Two Cats Lots Of Weird Problems

[Mycatisweird]

About 5 months ago we got a 2nd cat Leila or resident cat Zuko was afraid of her at first despite being 3 times her size (she is a stick figure, he treats every meal like his last meal). Months later they both walk freely around the apt but he follows her everywhere like she is going to steal something, won't attack her but follows her for hours, every so often when he hits her once or twice or she hits him randomly. they eat together just fine and will lay down and groom a few feet away from each other...How do I stop him stalking her all day?

 

[Kefa]

He is waiting for her to give the "okay, let's play" signal. He is letting her know he is right there. Apparently she likes to keep him waiting. If they are eating together without growling, and grooming near each other, and only rarely giving each other a little slap without hissing, then they are in cat negotiations and doing well. I wouldn't interfere at all.

 

[pippapurring]

What do you do when you notice this behavior? He may be continuing it because he knows he gets a reaction from you. Any attention, positive or negative, can reinforce behavior. I would ignore it and let them do their thing - as long as they aren't fighting and neither cat seems very stressed it's a non-issue.

 

[Mycatisweird]

Thanks for the replies...there is hissing at least 7 out of 10 Times, hair gets ripped out and zuko gets aggressiveness towards any cat or person who gets close after that, Leila immediately calms back down, typically I will call out the name of the aggressor and tell them to stop, past few weeks Leila stopped starting the fight now zuko starts but Leila will walk right into his face at times forcing him to back up until he hits her...

 

[pippapurring]

Ah okay that info is helpful! To start with I would recommend trying a product called feliway, it's great for inter-cat aggression. You can find it on Amazon and many pet stores sell it as well, it's a product you plug into the wall. There's also a spray you can add to their beds etc, anywhere they regularly hang out.

There's also a calming food that some people have had success with - it's called royal canin calm. I'm not a huge fan of the food ingredients but the calming substances they put in the food has been successful for some cats with aggression issues.

 

[Mycatisweird]

I have tried collars and the pheromone spray thing, no real success, currently zuko is on Prozac, he has been super tense and jumpy for yrs now getting Leila put him over the top though, hate fighting with him to take his pill but I think it’s the only reason he is this cool around her.

 

[Mycatisweird]

LEt me paint a fuller picture here...as I’m serving food zuko meows at her if she gets close but doesn’t mind her walking with him to the bowl and she can even rub her face against his so long as food is involved. Constantly follows her seldom attacks but when he does it can turn into hissing and hair being taken off each other. They take turns laying down and rolling over in front of each other it never at the same time. He doesn’t like when she uses her liter box, they can play with a cat string toy (not sure of the right name atm) lay down a foot or two away or on the sofa but still separate.

 

[Mycatisweird]

We may be wrong but it feels like she wants to be his friend, but he is still unsure how he feels about her. So we are trying to think how do we get him to accept her fully.

 

[pippapurring]

Oh no sorry to hear that! Have you considered switching his medication? There are a variety of anti-anxiety medications for cats and you may find that he has more success with another one. I'm not a vet but I do have a cat with an anxiety disorder (not aggression in my case, inappropriate peeing and crying) and my vet made it clear that it's possible to try a variety of medications before we find one that sticks. If you haven't already, I would also highly recommend consulting a certified cat behaviorist as they can work wonders with behavior modification, especially for inter-cat aggression.

 

[Mycatisweird]

I will talk with my vet about switching to something else, he is currently on a pill a day and it’s not giving me the results I would like to see. Thanks for the input!