Anyone have any success stories of resolving conflict between cats?

[vsvpflex]

I have a 4 cat household, all 4 cats have lived together for almost 4 years at this point. Finn (3.5yr old male) has also been a little bugger and loved to bug Rad (9+yr old female). She has a short fuse and is quick to vocalize and hide even if the other cat is simply attempting to play. Before Christmas, Finn’s “bugging” her started to escalate into aggression towards her and we knew we had to intervene. We tried diffusers and behavioral modification, and saw some improvement but not enough. As of the 9th of this month, both cats will have been on Behavioral meds for a month. The goal being to use the behavioral meds to lessen tensions so behavioral modification methods are able to be effective, and then ween both cats off meds when things have settled down again. So far we have definitely seen a notable improvement, if before the aggression/tension was 100%, now we’ve managed it down to 20%. Now when Finn runs after Rad, it’s more playful than malicious, and when it happens we shut Finn in the bathroom for 5 mins and can tell he is starting to associate his bad behavior with the punishment which is great. We have even noticed as well that if Finn bugs Rad and she vocalizes, 9/10 times he turns around and walks the opposite direction. We have also been feeding them food and treats together, a lot of the time with them getting so close their heads touch. It’s been a long and sometimes discouraging road, and I’m just looking for some success stories to lift my spirits and potentially some behavioral modification/exercises that worked for you in your situations.

Thanks!

 

[Furballsmom]

I've been a one-cat household all along, but there are quite a few success stories here that you'll hopefully be reading soon

 

[Alldara]

You've been on a long road with this and have had to make a lot of posts! I'm glad to hear it's improving a little.

Did you check out the Non recognition aggression thread? Lots of people had similar situations with a different cause and had good success.

 

[vsvpflex]

In a weird turn of events, I believe I have narrowed down the trigger. My partner was out of town overnight and the cats got along fine. I believe my male cat is resource guarding, with the resource being my girlfriend. I’ve found plenty of info on resource guarding when it comes to food or litter boxes but can’t seem to find any regarding when the resource is a person.

 

[Alldara]

In a weird turn of events, I believe I have narrowed down the trigger. My partner was out of town overnight and the cats got along fine. I believe my male cat is resource guarding, with the resource being my girlfriend. I’ve found plenty of info on resource guarding when it comes to food or litter boxes but can’t seem to find any regarding when the resource is a person.

Jealousy issues can very much happen. Nobel would be fine with Calcifer all day while I was at work. My wife would send videos, photos of them loving one another. The second I got home Nobel would hiss at and swat at Cal. Mostly it was on days that I had gone out. Spending some extra quality time with Nobel helped.

 

[maggie101]

I have a 4 cat household, all 4 cats have lived together for almost 4 years at this point. Finn (3.5yr old male) has also been a little bugger and loved to bug Rad (9+yr old female). She has a short fuse and is quick to vocalize and hide even if the other cat is simply attempting to play. Before Christmas, Finn’s “bugging” her started to escalate into aggression towards her and we knew we had to intervene. We tried diffusers and behavioral modification, and saw some improvement but not enough. As of the 9th of this month, both cats will have been on Behavioral meds for a month. The goal being to use the behavioral meds to lessen tensions so behavioral modification methods are able to be effective, and then ween both cats off meds when things have settled down again. So far we have definitely seen a notable improvement, if before the aggression/tension was 100%, now we’ve managed it down to 20%. Now when Finn runs after Rad, it’s more playful than malicious, and when it happens we shut Finn in the bathroom for 5 mins and can tell he is starting to associate his bad behavior with the punishment which is great. We have even noticed as well that if Finn bugs Rad and she vocalizes, 9/10 times he turns around and walks the opposite direction. We have also been feeding them food and treats together, a lot of the time with them getting so close their heads touch. It’s been a long and sometimes discouraging road, and I’m just looking for some success stories to lift my spirits and potentially some behavioral modification/exercises that worked for you in your situations.

Thanks!

Finn and Rad are identical to my cats Maggie and Peaches. Maggie is clicker trained,. They are now 10 and 11 yrs old. Peaches is small 6.5 pds. Maggie is a mini leopard
Here's my fav old pi as kittens. Peaches poofs her tail out big whenever Maggie startles her. Now lots of growling. Their personalities are set

 

[maggie101]

Also they are most playful at night and when it's time to eat