Multiple household cats and they are all focusing on one particular cat

cristi_marius

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Hello,

I am new to this forum and I want to know if I am the only one with this issue or how to explain it fully. I have multiple household cats (1 - 4 yo) and some of them have started in the last week focusing on one particular cat (3 yo).
Some more info:
- all cats involved involved in the griefing (for the lack of a better word) are neutered
- one queen gave birth a month ago and was isolated until recently. All older cats kind of hissed the kittens, but they grew closer to them as they started playing and they all get along now
- one male (4 yo) is griefing the cat for no particular reason. It never exhibited tendency of dominance towards any other cat, just some playfulness
- of all cats, the mother of the cat (4 yo), is also griefing the cat, but only growling at the moment
- because of these 2, another 2 females (2 yo both) also start ganging on the poor thing and chase it around the house, but that is the most they do is hissing and avoiding her in general
- one the other female cats (1 yo) recently got neutered several days ago and caused some tension, only hissing probably due to the "vet smell", but it's over now and they get along, but this one is not involved at all with any other cat
- had a similar issue with a more aggressive male in the past (2 yo), but that was solved by giving away the male, but the ones that are left are not aggressive

They were ok a week ago and I don't understand what happened. My only guess is that the mother cat focused on this particular cat when it hissed it's kittens and only on her and since then, the other cats started griefing it as some sort of pack mentality, while the mother cat forgot and is totally on now with her. What can I do ?
 

di and bob

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They just haven't had enough time to accept her because the hormones are most likely causing her to smell different and her mama instincts are making her edgy. Hissing growling and swatting are all acceptable actions of resident cats, and the new mama, outright attacks that draw blood are not. i would separate them and let them get used to her being there with scent swapping and keeping her in a dog kennel for a short period several times a day, maybe swapping them out. Make sure she has a box to hide in to escape their attention. A mama cat will try to keep all other cats away, so that is a problem too. Her hormones are up. These things all take time, many months sometimes, not days or weeks. i think it all sounds normal. She will most likely be a stranger again when she gets spayed and smells different, so be expecting it. This will resolve in time, especially once her kittens are gone and she settles down.
 

Norachan

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Hi C cristi_marius

I'm not sure what you mean by "griefing". Do you mean grieving? Or causing grief?

I care for a large group of cats that are indoor/enclosure only. I do rescue and any time a new cat or kitten is introduced to the group it causes the whole hierarchy to reshuffle. This happens even if the new cat is kept isolated from the others, or if I care for kittens that go to new homes after a few months.

The cats know there are strangers in their home and so they start showing redirected aggression to each other. It can take months for them to get used to the newcomers and settle down again.

Has the mother who recently gave birth been spayed now? If not, she may have gone into heat again and this will be causing tension in the group, even if all the males are neutered.

The kittens aren't old enough to be spayed and neutered yet, but if you plan on keeping them make sure you get this done before they are 6 months old.

How many cats do you have altogether? Is there plenty of space for everyone? If it's getting crowded adding some vertical space, such as highways and cat towers can help.

You could also try Feliway plug-ins to help calm everyone down. I've had some success with them.

I have 18 cats at the moment, which would be impossible if they were all indoors all the time. Having an enclosure is a real life saver. Is there anyway you could add a catio to your home?
 
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cristi_marius

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Sorry about the term griefing, it's a gaming term used to describe someone who is disruptive in a bad way just for the sake of being disruptive (I don't think mean applies to animals).

They just haven't had enough time to accept her because the hormones are most likely causing her to smell different and her mama instincts are making her edgy. Hissing growling and swatting are all acceptable actions of resident cats, and the new mama, outright attacks that draw blood are not. i would separate them and let them get used to her being there with scent swapping and keeping her in a dog kennel for a short period several times a day, maybe swapping them out. Make sure she has a box to hide in to escape their attention. A mama cat will try to keep all other cats away, so that is a problem too. Her hormones are up. These things all take time, many months sometimes, not days or weeks. i think it all sounds normal. She will most likely be a stranger again when she gets spayed and smells different, so be expecting it. This will resolve in time, especially once her kittens are gone and she settles down.
I think there is a misunderstanding. The issue is not with the momma cat, my assumption is that it may have started with her, but she's not the one that is now hissing and chasing the cat, others are. This is why I don't understand as she now is totally ok. And she was not sprayed, another was. Sorry for the confusion.
Regarding the momma, she has been separated with the kittens for more than a month and only last week did I let them interact. All have their deworming done as well as their annual vaccine shots otherwise I wouldn't have let them interract.

Hi C cristi_marius

I'm not sure what you mean by "griefing". Do you mean grieving? Or causing grief?

I care for a large group of cats that are indoor/enclosure only. I do rescue and any time a new cat or kitten is introduced to the group it causes the whole hierarchy to reshuffle. This happens even if the new cat is kept isolated from the others, or if I care for kittens that go to new homes after a few months.

The cats know there are strangers in their home and so they start showing redirected aggression to each other. It can take months for them to get used to the newcomers and settle down again.

Has the mother who recently gave birth been spayed now? If not, she may have gone into heat again and this will be causing tension in the group, even if all the males are neutered.

The kittens aren't old enough to be spayed and neutered yet, but if you plan on keeping them make sure you get this done before they are 6 months old.

How many cats do you have altogether? Is there plenty of space for everyone? If it's getting crowded adding some vertical space, such as highways and cat towers can help.

You could also try Feliway plug-ins to help calm everyone down. I've had some success with them.

I have 18 cats at the moment, which would be impossible if they were all indoors all the time. Having an enclosure is a real life saver. Is there anyway you could add a catio to your home?
"Redirected aggression", I think that describes it perfectly, but I do not understand why on one specific cat that had nothing to do with the momma or the kittens. It's going to be hard if it takes months for them to settle down. Hopefully it will happen a lot sooner.

The mother has not been sprayed, but I will as soon as the kittens start eating solid food. Atm they are a few days over one month.

I have 11 adults + 5 kittens atm with the plan to neuter them too and give them away as soon as they are old enough. Regarding space, I do not have a catio per say, but I do have 3 cat towers of 2m each with multiple branches around the house. Now Feliway does not work for my cats. Kalmvet works a bit, but these are pills unfortunately. I'll see if I can renew the valerian / catnip toys.
 

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Hi, Welcome! There is one member currently who is having an issue of one cat who can't leave a certain chair without being the focus of aggression, hissing, etc from the other cats in the household.

In their case it isn't, (as far as I know) redirected aggression although it could be. Have you had a chance to try this? If not it may come in handy in the future when one is taken to the vet;

Either with vanilla or raw coconut (which still has fragrance) ;

From valanhb valanhb
You put a dab of vanilla extract under the chins, at the base of their neck (by the spine) and at the base of the tail (again, on the spine not the underside of the tail!) of all of the cats to make them smell the same. Cats recognize each other by scent, so if that kitty smells the same as "me", the he must be a friend. Kitty logic at it's finest.

This trick works when introducing cats into the household as well, or during a reintroduction after a redirected aggression event.

Also, it's possible that calming products as mentioned, and Cat Music might also help.
 

danteshuman

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I was going to recommend vanilla extract and maybe separating the recently spayed cat to a room of her own for a week or two as she heals.
 
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cristi_marius

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It seems to be working, but not as fast as I would hope. Still progress is progress and hopefully they'll get along soon enough.

I was going to recommend vanilla extract and maybe separating the recently spayed cat to a room of her own for a week or two as she heals.
They are mostly separated when we're not around, thanks for the suggestion.
 

mister obama

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It seems to be working, but not as fast as I would hope. Still progress is progress and hopefully they'll get along soon enough.


They are mostly separated when we're not around, thanks for the suggestion.
There is a "Cat Depot" in town that takes in all unwanted felines, then they are displayed in several rooms with 8-10 cats in each room.
If you are in the market, you are allowed to visit these rooms and play with the various adoptees. I wonder, but never asked how they keep the peace there. My boy "harry" has a fit when he sees a feral visit his yard. very teritorial....
 
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