Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My Smokey is having behavioral problems. This has gone on long enough. He is approximately 5 years old now. When I got him as a kitten, we had him neutered. At that time, I had two other females (both spayed and older than Smokey). The females DID NOT take well to Smokey and used to attack him. I believe this is where his problems arose. I kept the girls separate from Smokey, however, now that he is grown, I have other problems with him.

I am presently fostering cats for a rescue. These cats are in a separate part of the home and do not have access to my cats. I have also added cats to my home over the years. Smokey still has a problem with the original two females and he tries to dominate by keeping them in my bedroom. He sprays everywhere - carpeting, stove, furniture - which has also got 2 of my other females doing the same thing (YUCK!). Whenever these 2 original females come out of my bedroom, Smokey looks to attack them. I have used a spray water bottle on him to let him know I am not happy about his behavior.

However, this is NOT the BIGGEST problem. I have a teenager. Whenever she has someone sleep over, Smokey attacks them. She's had two different friends sleep over and in the dead of night when everyone is asleep, Smokey will attack them around the head and face for no apparent reason.

I am beside myself. I have tried Feliway, Bach Flower Essences, more cat boxes - I just don't know what to do to control this situation any longer and fear I will have to give Smokey up if his behavior doesn't change. I sincerely don't believe that this is a health issue because I have had the cats checked by a vet and they couldn't find anything, yet this horrible behavior continues.

Smokey is NOT or never has been aggressive with me in any way. He HAS been aggressive towards my teenager, her friends, and only my two original female cats. Please, any advice at all would be much, much, appreciated.

Hi There,

Your Smokey reminds me of my boy Jonny Cat. Both are very insecure, trust only one person, and become aggressive when they feel threatened. One difference is that my Jonny can and will hurt me at times when he is very stressed.

I highly recommend that you look into putting Smokey on a drug called Clomicalm (clomipramine). It is effective for many different kinds of behavioral issues and has worked well for Jonny, and also one of my other cats, Ray. It has helped tremendously with the spraying and also with aggression. This drug has been a lifesaver in my multicat household and it is a much better option than trying to rehome a difficult cat. I don't recommend placing Smokey in another home unless the person has a ton of patience and he would be the only cat in the home. He sounds like one of those cats that would be happier as the one and only.

The fostering is probably not helping the issue even though the cats aren't sharing space. It sounds as if Smokey is getting more difficult as your feline family has grown. This is not unusual with insecure cats.

Please do ask your vet about the Clomicalm and let us know how things go.

Regards,
PHKitkat