Unprovoked Aggression & Meds

white cat lover

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Welcome Kerry!!

I've got 6 housecats...all are spayed/neutered, UTD on vaccs, & vetted.
Molly is a young female, about 1-2 years
Damita Mae is a 7 years old female, blind
Dorian Grey is a 2 year old male, just plain silly
Twitch is a 5 year old female, deaf....she has no teeth & is front declawed
TigerLily is a 2 year old female, extremelt timid
Ophelia Rose is a 3 year old female, deaf, & downright nasty most of the time

Ophelia is my problem child. I brought Ophelia, Damita, & Dorian in to my home back in Feb. 2006. Ophelia did well with the other kitties. All the sudden, she decided to attack Lily. I kept them seperated. Long story short, she continued to attack Lily, bolting through open doors to get to her. Lily ended up with stitches a couple times, hairloss, & nasty gashes.

3-4 months ago, I put Ophelia on Buspar. She's now friendly, but still HATES Lily. She isn't keen on any female cats...only Dorian. I've got outside kitties(fixed)....she flips when she sees a female through a window, but seems OK with two of the 3 males.

She is a semi-feral, she was trapped. Is there any way I can work with her to get her to tolerate other female cats? I foster kittens, usually botlte babies. She throws a fit over them....yowling & attacking the door between her & the female bottle babies. She was growly over the one male I had, but never physically harmed him. I have tried everything I can think of, read books, tried Feliway, tried re-introductions.... When Ophelia sees Lily's feet under the door, her hackles go up & her tail get puffed while she growls & swats at Lily's feet.

Here is the thread from when I finally "snapped". Sorry this is so long, but I am facing moving out into my own place & I'd really rather not "pick & choose" which kitties....essentially, I would take Dorian & Ophelia....leaving the rest of the kitties behind here. I'd like to take them all with me, provided Ophelia will get along with the other girls!
 

catpsych

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Wow, you've got quite the housefull! Well, it sounds like your vet has taken the right step of placing Ophelia on Buspar. What you'll want to do is use the medication in conjunction with a behavior modification plan. You seem quite familar with the introduction process so, I'll won't go over that a whole lot. I would start from square one though, keeping Ophelia and Lily totally separate. Gradually introduce them. The trick is to mingle their scents. Take a dirty piece of your laundry and playfully rub Ophelia down with it, make sure to rub good around her face (scent glands are there....temples, chin, cheeks, and the top of the head), then take that same piece of laundry and rub Lily down with it, then return to Ophia and rub her down with the final scent....you will want to repeat this process at least twice a day. This will mingle their scents, tricking them to believe they are part of each other's colony and are friends because they will smell just like one and other, and since cats recognize each other by scent, this will help do the trick. So, I would give the introduction process one last good try in conjunction with the Buspar and you should have the situation under control. If that still does not work, perhaps Ophelia would be best with a family where she is the only cat.....I know it is not what we ever want to hear, but just like us humans, sometimes we just can't learn to get along with each other. I wish you and Opelia the best!

Originally Posted by white cat lover

Welcome Kerry!!

I've got 6 housecats...all are spayed/neutered, UTD on vaccs, & vetted.
Molly is a young female, about 1-2 years
Damita Mae is a 7 years old female, blind
Dorian Grey is a 2 year old male, just plain silly
Twitch is a 5 year old female, deaf....she has no teeth & is front declawed
TigerLily is a 2 year old female, extremelt timid
Ophelia Rose is a 3 year old female, deaf, & downright nasty most of the time

Ophelia is my problem child. I brought Ophelia, Damita, & Dorian in to my home back in Feb. 2006. Ophelia did well with the other kitties. All the sudden, she decided to attack Lily. I kept them seperated. Long story short, she continued to attack Lily, bolting through open doors to get to her. Lily ended up with stitches a couple times, hairloss, & nasty gashes.

3-4 months ago, I put Ophelia on Buspar. She's now friendly, but still HATES Lily. She isn't keen on any female cats...only Dorian. I've got outside kitties(fixed)....she flips when she sees a female through a window, but seems OK with two of the 3 males.

She is a semi-feral, she was trapped. Is there any way I can work with her to get her to tolerate other female cats? I foster kittens, usually botlte babies. She throws a fit over them....yowling & attacking the door between her & the female bottle babies. She was growly over the one male I had, but never physically harmed him. I have tried everything I can think of, read books, tried Feliway, tried re-introductions.... When Ophelia sees Lily's feet under the door, her hackles go up & her tail get puffed while she growls & swats at Lily's feet.

Here is the thread from when I finally "snapped". Sorry this is so long, but I am facing moving out into my own place & I'd really rather not "pick & choose" which kitties....essentially, I would take Dorian & Ophelia....leaving the rest of the kitties behind here. I'd like to take them all with me, provided Ophelia will get along with the other girls!
 
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white cat lover

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Thank you so much!! If I cannot get them to live peacefully, I hope to be able to manage as I am(they each live of seperate floors of the house) until I move out after I graduate. I somewhat tried to find Ophelia another home for a few months, but no one wants her.
 
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