So sometime in the summer, my sister decided that she was lonely and, while me and my mom were out, she bought a kitten. This... proved to be a TERRIBLE idea. We already had a cat. She's about 9 years old, and, very unfortunately, as our first pet at all, and being orphaned at 4 weeks old and coming from parents of preetttyyyy bad temperament... she is NOT a very socialized cat. Oh, she's great with us: she'll climb on our bellies, sleep on our legs, let us pet her, rub her face on our hands sometimes, purr, show us her belly (... just we can't really touch that), greet us, oh she's a sweetheart. A little bite-happy sometimes, but sweet in her own, wild way. She does NOT, however, take well to strangers. At. All. She'll hiss, yowl, bite, scratch and run from strangers. She will not, however, initiate a fight and simply act defensively against strangers (we think someone kept bothering her with a broom when we weren't looking and that might be part of the problem, aside from her just being an ill-tempered cat and not being used to strangers).
So enter this new cat. He's a young thing. My sister was told that he was about 2 months old when she bought him. He's very, VERY energetic. And also fairly aggressive. When he was sterilized, the vet remarked he's one of the more aggressive cats he's seen (the assistant ended up... quite scratched). This has been VERY bad, as he will NOT. STOP. bothering the first cat. He will hunt her down all over the house and aggressively pounce her and chase her while the other poor thing ends up running and hissing and spitting at him. Now, when they wre introduced, my sister had the bright idea to just let him roam the house freely. The older cat spent MONTHS hiding under the bed. She has begun to play a little again and doesn't hide all day long (tends to stay with me, since she's seen I will defend her from the other cat). My sister doesn't want to deal with the behaviour problem, so it's fallen to me mostly to do what I can to stop it. I've tried EVERYTHING. Scruffing, spraying, hissing, slapping, separating him, distracting him. He will NOT stop. He will usually avoid bothering the cat when I'm around, but the instant I turn around, he'll leap at her. I'm at wits' end and as I am ill I really don't have the energy to be chasing that cat all over the house all day long. Thing is, my dad wants to keep him. He likes the monster. I don't (mostly because of how nasty he is with the other cat). My mom doesn't like cats at all. And my sister likes the cat and wants to keep him, but unfortunately, she is NOT willing to do anything about it.
For my dad's sake, I'm willing to try once more to help fix this problem. Otherwise, I'm going to be getting rid of the cat, either giving him away or just going to take him to some shelter. It may not be the best choice for the cat, though, as I don't know any no-kill shelters here and he's 7 months old, and, as a cat that's no longer really a kitten, he doesn't have much of a chance to get adopted. And most people here let cats roam outside (something we don't), and the few people we know that DO keep 100% indoor cats already have too many. But the behaviour issue HAS to stop. The older cat is simply IMPOSSIBLE to rehome due to her ill temper and intolerance for strangers. And we do love her, we've raised her from a 4 week old kitten. But the new cat is simply making her suffer too much. She's on the defensive all the time, we can barely pick her up anymore or she'll FREAK OUT, she's been more aggressive than usual (and due to the kind of growling and such, I do believe this is defensive/fearful aggression), we can't even trim her claws anymore because she can't stand being held, she freaks out. And the carpets are being nasty on her claws, which are too long and too sharp. And she's so stressed out. This needs to stop. She WOULD benefit from company.... but she just doesn't benefit AT ALL from a predator. Please, I really need help here. I'm willing to give this another shot (and any help to make the older cat less freaked out about strangers would be great. I know visitors to the house would also appreciate the cat not daring them to get closer and then aiming a good bite at them of they DO get close).
So enter this new cat. He's a young thing. My sister was told that he was about 2 months old when she bought him. He's very, VERY energetic. And also fairly aggressive. When he was sterilized, the vet remarked he's one of the more aggressive cats he's seen (the assistant ended up... quite scratched). This has been VERY bad, as he will NOT. STOP. bothering the first cat. He will hunt her down all over the house and aggressively pounce her and chase her while the other poor thing ends up running and hissing and spitting at him. Now, when they wre introduced, my sister had the bright idea to just let him roam the house freely. The older cat spent MONTHS hiding under the bed. She has begun to play a little again and doesn't hide all day long (tends to stay with me, since she's seen I will defend her from the other cat). My sister doesn't want to deal with the behaviour problem, so it's fallen to me mostly to do what I can to stop it. I've tried EVERYTHING. Scruffing, spraying, hissing, slapping, separating him, distracting him. He will NOT stop. He will usually avoid bothering the cat when I'm around, but the instant I turn around, he'll leap at her. I'm at wits' end and as I am ill I really don't have the energy to be chasing that cat all over the house all day long. Thing is, my dad wants to keep him. He likes the monster. I don't (mostly because of how nasty he is with the other cat). My mom doesn't like cats at all. And my sister likes the cat and wants to keep him, but unfortunately, she is NOT willing to do anything about it.
For my dad's sake, I'm willing to try once more to help fix this problem. Otherwise, I'm going to be getting rid of the cat, either giving him away or just going to take him to some shelter. It may not be the best choice for the cat, though, as I don't know any no-kill shelters here and he's 7 months old, and, as a cat that's no longer really a kitten, he doesn't have much of a chance to get adopted. And most people here let cats roam outside (something we don't), and the few people we know that DO keep 100% indoor cats already have too many. But the behaviour issue HAS to stop. The older cat is simply IMPOSSIBLE to rehome due to her ill temper and intolerance for strangers. And we do love her, we've raised her from a 4 week old kitten. But the new cat is simply making her suffer too much. She's on the defensive all the time, we can barely pick her up anymore or she'll FREAK OUT, she's been more aggressive than usual (and due to the kind of growling and such, I do believe this is defensive/fearful aggression), we can't even trim her claws anymore because she can't stand being held, she freaks out. And the carpets are being nasty on her claws, which are too long and too sharp. And she's so stressed out. This needs to stop. She WOULD benefit from company.... but she just doesn't benefit AT ALL from a predator. Please, I really need help here. I'm willing to give this another shot (and any help to make the older cat less freaked out about strangers would be great. I know visitors to the house would also appreciate the cat not daring them to get closer and then aiming a good bite at them of they DO get close).
