Cats fighting for days

whatsername85

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I need a little hopefully short term help, my sister is staying with me for almost two months now and she has four cats. Two unspayed females and two neutered males. Her oldest is a 11/12 year old female (no idea of breed she's very small, very short coat, spots and stripes pattern), two brother males 9/10 years old no idea of breed and a 5 year old female blue point Siamese. The girls have fought for years, the older one goes after the younger one constantly and is now going after my 7 month flame point Siamese boy. I think a lot of it is stress there are a lot of people and animals in a small place but also if one of the dogs barks at the younger female the older female comes from nowhere and starts a fight with her and if my boy is anywhere around gets him to. If the older female wants in a bedroom that she can't go into she attacks those two, if someone accidentally steps on her she does the same thing and for the last three days it's gotten worse. If she fights with the cats she comes down and stalks the dogs and growls at everyone. All the cats are in my room, the door is left open but they all stay upstairs usually even though they can go around the house freely except my boy and now the younger female they stick close to me. I was woken up at 1 this morning due to a cat fight in my bedroom that kept me up for hours, I've had to close the older girl up with the boys (so she's not alone or she will pee on my things) in my room with their food and a litter box during the day because the fights are so frequent. I can't do that at night since my boy always sleeps with me, last time i closed the older girl out of the room at night she went off and peed in the kitchen even though there is a litter box downstairs. I'm losing my mind, my sister is moving hopefully soon and taking the oldest girl and one of the brothers but until than since I'm not sure how soon it is can anyone help me?? I'm very concerned about this, my boy is very stressed, he has a multitude of scabs, he's very nervous, today his leg is swollen from a bite from this morning and he just looks horrible. I've never had to deal with this before but I'm a nervous wreck.
 

moorspede

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So much stress.

You sister has two female cats who are not spayed. They fight with each other. Your cat gets involved in their fights. 

The older female cat is aggressive toward your dog when it barks at the younger female. 

The older cat want's to go into a bedroom that she can't she acts aggressively toward the younger cats. 

All of your cats stay upstairs during the day except your cat and the younger female. 

You've put the older female with the two males in your room during the day but you can't at night because your cat sleeps with you.

There are a bunch of options, you could hire some cages and cage your some or all of your sisters cats overnight. I don't actually believe in caging but since it is short term and your household is so stressed it would allow everyone to get some rest.

You need at least six litter boxes to be placed in the areas which the cats use the most. One downstairs is not enough.

You have an upstairs and a downstairs? Your sister's older female seems majorly stressed, I think she needs to escape but she feels she can't, she's peeing outside the litter box... She isn't allowed in your sister's bedroom? Couldn't she be kept upstairs, separated with your sister staying with her for a couple of hours every day to interact with her up there? 

You know how each animal interacts with each animal you just need to both work out the best solution, it may mean putting litter boxes into bedrooms and closing doors and swapping animals around so they can get a chance to go downstairs a few at a time. 

I always recommend feliway because it works wonders on my cats. 
 
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whatsername85

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To make a long story short, I live with my mom until this coming Summer my sister and her family went through the Louisiana flood and lost their home. We only have two bedrooms my mom is allergic to cats so we don't want cats in her room at all which only leaves my room. Her allergies are mainly when the cats get right in her face but some cats are worse than others. My sister her fiance and my niece are sleeping in the living room for now. Yes the older cat is very stressed, right now I'm separating her, my cat and the other female via my room. I'll look into feliway, my boy Sammy is now instantly on guard seeing Bella (the oldest) which puts her on the defensive where as her sister Dina tries to run the other way and jump up somewhere high. My sister and her fiance work 9 hours a day my mom works varied hours so I'm the only one having to deal with this and I'm watching my niece which I don't want her hurt. I'm hoping they'll be moving into a place soon their new place still needs repairs so for right now I'm just looking for anything that might help and ease some of the tension. Could this experience cause my cat to be aggressive towards other cats?
 

moorspede

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Oh wow, I'm so sorry, it sounds like there is little enough room for the family. Is having some or all of your sister's cats boarded for a short while a viable option? 
 
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whatsername85

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I've thought about that, I'm looking into a few places, Bella has always been very sensative to changes my sister found her as a very young kitten on the grounds of a fair she was working but she's always remained pretty wild. My big concern with boarding is her stress level might go up and she could lash out at a worker. I've thought about trying a type a see through cat proof gate or trying to re introduce with the smell technique. Bella could be OK with that since when they got here I never had a chance to properly introduce them since we don't have a safe room that can be used 24/7 but since I'm putting Bella and at least one of the brothers in my room right now than switching out for Sam and Dina than that could be an option. The problem has just gotten really really bad the last few days but over the course of last weekend my sister lost one of her dogs in 24 hours of him falling horribly ill we are still waiting on results from that so far it's torn between lepto or rat poison so everyone is really on edge which I think is causing a lot of stress on the cats as well. Has anyone tried rescue remedy before? I was thinking possibly that in conjunction with feliway if anyone has ever tried that? I'm hoping to get both girls spayed for my sister since money is very tight right now for them and I'm hoping that will help as well.
 

moorspede

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What about boarding the three other cats? It will only be short term and I'm sure it will have an effect on Bella's stress levels. I haven't tried rescue remedy on my cats but I'm not sure that rescue remedy or feliway will be enough.  
 

iwilltakethem

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Separate the cats with screens or gates. Where they can see each other but not get at each other. Obviously they must be supervised. Do this at feeding time, or several times a day with treats. When they start being aggressive take the food away. Return it when. They have settles down.eventually they will learn that the benefit of them getting along is better then the fighting. Make sure you also have enough spaces in your residence that each cat has a place of their own. That will greatly reduce the stress and competition for territory and who gets to be the boss.
 

aislinn

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This is a horrific situation. The cats need to be separated immediately. I can't even imagine the stress they're all under. Try to imagine how you would feel living with serial killers. This is just tragic and those poor cats need help. Please separate them as best you can until this issue is resolved. They are dependent on you as they can't take care of this themselves.
 
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whatsername85

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Things have improved somewhat, I'm closing my room at night with only Sam in there so the other cats go sleep with their people but Sam seeing Bella makes him growl and hide away. She hasn't attacked him for it but if there is any disruption like if any cat gets stepped on she starts attacking Sam and Dina. Usually resulting in me having to close her up for a bit with one of the brothers usually acosta since they are bonded but we are hoping to get Bella and Acosta moved into my sister's apartment soon as possible. Unfortunately Sam has now started destructive scratching on my bed and Ottomans at night he's never been much of a scratcher until now. I have gotten him multiple scratch surfaces but he doesn't want to use them so I'm going to try catnip mist. Thompson and Dina don't seem to have any sort of want to be alpha or leader they both play with Sam just fine and if it's just them they do fine. I have thought about lattice in a doorway or long wire shelves just so they would cover the whole door but I don't think Bella has ever been introduced slowly to any other cats they've all been tossed in together and moving 4 times in 3/4 months hasn't helped along with all the otherSR strange animals.
 

aislinn

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It really does sound stressful, for you and the cats. I hope this situation is resolved soon. So much turmoil can't be good for them.
 
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whatsername85

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We got them moved into the apartment last night, hopefully today two of the cats will go and no one has to be shut up anymore. I'm not sure what started Bella's rein of terror so suddenly but she's been very calm the last few days. Sam and Dina are still on edge with her so they stay to themselves but she leaves them alone. I don't know if cats do dominance like dogs but she definitely is feeling like shes running the show now and seems happy with that. If the situation could have been avoided I would have gladly taken it I was not all for throwing them together especially knowing her reaction to new places but I was told if they stayed shut in my room they would pee on my things and since I got to sleep in my room again and Sam didn't know them that would have meant he would have been left out and he would've gone crazy and I would've felt horrible. So I'm really really hoping that today this will all end we still will have two extra cats but they should be fine I think. Now it's just giving them enough to scratch on to keep them happy and keeping them off counters. Bella is such a beautiful cat and can be so sweet now that she's older I think without another female cat around she won't feel like she has to claim as much and I think they might really enjoy not being around each other.
 

moorspede

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If you can get your sister to spay and neuter her cats it will place them on a more even keel, they won't be at the mercy of their hormones. It also protects them from some illnesses.  
 
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