Just When You Think Things Are Better.....

[K & L]

Leila seems to improve daily. She is allowed to roam the house, has been lying in our laps, purring, wanting us to pet her…AND…she even used the litter box and didn’t spray! BUT……….

Now Gable is becoming aggressive with the others and is spraying all over the place. He is now secluded to the bedroom, but he isn’t going to be as easy to seclude as Leila. She didn’t like, nor want to be, around any of the other cats. Gable on the other hand, loves running and tumbling with Garbo, Chowder, and a couple other cats. He loves socializing with the granddaughters and loves being around us and in our laps.

Gosh it’s always something when you have so many!

[Lizzie]

Lisa, I know just what you mean about the sociable young males deciding to "act out". Is it happening in his second year as it is for Cattulus? Fortunately, very fortunately my Cattulus isn't spraying at this time and I sincerely hope that luck lasts. He is going after a few of the quieter adult cats so they don't feel safe anywhere. He doesn't hurt them, and doesn't intend to harm, but he does harass them. Maeve copes with it fairly well, small as she is, but Diego has taken to hiding under a chair hoping that I will bring him food. I even had to put litter boxes under the big table in the living room, something I thought I'd never do, because he wouldn't even walk down the hall to the bathroom or litter room, he was pooping on the sofa and peeing in the hall! I don't know why Cattulus decides to pick on certain cats and ignores others, though glad he doesn't pick on them all. Diego is my biggest FIV+ boy, bigger than Cattulus and only about 6 years old, and he's an ex-street stray that bears permanent scars from a witnessed fight with a racoon. That cat is no wimp but he's allowing Cattulus to hound him. I really wish he'd turn around and smack him one.

I don't know what we can do in these circumstances where we have quite a houseful and a big mix of ages. I guess I'm hoping the few adjustments I've made and time will help us all cope. Cattulus is also a super sociable cat and there is no way I can isolate him without having a shredded door and burst eardrums (mine).

I'm sorry, I hope you can figure something out.

[Laura's Babies]

We don't know how nice having peace in the house is until something like this happens and things change. It is just as upsetting and disturbing as if it were members of our skin families acting like this.. Thank GOD things have improved in my house!!

[catmandu]

THAT SOUNDS LIKE WHEN TUBSTER PANTHER FIRSTMOVED IN BEFORE HE WAS NEUTERED AND HE SPRAYED TOO.
BUT HES CALMED DOWN A BIT, AND HES STARTING TO INTERACT WITH THE OTHER FOUND CATS A LOT BETTER NOW!!!
HES A KEEPER,MY BIG BLACK BUDDY!!!

IF ONLY HE WOULD GIVE UP SMOKING.

[Freedom]

Gosh it’s always something when you have so many!

I echo that!!!

Vita just started marking. She is 9, has always been "Queen of the Clowder." I had her in to the vet, no infection. The vet advised that I tr to keep her stress free. With 12 pets in the house?

So I tried Feliway. Thank goodness that is all it has taken here! I use the spray, I don't recommend the plug ins! I sprayed all the areas she was spraying, daily for the first week, every other day since. I also made "sleeve" to go over her collar, and I spray the sleeve. (Feliway cautions not to spray directly on the cat.)

For 11 months, I had a LOT of cats and dog coming in and out. I had already stopped that, in September. We all needed time to get used to each other.

Maybe something here will trigger an idea for you? I hope so.

[jenluckenbach]

Does Garbo's behavior coincide with Leila's release? Could he be saying this is ONE too many?

Or maybe if it is him asserting his age, some medication might help calm him down.

Either way......best of luck with the situation. It often make you just want to scream.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Lisa, I'm sorry to hear that now Garbo has started spraying. Hopefully this behavior won't last very long. I have a hard time keeping all 6 of my cats happy so I can't even imagine how you do it.

Storm,Pearl, and Sky were picking on poor Starr during the night and this morning and Pearl and Storm still continue to have a few spats every now and then. I just hope that this is a temporary thing. I hope that you'll be able to find a good solution for this problem. Good luck.