Shock Collar For Mean Cat

[Elfilou]

So far all studies on cat behavior suggest that they do not respond well to punishment. They learn nothing from it and only become fearful.

Separate them. Reintroduce them. Rehome one of them. Some cats simply DO NOT ever want to live with other cats.

Read the book "Catify to Satisfy" to make the environment more suitable. In such a small space there can be issues with territory, alone time and escape routes.

 

[Lionothed1k]

You asked what is meant by a reintroduction but expressed some doubt because you did it properly the first time. Sometimes, things get crossed up between cats and anxiety builds and prevents things settling. An example would be one cat comes home from the vet and the other has a bad case of I-dont-recognize-you syndrome. If you try to wait it out, sometimes that works, and sometimes the fresh memories of the fights prevent working it out and can lead to escalation and continuing problems. So a fresh reintroduction is like a reset that clears out all the bad memories and allows you to start from scratch. Cats have short memories in some ways, and it can work well. Or not -- as you said -- the personality of your cats is the personality of the cats, and merely clearing away the memories may not help if the personalities clash.

Honestly, 550 sq ft apartment with 3 cats and fighting -- I feel for you truly. It might come to rehoming.

I don't know that it matters, except maybe as to which cat you need to focus on, but how do the fights start. Does Liono start out with true aggression, or is more a playful pounce that turns to real fighting after screaming protests from the anxious cat?

We are going away for two weeks and Liono will be staying with someone else to give Apple and Cupid a break from him. Maybe that will be a good time for reintroduction. We'll give it a try, thank you Liono starts it every time, aggressively. Definitely not play. Usually Apple is in a little cubby that we built at the end of the catwalk. Liono attacks her while she's in there, cornered, out pretty much whenever she comes down. I suggested rehoming Liono, and my fiance got very upset with me. Understandably, but now the cats are fighting and so are we

 

[Lionothed1k]

So far all studies on cat behavior suggest that they do not respond well to punishment. They learn nothing from it and only become fearful.

Separate them. Reintroduce them. Rehome one of them. Some cats simply DO NOT ever want to live with other cats.

Read the book "Catify to Satisfy" to make the environment more suitable. In such a small space there can be issues with territory, alone time and escape routes.

Thank you. I'm going to try to reintroduce them when we come back from being out of town next month. I know this sounds awful, but I wasn't thinking about using a shock collar to punish Liono, rather just to keep him off the catwalk :-/

 

[Lionothed1k]

A lot of times cats who attack easily are anxious. Anxious or playful but usually anxious.
Sometimes there is a matter that we don't think of as people. I have a few cats in my house who over-react to the presence of other cats and so they start fights. When they feel calm and safe they can stand other cats but otherwise they will be seemingly aggressive to a cat who is near them but ignoring them.
Apple may have done something subtle that Liono took as an aggression or a challenge and he never recovered from it.
I would observe their interactions closely and try to see if there is some sort of precursor to the attacks. A body language or something. Liono will give a physical cue before the actual attack, if you can recognize it then you can step between them before it happens and be an intermediary.

Apple definitely does not start it in anyway. She hides, he seeks her out. The calming collar worked for two days... He just slept. I felt kind of guilty like a parent who gives their kid cough medicine to sedate them lol. It stopped working though. This morning between 4 and 7:30 am I had to jump out of bed three times to break up a fight. And that is why I can't stop it before it happens - it usually happens while I'm sleeping.

 

[Lionothed1k]

I'm feeling pretty miserable about this situation Thank you everyone for the great advice. There are still a few things I can try.

I feel like a horrible cat owner for thinking about using a shock collar. I'm a horrible cat owner for subjecting Apple to this. I'm a terrible pet owner for bringing two of the four pets into this tiny house. And I'm a terrible partner and probably all around human being for suggesting that we re-home Liono. Now on top of the cats fighting, my fiance and I are as well We tried the calming collar... It worked for two days and then the attacks started up again. If I try to separate them and put Liono in time out, he attacks me. Who ever said he is not mean is wrong... He is a MEAN mean cat. My last resort idea is rearranging the entire house so that Liono can be locked in the bedroom while we sleep in the living room

 

[maggiedemi]

I would try a horn or a whistle. That way you are not hurting the cat, but the sound will snap him out of his behavior and he will know not to attack his sister. Do it every time and say No! It's worth a try, better than a shock collar or re-homing. Cats can learn with repetition.

 

[dahli6]

I meant no offense when I said that the initial challenge could have come from Apple.
Cats communicate by body language which means that even if Apple did absolutely nothing wrong Liono could have perceived an offense. This happens a lot in human society too.

I had a cat who made prolonged eye contact with other cats because he had always been alone. His action was like a kitten and he would boldly approach other cats and make direct eye contact, this led to fights. I was unable to teach him not to do it so I had to rehome him.
Since your home is really too small and this is causing too much stress maybe it is best for Liono to have a new home.
Even with calming collars and sprayers these things aren't handled in a short period of time.