Hello,
A few months ago I had to have my 13 year old female put down due to an inoperable tumor. Since her death, my oldest male, Zephyr who is also 13, has started acting aggressive toward the other two cats in the house.
Before this point, Zephyr has always been the top male cat who didn't interact too much with the others. He didn't mind them taking naps with him, but he's always played alone and preferred just keeping an eye on things. Other than an occasional stare down, he mostly left them alone. The only cat who would stare him down was the girl, but he was definitely in charge when it came to the boys. The other two boys would harass her from time to time, so I never really considered her quite on top.
Since her death, though, he's changed a bit. He's still normal with me, but he has taken to attacking the other two, especially the middle one. The main subject of his aggression is Oliver, who is 8. This especially worries me as Oliver is on the smaller side of average and a bit fragile, while Zephyr is in maincoon-sized territory. He's a bit on the thin side, but he's still a lot larger than Oliver. He's gone after Yadid, who is 3, a few times, but doesn't try it as often. Yadid is just as big as him but built like a fur covered brick. Yadid is definitely stronger, which is my assumption as to why Zephyr doesn't go after him as much.
He's not 100% spiteful all the time toward them, but it's often enough that I know something needs to be done. They can still take naps with him, and share furniture or be in the same room without explosions.
Other random background: all 3 are altered. (as was the girl) Zephyr has been here the longest. He was bottled raised from a few hours old by me. The recently deceased girl was adopted a few years later to give him a play mate when the former senior cat of the house didn't want to play any longer. Oliver was adopted as a kitten when the former senior cat passed on. Yadid was an unexpected surprise addition as a kitten a few years ago.
The only things I've tried so far have been offering larger portions of food at meal time, thinking he may have gotten used to more food when she became ill and couldn't eat as much. I had cut back after her death, as the two younger boys tend to gain weight easily, but Zephyr has always been a bit thin. I can't tell yet if this is helping at all, but some of his attacks happen right before meal time when he's getting impatient. When he became impatient for food when the girl was still here, she's usually slap him for whining.
I'm also trying to give him more attention, as I've noticed some of his attacks follow me giving the other two attention.
Does any one have a suggestion on what else might help? Has anyone else gone through this before?
A few months ago I had to have my 13 year old female put down due to an inoperable tumor. Since her death, my oldest male, Zephyr who is also 13, has started acting aggressive toward the other two cats in the house.
Before this point, Zephyr has always been the top male cat who didn't interact too much with the others. He didn't mind them taking naps with him, but he's always played alone and preferred just keeping an eye on things. Other than an occasional stare down, he mostly left them alone. The only cat who would stare him down was the girl, but he was definitely in charge when it came to the boys. The other two boys would harass her from time to time, so I never really considered her quite on top.
Since her death, though, he's changed a bit. He's still normal with me, but he has taken to attacking the other two, especially the middle one. The main subject of his aggression is Oliver, who is 8. This especially worries me as Oliver is on the smaller side of average and a bit fragile, while Zephyr is in maincoon-sized territory. He's a bit on the thin side, but he's still a lot larger than Oliver. He's gone after Yadid, who is 3, a few times, but doesn't try it as often. Yadid is just as big as him but built like a fur covered brick. Yadid is definitely stronger, which is my assumption as to why Zephyr doesn't go after him as much.
He's not 100% spiteful all the time toward them, but it's often enough that I know something needs to be done. They can still take naps with him, and share furniture or be in the same room without explosions.
Other random background: all 3 are altered. (as was the girl) Zephyr has been here the longest. He was bottled raised from a few hours old by me. The recently deceased girl was adopted a few years later to give him a play mate when the former senior cat of the house didn't want to play any longer. Oliver was adopted as a kitten when the former senior cat passed on. Yadid was an unexpected surprise addition as a kitten a few years ago.
The only things I've tried so far have been offering larger portions of food at meal time, thinking he may have gotten used to more food when she became ill and couldn't eat as much. I had cut back after her death, as the two younger boys tend to gain weight easily, but Zephyr has always been a bit thin. I can't tell yet if this is helping at all, but some of his attacks happen right before meal time when he's getting impatient. When he became impatient for food when the girl was still here, she's usually slap him for whining.
I'm also trying to give him more attention, as I've noticed some of his attacks follow me giving the other two attention.
Does any one have a suggestion on what else might help? Has anyone else gone through this before?
