Thank you for your input, Sallyanne. I thought of your situation immediately when this all started up. The one thing that is out of the question is rehoming Butter, though. Even if he was an only cat or had an equally strong fellow cat, he is a liability because of what he will do, without cause, to a human. If my children were any younger, I could not have him. Helen is the only one of the three that is even willing to get near him. He has never bitten her. I have personally spoken with every single neighbor on our street and forewarned them that no matter how nice he seems, that they need to not touch him. He truly is a liability. **sigh**

For all these years, as soon as Mimi would hiss at him, he would back away. He has always tried to get her to play with him, but she has always let him know that she will not. All of the sudden, just like you describe, he has realized that she can't do anything to him, and that's when these attacks started. He has not injured her, thank goodness. I can't believe I even thought of this, but I actually asked Dr. Robinson about declawing him this morning if that was my only option. He said that it wouldn't solve the problem. He is still bigger, stronger and those teeth alone are lethal. We did not talk about medicating him. Maybe that is a possibility.

I'm "thinking outloud" and would appreciate any constructive input from anyone who has ideas. You all know how I love that boy and 95% of the time, he is a social, fun boy. We really do love him. But if he were to injure 16 year old Mimi, it would kill my soul. I would never be able to forgive myself.

Logan