Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We lost our dominant cat to cancer back in September, and we've had our new 1 1/2 yr old cat Sophie for six months now. At first she was a perfect addition and got along with 14 yr old Socks and 6 yr old Cocoa amazingly. After a month, however, she began to randomly attack Socks, leaving her with minor injuries and very shaken up. Socks and Cocoa are very passive, so I don't see how this could be a problem over who's the dominant cat. She practically worships Cocoa, though. Socks only has three legs and both Socks and Cocoa are declawed. Sophie isn't. Cocoa is going to live with my brother in one month, and I'm worried it will get worse then. We have no desire to get her declawed, but she will not tolerate the Softpaws. We just want her to stop the attacks. Should we try meds, and if so, what kind?
Thanks!
~Amy

Hi Amy,

I am so sorry for your loss. There is nothing more difficult to deal with than the loss of a precious baby.

It sometimes amazes me how much losing a kitty can affect the rest of the feline family. One of my cats takes losses very hard, and it doesn't seem to matter how close to the cats he was. He just seems extra sensitive to changes.

I always say that there is a reason for the way a cat reacts to things, even if the reason or reasons are not obvious to us. The aggressive behavior in your household can have it's roots in the newcomer's previous home. Or she just might want to make things clear to the others that she wants to be the top cat. Whatever the reason, I think that medication would be a good idea.

My vet (and boss) likes to use a drug called Clomicalm (clomipramine) for serious behavioral problems. I have 2 cats on this drug and they are doing very well. It is safe and there have been no side effects at all. One of my cats has been on it for years.

Good luck, and please feel free to ask if you have any questions.

Regards,
PHKitkat

Hi Amy. I, too, would like to say how sorry I am for your loss of your cat. This is not only difficult for you, but for your cats as well.

I've been thinking about your situation and wondering about a couple of things. Have there been any changes at home that could be "upsetting" the hierarchy in your cat family? Such as, new or moved furniture, routines, feeding places? Does the agression happen at a particular time of day or place? Does anything specific proceed the agressive attack?

The reason I ask all this is to try and understand "why" the behavior has changed.

Some ideas you might think about would be:
~If you see the tension/stalking beginning, redirect the agressive cat with an interactive toy. Try to catch the behavior before it starts with this and the stalk and attack pattern should fade.

~Try rubbing a towel on each cat to get their scent, then rubbing the others scent on each cat. The transferring of scent/co-mingling will help to establish the "famiy" of cats.

~Also, take the towel with the scent from your oldest cat and place your youngest cats food bowl on it. The scent of the older cat will become associated with something pleasant.

~Finally, you might try keeping the cats separated and follow the steps of introducing cats (as though for the 1st time) If you need tips, here is a link to a page with the "how to's".

~To create a feeling of "happiness" and "well being", the spray called Feliway provides the same pheromone that cats create when they rub/mark a spot with their pleasure glands. When the cats begin to get tense, this can help ease that tension...or can be used when you are "interactive playing" to re-direct agression.

~Oh, probably the 1st thing to try is to get the agressive cat checked out by the vet...just in case this is a "symptom" of a problem.

If nothing works, then medication might be worth talking to your vet about.

Let us know how things go...Oh...I would definitely keep the aggresive kitty's claws as trimmed as I could!

Good luck...Annie
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