Fighting among the ranks

[catwoman]

Hi Everyone,

I guess this question goes out to the multiple cat households. Or if you only have one and have a guess, go for it.

As you probably know, I have nine cats. All seem to co-exist pretty good... except lately. I have noticed that 2 of the 4 syblings are not getting along.

Ginger and Patches. Both are torties and Patches is much smaller than Ginger. In fact, to me, she looks about as big as a 6 month old kitten. But they both will be 2 this coming July.

Anyway, I have noticed that Patches, is mean to Ginger. Ginger doesn't even seem to be doing anything. Just walking down the stairs for instance and Patches will go after her. In my mind, Ginger should be able to take care of herself, she looks twice as big as Patch, but it seems to be the other way around. And they use to get along fine.

Any guesses as to why cats turn on each other? It's been going on for a couple of weeks now. I just don't get it. They have plenty of room to get out of the way of each other, so I don't think being too crowded is the issue.

[Chessmind]

HI. It could be from a lot of things. There may be other cats outside that your cats see and then they turn their aggression from seeing these cats onto another cat in the house. Even people coming in and out of your home that they don't like can cause aggression. I've posted a great link below that is very helpful. I hope you take the time to read through it. If you scroll down it talks about cat aggression in a multi cat household. Also, if you scroll down near the bottom it talks about Feliway with comfortzone (this may be worth a try). You can also rub each cat down with the same towel so that all of their scents are on each other. I wish you luck in resolving this issue.

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/9352/behavior.html

[catwoman]

Thank you so much for the web link Chessmind. It is terrific! I finally know why Ginger puts her favorite ball in the water bowl Well, it's not really a ball anymore, just the skin of it. I should take it away, but she loves it so much. Anyway, the site said that they put toys in the bowls as a safe place for keeping them. Makes sense.

And I read on about the agression in cats. I still can't really figure out the fude between the two cats, but hopefully, they will work it out. Ginger is really scared to go around Patches though. If she sees her down at the bottom of the stairs, she will not go down them. So, I usually walk down, pick up Patch and put her out of her site, then she heads downstairs. Very strange, they use to get along so well.

The same thing happened with Java and Smudge (two other cats). When I lived in California, they were the best of buddies. Both are females. Then Java became pregnant and when she had the litter, I seperated her and the kittens from the rest until they were big enough. When I re-introduced them, Smudge acted like she didn't know Java and didn't like her. She never did make up with her.

Then we moved to where we are now, and the two like each other again. Well, not like before, but they don't fight anymore. In this case, I can kind of understand the behavior. Smudge probably detected the difference when Java became a mom, or perhaps she thought that she abandoned her. But it's a mystery with Ginger and Patches. Oh well, time will tell...

[catwoman]

Hey Chessmind, Just thought I'd let ya know, I'm a grandma for the first time with puppies I know this is a cat board, but I didn't know if you read the dog message board.

Like 7 dogs, 9 cats and 10 birds aren't enough, I have NINE PUPPIES (LOL).

Before anybody gets on me about the dog not being spayed, she wondered onto our property and was already pregnant. I just didn't have the heart to have her spayed with the puppies. I know a lot of people probably have no problem doing this, and I'm not saying it's right or wrong, I personally, couldn't do it.

[nern]

Sounds like you've got your hands full catwoman. Can't wait to see pictures of the pups.

[Chessmind]

Hi.