Super Aggressive Cat - sometimes

[rubydoo67]

Another update. I always wonder “what happened in the end”’when I read posts like this so providing another update. Heck, I’m not sure anyone who helped the first time is still here but in case this helps others who are reading this post in now and in the future.

My aggressive cat, Rudy, was always attacking another of my cats, Swiper. Rudy came to us about 3 years ago after his Mom, my hubby’s grandma, passed away unexpectedly in the home. He had a lot of trauma. You can read the beginning of this post chain for more

It’s been about 1.5 years since I updated that Rudy had calmed down. In that time we rescued another cat, a very young active cat who had been TNRd and then released back to the gas station where I found him. Hence his name, Sunoco

Sunoco wants to play with everyone and being very young was a very rough player. He set his sights on Rudy as his new best friend, but Rudy wasn’t having it. To avoid Sunoco, Rudy decided our upstairs bedroom was his new home and rarely left the upstairs for almost a 1.5 years. (His choice, we did not lock him there or anything) This solved his aggression toward our other cat, as he was now the focus of Sunoco’s playing aggression. Sunoco and Rudy eventually became friends. Rudy will hide behind a curtain and call Sunoco to come find him, they sleep together, etc. However, this new friendship emboldened Rudy to start coming back downstairs recently and he is back to trying to attack Swiper. I can’t figure out the fixation he has for Swiper, after all this time—almost 3 years. Are there cats who truly can’t tolerate each other? Is there an unknown pheromone or something telling Rudy that Swiper is his enemy? It’s not as bad as before but Swiper is now hiding again because Rudy looks for her in the night. So, was this truly resolved? No. Is it better? Yes. Just can’t figure out what Rudy’s Problem is with Swiper. He doesn’t have this issue with any of our 4 other cats. Any insights?

 

[calicosrspecial]

I believe it is all about confidence. A confident cat is more likely to accept and be accepted. Insecurity (territory, food) tends to lead to defensiveness and acting like "prey".

A cat that runs away tends to act like a prey animal and therefore the other cat will chase and possibly attack.

So I would really try to focus on building Swiper's confidence though Play, Food, Height and Love.

So to build territorial security try to play with Swiper in the area she tends to spend the most time and then feed after play. Also, try to feed Rudy and Swiper together and try to maximize the positives and minimize or avoid any negativity by blocking Rudy's sightlines using a pillow or a piece of cardboard or by using the food or a toy to distract Rudy.

Also, think of maybe adding cat shelving so that there are multiple ways to get around the house for Swiper and to possibly be high and above as height can give confidence.

Finally love. Which is food, scent, a feeling of security, positive associations and positive encounters with the other cats. Things like that.

Let's try to build Swiper and Rudy's confidence, territorial security etc. And I think if Swiper can hold herself with more confidence and does not act like prey and Rudy can feel more territorial secure and confident we can hopefully get them to live together peacefully.

I am happy to help as there are a lot of details I am missing in this post but hopefully this helps and spurs more questions. Thank you for caring for all the cats and giving them such a great environment and a great home.