Help - Scout is becoming very dominant

I don't know what to do about this. Scout, a one year old female that we've only had a month, is becoming very dominant especially over Ripley my 11+ year old male cat. He is 4 times her size but that doesn't seem to matter. It started off with her approaching him and he would back away and then she began running towards him and he would almost hurt himself trying to get away. Now all she has to do is look at him and he panics and tries to leave. Whenever they are in the same room together he walks (almost creeps) by her as if he were in slow motion. She now practically stalks him and will sometimes run him away from the food and water bowls. His life is becoming miserable and I don't know what to do.

Because of her power over Ripley, Scout is now starting to become more dominant over Jazz and their play is getting more aggressive. On top of that Scout will even try to take on my dog, Disney. I'm afraid Disney is going to get hurt, probably by a scratch to the face.

Help. I need to curb this behavior before it gets worse and I'm afraid Ripley will start having some bad behavior from it all.

Do you know Scout's past history? Did you just find Scout and start to take care of her, was she in a shelter? I ask because I keep a Cat Owners handbook in my desk and I was reading that cats that did not have a socialization period at three to nine weeks of age may never make a good adjustment when coming into a family of humans, or other cats. It says that these cats are often better off as a "one person" cat.

It however did not give any advise on how to get Scout to calm down a little and be a little less aggressive.

I do know that when a cat comes into a new home, a pecking order has to be re-established. I think she is trying to make herself "top cat". Maybe if you kept a spray bottle of water nearby, and when she "acts up" give her a squirt or two. One can only hope that maybe she would associate the behavior and getting squirted with the water as something she does not like and (fingers crossed) will maybe calm down a little.

I hope this helps some. - Meg -

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Originally posted by catlover4ever
Do you know Scout's past history? Did you just find Scout and start to take care of her, was she in a shelter?

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I got Scout from a shelter/rescue. They got her in April and apparently she had been abused by some boys. She wasn't hurt physically but they were carrying her around zipped up in backpacks and I'm not sure exactly what happened. At the shelter she was in a large cage with 4 other young female cats and supposively got along with all of them, even slept with and groomed one (I never saw this). She was caged from April till I brought her home in mid July.

I really looks to us like Ripley just never stood up for himself and Scout is taking major advantage of it. We had this problem with Ripley when we brought Jazz home but because Jazz was a kitten she really never took advantage and dominated him.

I will start using the spray bottle to try to stop this. We use it to curb other behavior problems so she already knows what it means. As soon as she sees it she knows to get off the table. We've been working on her table manners during our meal time.

Thanks for the suggestion and if you have any more advice please let me know.

Here is an article I just found. I totally forgot that I went this route with my Smokey. My vet gave him something like what is stated below and it really mellowed him out. I do not have to use the medication anymore......maybe that's why I forgot.

Aggression between cats is a difficult problem. In some cases it seems almost unresolvable. I have several clients who have finally just resorted to keeping their cats in separate parts of the house, all the time.

We have used medications for these problems and some of the time they either worked or the cats finally worked out their problems. It is always hard to tell which of those two possibilities really happened.

Amitriptylline is sometimes helpful when given to the aggressor cat. It is used by giving 5mg twice a day or 5 to 10mg once a day (the recommendation seems to vary and may be based entirely on the cat's response to medication).

Anti-anxiety medications can be helpful when given to the cat who is being attacked, IF the cat reacts with a great deal of nervousness or hair-raising and running away. That sort of behavior tends to egg on the aggressor cat. By using an anti-anxiety medication like diazepam (Valium Rx) or buspirone (Buspar Rx) in the "victim" cat to reduce these behaviors, the attacking cat may be less likely to be stimulated to attack.

In general, cats do not have the social structure that dogs do, so dominance behavior is less likely in them. Most cat disputes are territorial, predatory aggression that is redirected, or fear based. Sometimes play behavior in cats can look pretty rough, too. Many cats do not become territorial until they are 2 to 5 years of age. Unfortunately, these behavioral patterns are a problem when cats must live together indoors.