Being a volunteer rescuer, I have had some foster failures, so I have ended up with 6 cats in the house, their ages being 15, 13, 12, 10, 5, and 3, five males and one female (13), all spayed/neutered (obviously). The 3 year-old, named Cole, was one I found at my TNR colony when he was ~8 weeks old, probably abandoned there. He has since grown into my second-largest cat at 14.5 pounds. He was initially fairly integrated into the "herd," especially with the 5 year-old and 10 year-old male cats. They use to play and wrestle with each other.
The problem I've noticed over the last few months is that Cole has become more and more dominant towards the other cats, to the point where the older ones especially, seem apprehensive in moving around the house, mostly staying on my bed together for much of the day. I've noticed Cole sitting in the doorway to the room where most of the litter boxes are located and sometimes "guarding" the food bowls as well, in addition to chasing the others. There have been no actual attacks, just a sense of tension with the other cats walking slowly past him when they need to.
I could separate Cole in the downstairs of the house to relieve the stress on the others. I've even considered rehoming him to some place where he could be an only cat. There are really too many cat here in too small a space. But I wanted to check to see if there are other suggestions.
The problem I've noticed over the last few months is that Cole has become more and more dominant towards the other cats, to the point where the older ones especially, seem apprehensive in moving around the house, mostly staying on my bed together for much of the day. I've noticed Cole sitting in the doorway to the room where most of the litter boxes are located and sometimes "guarding" the food bowls as well, in addition to chasing the others. There have been no actual attacks, just a sense of tension with the other cats walking slowly past him when they need to.
I could separate Cole in the downstairs of the house to relieve the stress on the others. I've even considered rehoming him to some place where he could be an only cat. There are really too many cat here in too small a space. But I wanted to check to see if there are other suggestions.
