Sasha "attacking" Tabitha

[Donnaj4962]

Many of you know that my 2 girls, Tabitha (18) and Sasha (3) "tolerate" one another. There is no cuddling, no sleeping in the same bed, etc. But there is no hissing and no hitting, so I am happy to accept their "tolerance only" of one another! My problem is that Sasha continually picks on Tabitha! If Tabitha is sleeping in her basket downstairs while I am watching TV, Sasha will walk over to her and just sit and stare at her, then pounce on her! Or she will just start "pawing" her until Tabitha starts to defend herself, then Sasha will pounce!

Also, in the mornings, FIRST THING, Sasha will jump on Tabitha!!! She does this literally every morning. Poor Tabby just growls and tries to swirm away from her.

I have tried squirting water at Sasha.... but she LOVES it! I yell, does no good! I swat at her. She just keeps on pestering.

I know that she is asserting herself as the Alpha Cat, but does anyone have any suggestions of how I can stop her from doing this to poor Tabby? I feel so bad for her because she is so petite and gentle.... and does NOTHING to provoke Sasha.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.... I am at my wits end. Thanks!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm sorry to hear this. Have you thought about getting Sasha a playmate? Since your cats have a quite a large age difference it might be a good idea to adopt another cat that's closer in age to Sasha. I also think that a male cat would be good because having too many females could cause problems if they all want to be the alpha cat. Most males are more easy going. I currently have 4 males and 2 females and luckily they all get along but my oldest cat Storm who will be 11 in Jan. can sometimes get very cranky. Sometimes he just wants to left alone. Good luck.

[Donnaj4962]

Thank you for the advice. That is something that I had not thought about.... getting Sashie a playmate. I had always thought that 2 was my limit, and that I would be concerned about bringing another kitty into the mix because of the way Tabby and Sashie (don't) get along. I hate to think about how poor Tabby would react if BOTH of them started picking on her!

It is definitely something that I will consider. I have a friend who has a male cat (just a year old) and maybe we will have a "playdate" and see how things go.

Thanks again! Anyone else have any suggestions????!

[krazyaboutkatz]

If you do decide to add another cat to the mix, then you must introduce them slowly. It's also usually best to keep the new cat in a spare room if you have one available. I've been pretty lucky in that my new cats/kittens were usually accepted in about 3-4 days. Good luck.