Just venting (sorry this is long)...

[Catty1]

How awful for you, Diana!

Refresh my memory - when you first brought Meg home, how were they introduced?

[mamaducky]

Hi sweetie,

I did my best to be "by the book" when introducing them -- kept them apart entirely for about a week, taking items with one another's scent back and forth so they could get accustomed to one another, then allowed them to see one another briefly (a few minutes at a time) for another couple of weeks -- then progressed to letting them have special treats and toys together in the same room for short times, and finally allowing them to just basically interact together. All in all, the process took about 5 weeks -- and at least for the first few months, it seemed to work.

When we agreed to take Meg in, I had NO idea that Zorro could be so aggressive; when we first brought him home with Einstein (who was just a baby), Zorro let Einstein literally jump onto his back and ride him around like a pony without so much as a growl -- and they've never done anything more extreme than a little playful roughhousing in the years we've had them.

[CathyBogart]

How frustrating and heartbreaking. Have you tried giving them the clomicalm in pill pockets? That's how I got Sherpa to take his.

Just a note: A saline flush is a better idea than peroxide. In vet tech school I was taught that peroxide can drive bacteria deeper into wounds, especially punctures.

[Catty1]

If they got along ok for a few months - I wonder if Zorro is unwell, perhaps feeling pain from some unknown problem, and taking it out on Meg?

He might have a urinary infection or something else. Have you had Zorro checked out lately?

With a sudden change in behaviour, my first thought is health problem.

All the furkids are spayed and neutered, right?

A thorough checkup at the vet for Zorro, including urine, would be my suggestion.

[mamaducky]

Sigh...

Yep, my Zozie-Pie went to the vet as soon as I realized what he'd been doing to his fur-sister -- checked urine for possible UTI and blood for possible hyperthyroidism (evidently also causes irritability). Other than being overweight and needing his teeth cleaned, he was the picture of health. (They've all been spayed & neutered since they were just little.)

Zorro's overall behavior hasn't changed; he is his typical weird but charming self as long as Meg isn't around -- plays, cuddles, purrs like a motorboat, everything as usual. This situation with Meg has been more of a gradual escalation than a sudden change, as he's gone from "passive aggressive" to just flat-out aggressive with her.

And Cathy, thanks for the advice about the saline; I was just going by what the vet told me to do the last time he sent Meg home after an abscessed owie, but I can see where it could very well make things worse instead of better -- after all, when the vet told me peroxide, he already had her on antibiotics. I'd imagine the vet will give her another of those handy-dandy antibiotic shots, which is a good thing considering my track record with giving them pills. I seem to have the only cats in the world who won't eat pill pockets -- not even if there's nothing in them!

Man -- pill pockets, Feliway, Clomicalm... all the magic bullets have been shooting blanks here! And I always thought I was such a good cat mom...

[Catty1]

Diana - there are some meds that can be compounded so that the stuff can be rubbed into the cat's ear.

I don't know how pricey it would be, or whether it can be done with any of the drugs you mentioned, but it might be worth checking into.

ONE thing you might try with the Feliway spray is something I did with Oscar - and my vet loved it! Instead of trying to spray everywhere Oscar might be, or wondering about diffusers - I got Oscar a really stretchy nylon collar - and a dose of Feliway gets squirted into that. Even though he is used to it, I get up behind him when he's eating, stroke him to let him know I am there, then put a finger under the collar, shake the Feliway, and squeeze more slowly so a squirt of it goes into the collar. (You don't want the big hissy spray sound here, nor should it be sprayed on his fur/skin).

Maybe this would be the simplest thing to try.

[Medusa]

Man -- pill pockets, Feliway, Clomicalm... all the magic bullets have been shooting blanks here! And I always thought I was such a good cat mom...

You're a good mom. Cats are finicky, as you well know, and they have distinct personalities. We'll send up prayers that all will be well.

[Pawsitive Thinking]

Like people, some cats will just take an instant dislike to each other. If keeping them together makes everyone unhappy then maybe finding a home for one of them is the only answer. Just remember that Meg is not Murphy

[shepgirl]

Maybe have your female checked out . Wonder if she could be hormone imbalanced and might have scents emanating from her that her male partner is not keen on...maybe some male hormone thus making it seem as though she were nother male?..Just a thought.

[catmandu]

I AM GLAD THAT WITH THE FOUND CATS, THAT THERES NEVER REALLY BEEN A REALLY HATE THING. MY PRINCESS KEEPS TO HERSELF AND HISSES AND SPITS , AND SHES LEFT ALONE.
PANTHERS A LONER TOO, BUT HE JUST LEAVES WHEN ONE OF THE OTHERS GET TOO CLOSE AND LOVES THE SOLITUDE OF THE CELLAR.
WE ARE SENDING PRAYERS THAT SOMEHWO YOU CAN GET YOUR CATS TO GET ALONG,
ITS A SHAME YOU CANT TELL THAT WHATS AT STAKE.