Pearl's Attacking Poor Colby

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks for the "good luck and best wishes" comments everyone. I really don't want to medicate Pearl if I don't have to. I've been dealing with her aggressiveness towards Storm for a quite a while now. He's the alpha cat and now that he's gotten older I think that Pearl is trying to take over. Ziggy can also be a handful but she seems to be more vocal and a major drama queen than being the attaking aggressive type. She'll hiss and growl loudly at the younger cats to warn them to stay away. Pearl will sometimes do this but she'll also attack and become very aggressive if she wants to. I guess I should be glad that she's as petite as she is at about 9lbs or a little less. Now Ziggy is at least 14lbs or a bit more so if she was as feisty as Pearl I know that I'd have some major problems.

My mom's solution is to rehome Pearl and she also thinks that Ziggy seems very feral to her. She just doesn't know them the way that I do and of course she isn't attached to them like I am. I have a squirt bottle all ready to go in case I need it. So far I haven't needed to use it because I've been watching Pearl like a hawk when she's out with the others. Both Colby and Finnegan are very sweet boys and far to nice to be beaten up by Pearl. Ziggy didn't want to spend the night with me last night so she spent the night with all of my four younger boys Alani, Blaze, Colby, and Finnegan. Everyone was fine this morning so I think I can trust her to be around them. I hope that in time things will start to calm down and Pearl will get used to having two more younger brothers. One thing that I will say is that I will never adopt another female cat again. They are just too territorial for me and it seems like most of them prefer to be the only cat.

[cassiesmom]

I hope that in time things will start to calm down and Pearl will get used to having two more younger brothers.

Paws and fingers crossed that everyone will get along !

[katladyd]

Believe me when I say that males are just as territorial as the females. It's been over a year now and Mac and Ming still hiss, growl, and attack Kimba. Kimba is scrappy and doesn't back down, so sometimes the fur flies. Plus, Kimba waits for either one of them to be preoccupied with something else and then he POUNCES! I refuse to lock any of them in the bedroom, so they are just learning how to live together. Fur doesn't fly anywhere near as often as it used to. Now they mostly growl and chase each other. It's a start. Don't be in a hurry for them to get along. Ming is on anxiety meds and it does nothing about the agressiveness he shows to Kimba. Sometimes he is the agressor and sometimes Kimba is, they take turns. As long as no one gets really hurt, you can pretty much leave them alone to sort it out. Pearl has been through some major changes in the household the last couple of years and I think she may be the most sensitive of your cats and this is how she shows it. I wish you luck with this and if you find a way to get them all to get along, share it with me....PLEASE!

[Lady'sOtherHuman]

Yes, males can be just as aggressive as the females. When Trillian first met Patch it was all hissing and growling. Trillian is female and the older of the two. Patch is going to be 2 this year. Ever since he was six months old he likes to chase Trill every once in a while and there's a lot of yowling and hissing all from Trill. A lot of the time though, Trill will also instigate the chase too. When Patch got out a couple of months ago she was actually crying and looking for him. So even though she doesn't want to cuddle up with him I think she does like having him around.

It sounds like Pearl is feeling a little threatened by all the new editions and changes. Some cats just don't adjust well to trauma in their lives. As long as you keep letting Pearl know that she is loved, hopefully she will settle down after a while. She's not going to get used to them over night so to speak. It sounds like the two new boys haven't been with you very long. Patch doesn't bother Trillian as much as he used to. My son gave him a stuffed Tigger to beat up so he attacks that more than he does Trill.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks for your comments. Yes, I know that males can also be aggressive because when Storm was younger he was the one that was acting aggressive and chasing some of the other cats. Alani & Blaze were chasing poor Ziggy around so much that she couldn't ever relax in the main area of my home so I decided to adopt another younger cat so that they could then have another playmate to chase and play with. This kind of backfired and they didn't seem at all interested in playing with Colby. I then adopted another younger cat to be a playmate for Colby. Finnegan was the perfect choice and now he and Colby are very good buddies. Now I also see Alani & Blaze sometimes playing with them too. Ziggy can now sit in the main area and relax because Alani & Blaze are either tired from playing with the two younger cats or they're preoccupied by them. So far the two younger cats know not to chase Ziggy and I hope that this will continue. Pear seemed very interested in both new cats at first but then for some reason she started to attack Colby. She seems to try to attack him while he's using the litter box. I caught her trying to do it again this morning but I got her in time before she attacked. I sure don't need Colby to become afraid of using the litter box and then doing his pee/poops some where else.

[Queen of Poop]

Rather than jump right to medication, perhaps a special collar sprayed with Feliway is the way to go for Pearl while she gets used to the newcomers. My Diego is on prozac but there are times when he needs a little reinforcement and calming down still. That's when I break out his ever-so-cool black breakaway collar and give it a good spray with Feliway. Doesn't take long after its on before he is a very nice boy again and Miss Cali is safe.