Cat attacking another cat

[kas]

Hi group. We are having a problem with our 9 month old cat (Sunny from Cat of the Day on May 15th), jumping on our 4 year old persian female. He tries to bite her neck, jump on her or chases her all over the house when we are not there. We know he chases her because we see chairs pushed out from the table and her hair (she is all white, very long haired) is all over the house. Any ideas on how to keep him from attacking her. i think he is trying to play but he does seem a little territorial. he sometimes won't let her into the litter box, we have to stand guard for her or lock him in the bedroom. Any ideas?

[Pam]

Hi! I just went back and read about Sunny and he seems like a friendly guy from his story, although his picture is scary! LOL! I really don't know how to help you on this one, because I have two cats who get along really well and they are the only cats I have ever had so I don't have a lot of "cat wisdom." There are lots of helpful folks here so I am sure you'll get some good suggestions shortly.

[squills]

I assume due to his age he is not altered yet. Biting necks can be sexual behavior. It may be time to do the deed. Either that or he is tring to establish dominance.

[lynnestankard]

Don't think I can be any help either Kas - Dan (who has had the op!!) still jumps on Bagel (female also had her op.) and bites her neck - the thing is she will play happily and chase him round the house - WHEN SHE IS IN THE MOOD! Otherwise - forget it! She boxes his ears and lets him know who's boss!

Lynne

[Tubby & Peanut's Mom]

I remember Sunny. He's a real cutie pie. :-) I would say if he's not fixed yet, that is definitely a place to start. You had mentioned that the Persian isn't very affectionate, so I'm trying to relate it to our household. Tubby is the lovebug in our family and the instant I'm on the couch, he's there ready for some petting or his nightly bump session. Peanut on the other hand, is more stand offish. She will come up, but only on her terms....and when Tubby's not around. Sometimes it seems like Tubby wants to snuggle with Peanut, but she wants nothing to do with it. "Whap!" Out comes the paw, and then the fur starts to fly. She swats him, and he doesn't like it so the chase is on. Maybe something like this is happening in your house. Tubby and Peanut have been together for 13 years now, so this still happens, just not quite as often as it used to. Sometimes I don't know if they're really mad at each other or just playing, but sometimes it's obvious that someone is not a happy camper. So it might just be a matter of time before Sunny learns that the Persian doesn't want to play/snuggle and he'll start leaving her alone more. It might be that he's claiming the dominant position and she's just not giving in too easily, and I would say, again, it's just a matter of time before things settle down. As for the litter box, do you just have one box between the two cats? You might want to try getting another one if that is the case. I don't know how you can control who goes in what box, but if you can, that would be ideal.

It's another long story that you can see here but there might just be something medically wrong with the Persian that Sunny is picking up on like Tubby was with Peanut. Turns out Peanut just didn't like the constant sniffing, so she would swat him and.......

Then again, maybe Sunny just needs another kitten for a playmate.

[wayne0214]

kas, If you havn't seen them playing or fighting (which ever they do while you are out of the house), to determine their "cattitude", perhaps you could check the following things to remedy the problem; (1) Are they well fed, and do you keep extra food and water out for them? (2) Are they all neutered and spayed? (3) Maybe Sunny needs a playmate (another cat of similiar age and opposite gender) to chase around the house and sleep with. (4) As has already been suggested, that you might get another litter box , even if it is a temporary one, and place it away from Sunny's. (5) Do they each have a separate (window) box to sleep in during the day? (6) Are there enough things for sunny to play with, such as cat toys and other feline amusments? (7) Even some "cat furniture" could help such as a cat tree. Try these first, to see if this remedies the trouble.

.........wayne

[krazyaboutkatz]

I wish I could help you Kas but all three of my male cats get along. There are times when they will fight like siblings or when one of them wants to play and the other one doesn't. I have two litterboxes but they usually only use one of them. They also have plenty of toys and two big scratching posts as you can see from the picture below. If Sunny isn't neutured that would be the first thing that I would do. It will calm him down and he shouldn't be as territorial either. Good luck.

[AmberLee]

You may have already answered this: I'm not completely awake. (It's ninish my time on a Saturday...) Is Sunny altered? How about his sister? Male cat biting female cat's neck is classic feline mating step, although it can be a dominence thing, too.

I've been amazed at how my two behave together. There are times they do fight (rarely thank heavens) and many more times they ignore one another, but their 'play fights' (not quite a daily occurance) seems awfully real to me until I noticed how it really just seemed to let off steam for the both of them. Sorry I can't explain the difference between real fights and play fights here: something in the tones of their voices. If it starts getting to me I yell out, "Okay, kids, play NICE" and things [usually] quiet right down. This is no explanation, is it?

Good luck. What's the situation like now?

[kas]

thank you everyone for your suggestions and I am sorry that I haven't responded to each person individually but here are my replies all in message. Yes Sunny is neutered and Missy the persian is spayed. She is very much a cat with an attitude and doesn't like to be bothered with him at all. She can be nasty at times so I can't understand why she doesn't defend herself with him. she just growls at him. thye do have food down all the time time and they do have 2 litter boxes. I think he is just trying to show his dominance over her. I just bought him a collar with a bell but i am not sure that it will be of any help but at least maybe it will alert us that he is chasing her and we can intercept. I am hoping that now that the weather is nicer and they can go out in our screenhouse they will get along better. it is funny, she can be in the screenouse all day with my daughters cats and they don't bother her at all and she tolerates them. But for some reason when then come over to our house, sunny is terrifed of them and he hides but he isn't terrified of her. Quite the contrary. Maybe if she would fight back, he wouldn't be so dominant over her. thanks for all the suggestions.

[wayne0214]

kas, From reading your last post, I have seen this type of behavior before. If one cat lashes out at another one, for no apparent reason, this action somehow alerts the other one to fend for him/her self, and thus begins a series of this-for-that reprisals, eventually developing into an full-blown "civil war" between the two of them. I don't really know how to stop this behavior pattern after it begins. Sometimes, they age out of it, but more often there is a lingering distrust between the two of them. The only remedy I can suggest is to try to stop the original aggressor at first attempts, with some kind of "cattitude corrector". Possibly a spray-water bottle.

........wayne

[kas]

Gee thanks for the suggestion. I never thought about the water bottle. it certainly is worth a try. I bought him a collar with a bell today thinking if it alerts birds it may alert her that he is about to jump her. Not sure that it will help but at this point anything is worth a try. Not that it is a constant problem. Seems to happen more when we are not here. We know because when we come hair there is her hair all over the place. Again, thanks for the suggestion.

[wayne0214]

kas, Have you given any thought about getting a playmate for Sunny? Even if you could borrow a cat to see how it works out with him, may be worth the effort.

........wayne

[kas]

We live in an apartment and it was very hard to convince my husband to get a 2nd cat so getting a 3rd cat is out of the question. Besides, my daughter lives next door and she brings her cats over from time to time and they scare Sunny. In fact, when they come over he hides under the bed. I think because she was already 3 years old when I brought him home, he is used to her and not afraid of her but he is afraid of other cats.

[MR.CHUBB]

want to know something

I have a cat who is weird. He likes other cats to attack him, which is weird. he is like Hey Cat lets tango. The other cats think he is weird too. They are all like. WOW! Weird cat wants to tango.