My Roommates Cat Keeps Attacking My Cat

[myfamily]

I rent a townhouse, and got a roommate about 4 months ago. She arrived with a mama cat and her two week old kitten. The kitten is now over 4 months old. The mama cat is kind of aggressive. I have a male and female, they are 13 and 10 respectively. The mama cat goes after my female on a regular basis. The mama cat is small, but she is feisty. She also goes after my boy cat too sometimes. Everyone's kinda afraid of her, including the cats outside. She's really a sweet cat, and I love her dearly, but she's just a tad aggressive. My female cat hides from her, and i am sure it's causing her stress. Tonight for example, all four cats were down in the living room with me, and the mama cat decided to chase my female up the stairs, I heard them fighting upstairs, and there were a few tufts of my female cat's hair on the carpet. What can I do to help? I don't want my girl to be unhappy. (I've included pics of mama and baby, as well as, my girl). Someone will probably theorize that maybe she is being protective, but, nope, she is just like this by nature... bit of a meanie).

 

[5starcathotel]

First, hello!!!

Second, look at this from your roommate's "momma" cat perspective.....she was uprooted from her territory, and dropped into a new home that was already 'owned' by other cats/humans....plus she has a new kitten to care for and train. What would a cat in the wild do in this situation? Maybe she would try to claim some "hunting territory", some domain of her own, and chase off the competition?

The solution is therapy. No, not a couch with somebody saying "tell me about your childhood", while constantly writing notes in a small notebook that you can never see.....

I mean, play and food therapy! Use interactive toys like Da Bird or a laser pointer to engage all the cats in hunter behavior. Try to get them running, jumping, and really fixated on the toy. If your girl is being submissive, focus on playing with her, so she can reclaim major areas as "shared" territory. This hunting behavior, combined with the next, reinforces cat colonies, not lone-hunter, behavior.

Which brings us to feeding: don't free-feed. Provide food at defined windows each day, preferably after brief play sessions, so you can encourage everyone to eat together, and thus, acknowledge each other's presence. After the window expires, pull the food and put it away.

 

[di and bob]

I like all the advise given above! Some cats, especially females, are prone to aggressive behavior, and most likey due to the protectiveness she feels toward sher kitten. Having her spayed would take away much of this protectiveness, plus she would not feel the need to drive away other females/cats who would take away resources such as food, space, etc. from her and her kitten. Tussles which involve pulled out hair are not really alarming, bites and deep scratches would be. a truly aggressive cat can do a lot of damage in a short amount of time. As long as your cats do come into a room where she is, and don't hide ALL the time from her, that is a good sign. Give your cat extra attention, and a good place high up she can retreat to and defend. My Chrissy spent a lot of time in a bed on top the fridge. On top a table would do to until everything settles down. 4 months is not a lot of time in a cat's world. I think it sounds like everyone just needs more time, and someone needs spayed so and your two you don't have 50 cats in a few months to deal with. This will just take time, mine took a year to call a truce. Don't let her get aggressive, get a kickeroo on amazon and throw it towards her when she gets intent on your cats. It really diverts their attention and releaves stress. Good luck, keep us posted!

 

[FeebysOwner]

I don't know what kind of arrangement you have with your roommate, but there needs to be some dialog and an agreed to plan about teaching mama cat that it is not OK to attack any of the other cats. If she is not spayed, that could help some, but regardless, the sooner a corrective action plan is put into play the better off all will be. Such as when the chasing occurred, the mama cat should have been picked up, told "no" or hissed at (pick one), and put into time-out in a closed room for a couple of minutes. The kitten can go with her if need be.

As far as protecting her kitten, could be but probably not - especially if the kitten is eating on its own and no longer nursing. Plus, if your cat was no where near the kitten, there is no reason for her to think she has to protect the kitten. How does the kitten get along with your cats? Just curious.

Your cats are older, and at times younger cats can sense that and expect to 'take over' as the hierarchal leader. It is also possible that as part of her personality, she could take on the same attitude with her kitten once fully matured - but, less likely so after spaying. And if mama cat is allowed outside before being spayed, this could play out again with another litter.

Were proper introductions done at first? See if there is anything in these TCS articles that you might be able to employ.

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction
How To Successfully Introduce Cats: The Ultimate Guide
Why Do Cats Attack?
Introducing Cats To Cats

Good luck! Keep us posted!

 

[Furballsmom]

I heard them fighting upstairs, and there were a few tufts of my female cat's hair on the carpet.

This is more than "a tad aggressive". Absolutely guaranteed it's causing your cats stress. If your two cats haven't been in to see a vet I'd suggest it, since stress is very hard on a cat - never mind a 10 and a 13 year old.

Don't let her get aggressive, get a kickeroo on amazon and throw it towards her when she gets intent on your cats.

the mama cat should have been picked up, told "no" or hissed at (pick one), and put into time-out in a closed room for a couple of minutes.

Definitely try these kinds of things next time and the next time, and the next until it stops, in other words repeatedly and consistently. If a kickaroo isn't enough, utilize a sharp handclap, a loud NO, a sibilant HISS - as suggested, or a metal can half filled with coins. The intent is to startle her and train her out of chasing mode.

I'm not suggesting number 5 or 6, but the other sections of the article could be useful.
Six Surefire Strategies To Reduce Stress In Cats

 

[danteshuman]

I agree with everyone else. Plus I would carve out a 2-6 hr window each day where your resident cats get to own the house. In all fairness the same should be done with your roommate’s cats do mama and kitten can have some stress free relaxing time. I would spay the mom & fix the kitten & reintroduce them slowly while doing the time share/site swapping. Be sure to lock your cats up before you let the others out & vice versa.

Every negative interaction your cats have with the mom will take 10-100 positive interactions to undo. So step one is stopping the damage by separating them..... or at the very least get a daily break from each other. Cats time share spaces so this is a solution they can understand.

Now about the kitten attacking your feet:
1) new hard fast rule or the cats or your roommate & cats need to find a new home: Toys not hands!!!! No rough play!

2: kitten needs lots of daily play sessions ... a bird feeder in a tree and a window perch should help.

3) when you see the kitten hunting you throw a small soft toy away from you (carry them in your pockets for a bit.)

4) when the kitten gets you you can either hiss or do a high pitch ooooowwwwww (I like the ow, it startled them.) See which one works better on the kitten then do it every time you feel the slightest bit of tooth or claw! The goal here is to convince the cats that you have paper thin skin and can’t play rough with them (humans lack the protective fur cats have.) Then to really sell the ‘don’t bite/scratch’ ignore the kitten for 15-30 minutes. REALLY ignore the kitten! Play invisa-kitty and look everywhere but at the cat. That is the ultimate censure you can give a cat for their actions. *some cats get more wound up from petting then others so be sure to watch the new cat’s body language. * I play ‘wrestle’ with my hyper boy. I put my hand under a thick blanket and wrestle with him. However he had been raised to not attack humans and did not attack us for months before I started wrestling with him/letting him when..... he missed wrestling with his brother. My twerp gets a weekly play date with his brother. At 11 months old they are still wanting to wrestle/rough house.

My x-roommate was an older gentleman that was always getting drunk. We had many arguments where I had to keep showing him articles & the rest of my roommates agreed ‘no playing with hands!’ Despite him I raised 3 kittens (and 5 past cats in my life) who all knew not to bite/claw their humans.

 

[jen]

The younger momma cat and her kitten are neutered now too right? This may make a bit of a difference if not.

 

[danteshuman]

Oh and around 4-5 months she will be pushing her kid away to make room for the next litter. If they are not fixed he will impregnate her. He will be able to make babies by 4-5 months old. She will keep going into heat until she gets knocked up. Any place will spay a kitten that is 4 months and 2 pounds or more.

If they are not fixed google low cost spay & neuter clinic plus the county you live in. There are tons of low cost clinics or low cost days. This applies for basic vaccinations to. When I moved into my mom’s house with my two cats I paid for half of my mom’s reformed feral garage cat to be vaccinated/tested for FIV (since I was the one insisting he get vaccinated/tested so he would not infect my cats.) The vet insisted we neuter him and OMG did he become a love bug. He moved into the house during the day (& started eating inside), snuggles my mom every night, officially became her cat (though he still paroles the block at night,) plus he stopped getting into fights all the time! Our vet gave us the feral cat discount on him so it was only 40$. Many vets will work with you (especially if they know you & you are a long term client.) So it might be worth a few calls.

 

[myfamily]

Thanks for your replies. Yes the mama cat is spayed. She wasn't spayed when my roommate moved in, but i had her spayed at my own expense. They seem to be getting along better. My roommate is rarely here, and her two cats stay in my room along with my cats. My cats don't like them, but her cats are lonely. Everyone seems to be getting along pretty good the past week or so. I keep close my bedroom door at night so it is only me and my two cats. During the day I open the door and the four cats intermingle.

 

[danteshuman]

Sometimes not attacking each other is as good as cats relationships get. It is early days though. Keep up the group feedings & group play!

Lastly if your cats start showing signs of stress or hiding all the time then I would keep kicking the new cats out. That way your cats can own some territory just for themselves.