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I recently rescued a female who was left in an abandoned store. My vet said she is a healthy 3 year old and has been spayed. I have 3 other cats and my new female has taken over. She is tough, aggressive and beats up my other 3 boys. She is sweet, loveable, and loves to be held and cuddled, but, sometimes she gets the crazies and the cat fights are terrible - screaming, crying, blood - please tell me how to get rid of this aggressive behavior. I yell at her and spray her with water, to no avail. I realize she is still young, and maybe just wants to play, buy my boys are terrified. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank You Very Much. Carol Tierney

Customer (name blocked for privacy)

Status: Closed Value: $20

Hi Carol,

I am sorry about what is going on in your house! Good for you for adopting a homeless cat. A couple more questions:

How long ago did you adopt her?

How old are your other 3 cats?

How many litterboxes in the house?

How many food and water bowls?

How big is your house (how many rooms)?

Thanks,

Dr. Amanda

Edited by DrAmanda on April 14 2006 at 10:13 PM

Dr. Amanda
Small Animal Veterinarian
Special interest in canine and feline behavior.

Reply to Dr. Amanda's Post: Thank you for the quick reply. I have 'Snowflake' about 3 weeks. My other cats are 10, 8 and 5, all strays I took in from the street. I have 2 litterboxes and a 4 room apartment. There are 2 food bowls and 1 water bowl, and they sometimes drink from a glass in the kitchen sink. They eat canned food and dry food and I do give them treats sometimes (ham, turkey, roast beef). I hoped Snowflake would get used to the house and other cats, but she is still so tough - my 10 year old now lives on top of the refrigerator - the 8 year old hides under the bed and the 5 year old just slinks around. She likes to play with toys but as soon as one of the other cats come into the room, she jumps on them! Thanks for your help!

Hello again Carol,

OK, well it is going to take some time for sure. Most cats don't accept another cat for at least 6 months. And the end result may be that they may never be buddies, but you may achieve some peace in the house.

Some tips:

1) you should have 5 litterboxes! that is one for each cat and then one more. This will help any of the cats who are not wanting to interact be able to make it to a box without problems.
2) I recommend having a food bowl in each room with a little food in each. If you find this too difficult, then have one at counter height, one on the floor and one in another part of the apartment (bathroom, bedroom).
3) water bowls should be even dispersed as well
4) play with the new cat until she is exhausted. She may have to use you as the playmate for now. I would get some laser light toys, "fishing poles", balls, paper sacks, whatever you think she will play with. Who knows, maybe your other cats will play too?
5) You can always try some Feliway pheromone aerosols in the apartment to help alleviate some stress in the other cats. It isn't cheap, so if it doesn't look like its working within a month or two, it probably won't do much after that.
6) Tincture of time will help a lot. I know that is the hardest, but cats are fickle creatures and it takes them some time to accept a new "addition".

Good luck! Keep at it. The website veterinarypartner.com also has some great articles about cat behavior.

Sincerely,
Dr. Amanda

Dr. Amanda
Small Animal Veterinarian
Special interest in canine and feline behavior.

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