No no-kill shelters had room for her, either.
Three and a half weeks later, she gave birth to six. Needless to say, the vet kinda got the dates wrong. But we did everything right; we made her a nest, we had the kittens checked by the vet at eighteen days old, we got eyedrops for the ones who needed it (cleared their gummy eyes right up). They just had their nine week birthday today. Two are going to a new home on their twelve week birthday. (Anyone want to adopt a couple kittens? We have two to four left, all vet care completed by then, with a permanent and lifelong right of return...)
All of them, including Reinette, go in to be spayed/neutered/vaccinated/dewormed/Revolution'd on Wednesday this week.
Our problem is this: Reinette is a psycho. She escapes their area and eats the faces off the other cats, including one incredibly sweet boy we took in, had vaccinated, neutered, etc. named Arthur, who loves everyone, human or cat. Seriously, he wouldn't hurt a fly. She busts out any chance she can get to claw the faces of anyone remotely in her way. Her kittens regularly come out now to socialize with the other grown cats (everyone gets along famously, and Arthur and Mike are such amazing foster-dads; they groom, they play, they chase, they correct gently, they treat the kittens like THEY are the parents), but Reinette is still nuts. She doesn't mind the kittens being out without her. She just resents being isolated herself. Except, whenever she gets loose, she attacks.
We're praying like heck that after she's spayed and the kittens are no longer her worry that she'll calm down. But I'm also desperately seeking advice for how to possibly introduce her back to them. I'm sure some of it's maternal protectiveness and being the only unaltered adult, but some of it, I think, is native. If it is, is there any suggestions anyone has anywhere on how to get her to not try to kill Mike, Fergie and Arthur? We've spent stupid money on Feliway, we've kept her isolated, we've tried the treats beside the door, we've tried letting her see through a narrow screen (she literally CAME THROUGH the screen and went after the cats), and I'm at wits end. We love her. She's the most human-friendly cat ever. But we can't have her trying to murder the others.
Suggestions? Heck, I'll try voodoo dances at this point.
The story goes like this: Two happy housecats, spoiled rotten, named Mike and Fergie live here. Then, one evening while I was outside, this lovely, exceptionally pregnant tortie came running to me, meowing. Immediately, my partner brought her inside, upstairs to our bedroom and named her Reinette. I facepalmed, but I went along with it. She remained isolated from the other cats.
Reinette was taken to the vet to be tested, and came back FelV/FIV and heartworm negative. I called around to see if any vets in the area could do a late spay on her. None would. I didn't want to go that route, but there are so many kitties in this area already homeless; in fact, our two cats were rescues. She was estimated as one or two weeks from giving birth to a guesstimated four kittens. No no-kill shelters had room for her, either.
Three and a half weeks later, she gave birth to six. Needless to say, the vet kinda got the dates wrong. But we did everything right; we made her a nest, we had the kittens checked by the vet at eighteen days old, we got eyedrops for the ones who needed it (cleared their gummy eyes right up). They just had their nine week birthday today. Two are going to a new home on their twelve week birthday. (Anyone want to adopt a couple kittens? We have two to four left, all vet care completed by then, with a permanent and lifelong right of return...)
All of them, including Reinette, go in to be spayed/neutered/vaccinated/dewormed/Revolution'd on Wednesday this week.
Our problem is this: Reinette is a psycho. She escapes their area and eats the faces off the other cats, including one incredibly sweet boy we took in, had vaccinated, neutered, etc. named Arthur, who loves everyone, human or cat. Seriously, he wouldn't hurt a fly. She busts out any chance she can get to claw the faces of anyone remotely in her way. Her kittens regularly come out now to socialize with the other grown cats (everyone gets along famously, and Arthur and Mike are such amazing foster-dads; they groom, they play, they chase, they correct gently, they treat the kittens like THEY are the parents), but Reinette is still nuts. She doesn't mind the kittens being out without her. She just resents being isolated herself. Except, whenever she gets loose, she attacks.
We're praying like heck that after she's spayed and the kittens are no longer her worry that she'll calm down. But I'm also desperately seeking advice for how to possibly introduce her back to them. I'm sure some of it's maternal protectiveness and being the only unaltered adult, but some of it, I think, is native. If it is, is there any suggestions anyone has anywhere on how to get her to not try to kill Mike, Fergie and Arthur? We've spent stupid money on Feliway, we've kept her isolated, we've tried the treats beside the door, we've tried letting her see through a narrow screen (she literally CAME THROUGH the screen and went after the cats), and I'm at wits end. We love her. She's the most human-friendly cat ever. But we can't have her trying to murder the others.
Suggestions? Heck, I'll try voodoo dances at this point.
