Aggressive Cat Issue

[keeneland]

We have 2 cats that have been through TNR. First is a male that is around 14 lbs. Second is a little female that is his daughter that is 10 months old and weighs around 7 lbs. Both of these cats after going through the TNR have became lap kitties and stay in the house most of the time at night since the weather has turned cold. We had an issue with the little female with hair loss under her throat that turned out to be cat bites. She was treated at the vet and that issue has cleared up but now we know who was doing it her. The little female is very passive and if the male cat gets after her she flips over on her back and cries and is obviously scared of him. She can't get away from him in the house like she can in the outside. He attacks her mainly after playing with his mouse toys in the house as he seems to get all charged up. We have had to put him out the last 4 nights after he jumped her. I have no idea what triggered the attacks outside when she had the hair loss & bites but it is apparent now to us this was what was happening. It is starting to seem that we may have to chose which cat is going to be in the house. They are both good cats but I can;t have the male beating on the little girl this way. Anyone had similar happen and is there a solution?

 

[Kieka]

The cat bites when she was outside was most likely from attempted matings. It is not uncommon for females to get torn up from males biting and holding on with claws. How old was she when you brought her in? If she was at least 6 months old she might have had an early heat or almost in heat when she was trapped and spayed. 

When he goes after her does she try to get away? Is it purly one sided? Does she bat at him? Does she chase him or go after him when he releases her? 

I have a 13 pound male and a 7 pound female, unrelated. The female is overly dramatic when it comes to play. When she was about 6-8 weeks old her mom disappeared and a year old male took over the care of her litter and another. It was really cute to watch the boy lead around the kittens and herd in any who tried to wander off. My guess is that he played with them and she learned to make a lot of noise and he would back off (it was a horder/feral colony situation). She was trapped and brought into our home at nearly 4 months old.

Since she has come into our home she will yell loudly when it comes to playing with my male. She also yells loudly if I try to pick her up (even if her feet are just an inch off the ground she acts like I am trying to kill her, I do refrain from picking her up but sometimes it is necessary). In neither situation is she getting hurt though. When it comes to play it took me a few months to figure out that she is playing loudly and not really upset or hurting.

The clues in our case are that if Link lets her up Rocket will dive under him again biting his forelegs. Rocket will bat at him without claws; they do a lot of that hesitant paw touching or forehead tapping in calmer moments mostly her towards him. She will take her turn chasing him but even then ends up belly up 99% of the time once she catches him. It really is something to see because she somehow dives under him, slides on the floor between his legs and turns around so she can grab his forelegs and bite him. He sits on her face and she kicks him so he gets up. There has never been any fur left behind nor signs of injury on either cat after play. Even though her ears go back some and she makes a lot of noise his body language is always totally relaxed. He sometimes is ready to stop before her and she will jump on his back as he walks away. Because of the size difference he just shakes her off and sits on her again. If she isn't in a playing mood he will try to play but she just ignored him and he walks away looking sad. Although my female may be older and more secure in herself so I do realize it could be a completely different situation.

The point is, if you aren't seeing blood or fur and if she isn't actively trying to escape him it may be play. If she isn't shrinking away from him when he comes near her at other times then likely she isn't really afraid of him. Normal play should have some taking of turns chasing so if she never chases him that would be a sign she isn't reciprocating the play. 

If it really is him being overly aggressive one of the options is to tire him out. When you see him playing try to make it more interactive by using wand toys to get him moving more. If you can drain his energy out he won't feel the need to go after her as much. You could also get some track toys so he has something to play with that requires more movement on his part. Your goal would be a play time in the morning and evening to the point where he pants with exertion to really get that energy out. The basic idea would be to prevent it but if you do see him going for her start waving a wand toy nearby (or throw a mouse toy past or throw a treat to distract him) to draw his attention away from her and redirect his energy.

Never reach physically between them because you could get scratched or bit in the process of separating them. I find stomping my foot or dropping a shoe right next to their heads works well to startle two cats apart if it is necessary to separate them. 

 

[keeneland]

 
The cat bites when she was outside was most likely from attempted matings. It is not uncommon for females to get torn up from males biting and holding on with claws. How old was she when you brought her in? If she was at least 6 months old she might have had an early heat or almost in heat when she was trapped and spayed. 

Just a little more info on our little female. We did the TNR on her when she was a kitten and she never went into heat. The hair loss & bites occurred about 3 months after the TNR. We blamed it at that time on another intact Tom in our neighborhood. Only after getting them in the house together did we start putting 2 & 2 together and see where it had most likely occurred from. 

 Normal play should have some taking of turns chasing so if she never chases him that would be a sign she isn't reciprocating the play. 

This isn't play to the little female. When we have her in the house by herself with us she is on the couch or on our lap with us, When we have them come in together they greet each other & eat together but afterwards he takes a position either near us or in our lap & the little female finds her self an elevated perch where she keeps an eye on things. He went after her on her perch the other night & she screamed bloody murder. I think we have found one small bite on her neck because we have been stepping in quickly and the Tom stops immediately when we scold. I think this is possibly causing the little female to avoid going to the litter box when they are in the house at the same time also.

 If it really is him being overly aggressive one of the options is to tire him out. When you see him playing try to make it more interactive by using wand toys to get him moving more

.

I am going to try this and see if it works or helps. Things had been going so well that I did not see this issue coming. It may come down that only one can be a house cat. Thank you for your reply!

 

[di and bob]

He is getting overstimulated with his play and is taking it out on her. It is not unusual at all for a female to be this way.They usually don't want anything to do with other cats once they reach adulthood. She just wants to be left alone and he just wants to play. The only solution I have found is to get another male playmate for the first male, someone with the same outgoing, 'macho' attitude he has, you wouldn't want a timid male or you'll be pulling him off two 'victims'. If that isn't feasible, you will have to stay on top of it and don't let him attack her at all. Say NO loudly and give him a 5 minute time out in a small room. It might even come down to locking her in a 'safe' room when you leave. If they are both young, the attacks will likely lessen when they get older. You might get on Amazon and get a kickeroo,a long cat toy under 10.00 that they expend a lot of energy on bunny kicking. It is wonderful for aggressive cats. You could throw it near him when he is looking aggressive and it will deter him. Once they can get outside again that will help too, she can get away from him easier. Good luck! 

 

[keeneland]

 The only solution I have found is to get another male playmate for the first male, someone with the same outgoing, 'macho' attitude he has, you wouldn't want a timid male or you'll be pulling him off two 'victims'

He had this playmate in her little male litter mate who was rowdy & into everything and they were constant companions. He was the first kitten we socialized but all of the above led to him venturing where he should not have been and he got hit and killed by a car. These 2 shown here were close!

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• keeneland
• Feb 7, 2017