Sudden aggression towards other cats

[goosehazel]

Hi Everyone! I have a problem and I will try my best to make a long story short

We have 5 cats Annabelle (10) Lucy (9 1/2) Daisy (9) Oliver (5) Casey (12 weeks)

We have had the first three cats for almost 10 years. 2 years ago Oliver showed up on our deck and wouldn't leave. We adopted him and did all the proper introductions, etc. The 3 girls didn't like him much and would chase him frequently. Finally, after about a year, it stopped and Oliver was able to "join" the rest of the family. 

Several months ago, Oliver started to attack Daisy (our most twitchy, neurotic cat.) And not just a quick chase. Fur would fly. She will now longer leave the second floor of the house and rarely leaves our bedroom. It's very upsetting to see Daisy this way. Well, now, just within the past few weeks, he has started going after Annabelle, the queen of the house. Same way he went after Daisy.

He leaves Lucy alone (she's kinda scary) and he usually will ignore Casey too (unless she is chasing his tail.) We have no idea what to do. We do not want to rehome Oliver, we love him and normally he is a big ball of love. But we've tried feliway plug-ins and a new ginormous cat tree. What else is there we can do?

 

[p3 and the king]

Oliver could either be trying to establish himself as top cat or he is upset by the new addition.  The other 2 he are attacking are submissive and making themselves out to be easy targets by acting like prey.  I would suggest separating them as much as possible and building up the girls confidence again.  See how Oliver does with the kitties he is not attacking so far.  If he starts to go after them, then I would suggest separating him from everyone for the time being and trying a new positive reinforcement reintroduction. 

More than likely it's the new kitten.   It can take time but get some feliway or some calming collars.  Let them take effect and then start the reintroductions.  Feliway can take up to a month and it doesn't work on every kitty.  Calming collars are usually right away and again not for every cat but they help the same way feliway is supposed to only you have something the cat has with them 24/7.  Praise every good interaction.  And don't freak out at the bad.  Just calmly diffuse the situation and start over again by separating.  The biggest thing is not to be tense yourself.  If you're tense, they will be.  Cats pick up and react to our body language.  It's how we communicate to them.

Do you have many escape routes in your home?  Meaning do your cats have a place other than running to another room to get out of Olivers way so they are not attacked?  Maybe get some more cat trees placed throughout so they have a place to get up off the floor and don't feel so "trapped" by him would help, too. They don't all have to be huge just big enough to escape if needed. 

Try to exhaust Oliver and give him something else to prey upon that is more appropriate... A laser light or da bird.  You can read on how to do positive reinforcement reintroductions on this site.  Best of luck to you!

 

[goosehazel]

We definitely could use another couple "trees." The aggression started a couple months before we got the kitten. At least, with Daisy anyway. Something else I noticed, which may or may not be relevent, is this is the first summer we haven't shaved Oliver. He's a ginormous fluffball. Could that be a contributing factor? Thank you for your advice so far. I do appreciate it

 

[p3 and the king]

We definitely could use another couple "trees." The aggression started a couple months before we got the kitten. At least, with Daisy anyway. Something else I noticed, which may or may not be relevent, is this is the first summer we haven't shaved Oliver. He's a ginormous fluffball. Could that be a contributing factor? Thank you for your advice so far. I do appreciate it

It could very well be that he is uncomfortable.  Maybe even sick.  Cats often act out in aggression towards us or another if they are not feeling good.  So my biggest advice is to take him for a check up and if all is clear, then get him his summer hair cut.  I know it's a lot of money.  But, if you rehome him and it turns out to be something simple like the haircut, you'll feel bad... Or something serious like very sick, you're just giving the problem to someone else.  Try to make it work first by doing all you can to get to the bottom of his behavior. 

 

[goosehazel]

So far we have Oliver seeing the vet tonight...he's due for his yearly anyway. And he is scheduled for a haircut on Friday. Going to get refills for our feliway diffusers. We have 2, one upstairs and one downstairs. Is that okay, or do we need more diffusers? I also got some calming treats for he and Daisy (our neurotic one.) 

 

[p3 and the king]

I would have one in every room if it were me, the feliway I mean. Yeah, 2 is not enough unless your place is small.