Mean kitty

mooficat

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Hi Kerry


I have a relationship issue between 2 of my cats.

Some background

I have 3 cats, 2 seniors both over 13yrs Dino(male) & Pepsi (female) and one toddler about 4yrs Miss Moofi (female) all cats fixed. All my cats go outside.

Then cat No.4, Teddy came to to us about 4 mths ago, I kept him separate for about 4 weeks and then conducted slow intros - did the scent swapping thing and tried Feliway. Teddy is also fixed and more than a month ago.
Teddy slept in my basement for about 3mths and was fed there for about 2 weeks. I then gradually started feeding them together, 1st away from the other cats but then gradually moving the bowls nearer. I had to stand guard in the early days as Teddy bolted his food then barged in to get more food. As you can imagine lots of hissing and growling. This has now stopped


He has now established himself as Alpha cat over Dino. Dino & Pepsi tolerate Teddy and theres the occasional growl and hiss and the odd waving of paws at each other


Now its Miss Moofi we are having the concerns about
She is the smallest in height and body weight. He wont leave her alone, he jumps on her, wrestles her to the ground and assumes the dominate position over her. Sometimes if she is sleeping, he'll just jump right on top of her, of course she's totally shocked by this as she was asleep and again ends up either under him or she'll try to run off. She runs, so he chases
During these spats theres no blood, just lots of hissing and growling. Sometimes there is very small amounts of loose hair.

On bad days she keeps out of the house, she'll come in and check about to see where he is, if she sees him, she'll slope off
I hate it.

Things I have done to try and change this behaviour - if I catch him mid-chase, I pick him up and hiss at him, most times he just nibbles at my fingers.
He has time out sessions. Separation at night, she sleeps with us and Teddy sleeps in the conservatory where there is a cat-flap. However, now we are in the summer months Miss Moofi like to stay out at night, so goodness knows what goes on
If I go out during the day I never leave them in the house together, I worry that they will fight and Moofi will have nowhere to run and hide from him. If they are both outside I dont worry about that as obviously theres more places outside where she can get away from him. Goodness knows what I'd do if they were totally indoor cats


I dont know what to try next - why is he so mean to Moofi and not the others ? any advice would be greatly appreciated
thanks !
 

catpsych

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Hi there,
It sounds like Teddy is your alpha cat and that is part of the reason why he is picking on Moofi. A lot of times when cats have on going spats, it is to get the attention of their owners. So the best way to break this habit is to totally ignore the cats after a fight. Immediately after breaking up the fight, separate both cats in to separate rooms, close the doors behind them, leave them separated for at least 30 minutes, During this separation do NOT give them ANY attention, do not comfort the kitty who got beat up and do not scold the kitty who was the aggressor. Do not reward them with any attention at all. This may do the trick since you have already tried reintroducing them and Feliway, so perhaps they are staging some action to gain some extra attention from you. I hope this helps. Take care.



Originally Posted by mooficat

Hi Kerry


I have a relationship issue between 2 of my cats.

Some background

I have 3 cats, 2 seniors both over 13yrs Dino(male) & Pepsi (female) and one toddler about 4yrs Miss Moofi (female) all cats fixed. All my cats go outside.

Then cat No.4, Teddy came to to us about 4 mths ago, I kept him separate for about 4 weeks and then conducted slow intros - did the scent swapping thing and tried Feliway. Teddy is also fixed and more than a month ago.
Teddy slept in my basement for about 3mths and was fed there for about 2 weeks. I then gradually started feeding them together, 1st away from the other cats but then gradually moving the bowls nearer. I had to stand guard in the early days as Teddy bolted his food then barged in to get more food. As you can imagine lots of hissing and growling. This has now stopped


He has now established himself as Alpha cat over Dino. Dino & Pepsi tolerate Teddy and theres the occasional growl and hiss and the odd waving of paws at each other


Now its Miss Moofi we are having the concerns about
She is the smallest in height and body weight. He wont leave her alone, he jumps on her, wrestles her to the ground and assumes the dominate position over her. Sometimes if she is sleeping, he'll just jump right on top of her, of course she's totally shocked by this as she was asleep and again ends up either under him or she'll try to run off. She runs, so he chases
During these spats theres no blood, just lots of hissing and growling. Sometimes there is very small amounts of loose hair.

On bad days she keeps out of the house, she'll come in and check about to see where he is, if she sees him, she'll slope off
I hate it.

Things I have done to try and change this behaviour - if I catch him mid-chase, I pick him up and hiss at him, most times he just nibbles at my fingers.
He has time out sessions. Separation at night, she sleeps with us and Teddy sleeps in the conservatory where there is a cat-flap. However, now we are in the summer months Miss Moofi like to stay out at night, so goodness knows what goes on
If I go out during the day I never leave them in the house together, I worry that they will fight and Moofi will have nowhere to run and hide from him. If they are both outside I dont worry about that as obviously theres more places outside where she can get away from him. Goodness knows what I'd do if they were totally indoor cats


I dont know what to try next - why is he so mean to Moofi and not the others ? any advice would be greatly appreciated
thanks !
 
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mooficat

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oo thanks very much Kerry - well Teddy is actually going to have a major separation this weekend - we are going away for a 4 day break and have cat sitters coming in. As Teddy is a bit of a handful he is also going on a holiday to the cattery

I take him tomorrow, so in the meantime will do the separation thing if we have any traumas over the rest of today - its very hot here at the moment, so all 4 cats are totally jiggered and chilling under trees, so peace reigns for the moment


Thanks for your help


p.s. this is Teddy in my signature looking for Miss Moofi, if you hadn't already gathered
 
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