any advice?

1031 Views 4 Replies 5 Participants Last post by MowMow, Jun 8, 2012

aido77

Discussion Starter · Jun 5, 2012 (Edited by Moderator)

Hi everyone,

I have two cats - one is a 2.5 year old male neutered black and white long hair domestic cat. we got him from a rescue centre about 1.5 years ago - his name is Finn. he has a great gentle temperment, and loves nothing more than spending his day outside and then coming in the evening and lying out on the floor infront of the tv....there are a couple of other cats in the neighbourhood, but he is so confident, he sees them off! he has even managed to bully the local dog into not entering our front patio.

we always felt he could handle and would enjoy having another cat for company, so in early march we took another cat from the rescue center - a 5 month old male neutered ginger cat (Oscar). Oscar is a bit crazy like all kittens, always on the move, investigating...getting into trouble! as soon as we started letting him out of the house he started getting stuck up trees but has always managed to get down eventually!!

anyway, we thought finn would be the dominant one, but oscar -being a kitten - is always attacking finn, causing finn to howl and hiss at him - the fights never get very physical but they are loud and a bit distressing. we followed all the 'introduce your new cat' steps as best we could and after a couple of weeks all was going well, the cats would play fight a bit, but would then end up sleeping on the same bed or chasing each other around the garden.

however, in the last couple of weeks, finn has stopped coming back to the house in the evening, and more often than not i have to go and find him and bring him back. he eats and then just wants to get away from oscar as quick as possibe - either out the door or into a back room in the house. if we keep them in the same room, the fighting starts again!

we are really at our wits end as to what to do, is it worht trying feliway diffuser or something like that? we always said our priority is Finn as he was there first, but i really dont want to have to bring oscar back - but i would be devastated if Finn ran away or dissappeared, but he is staying away longer and longer, sometimes he is gone for 16/17 hours...i dont think anyone else is feeding him, because he is always starving when he comes back!

Would Feliway work in this instance to calm the kitten down and help Finn feel more safe at home?

any advice would be great!!

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catloverami

· #2 · Jun 7, 2012 (Edited)

I can't vouch for Feliway as I've never had to use it, but what I've read in posts over the years on CF it seems to be hit and miss.....some swear it does wonders, others say it doesn't work at all.

First of all, have you had Oscar neutered? At 8 mos. ? the hormones are flowing and if he isn't fixed they're gong to make him naturally more aggressive. If he has been fixed, it may be his temperament. imo, "ginger" or orange tabby males tend to be more feisty and aggressive even when fixed.....usually nice to people but not always to other cats. It's too bad that Finn no longer feels safe now in his own home, which is likely the result of fights with Oscar. He's also demonstrating that he either doesn't want to or can't stand up to Oscar and put him in his place. Even if he did, it would likely aggravate Oscar to continue to attack. As Oscar gets older and stronger the fights would likely get more intense. If I were in your position, I would return Oscar to the rescue, because he's still a young cat that can find his forever home. The only alternative is to keep them separated in separate rooms, and that's hard to live with.

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LaurulFeatherCat

· #3 · Jun 7, 2012

Definitely neuter Oscar if you have not done so yet. Give each cat a separate home area and do not allow the other cat in that home area. I do not favor returning Oscar to the rescue. He can be managed.

When one allows cats outdoors, one has to accept the possibility the cat may make the decision to not come home again. I can understand Finn is upset with the situation and is unhappy with things at home. I would suggest keeping him inside as an indoor cat.

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cinderflower

· #4 · Jun 8, 2012

after the things that have happened to my friends' cats, i wouldn't let mine out unless i had a yard with a fence he (and other things) can't jump. maybe an outdoor enclosure for him? like a gigantic crate or playhouse thing, they make them for kids, there's some kind of mesh so air can get in. that way he could have his alone time and be away from the obnoxious adolescent.

what someone else said about neutering, although the kitten i got was 20 months and already neutered, my other male is neutered and he was 3. i don't think they've established who's boss yet. houdini is the young one and he instigates it most of the time. it isn't serious fighting really, but baci has "safe" zones where he can be and houdini can't pick on him. like the bed. although occasionally houdini has jumped him (on top of me) and as you can imagine, there is a lot of yelling involved. lol seriously, i'm scratched enough. if i'm lying in bed in just a t-shirt or in the shower, cats are not welcome with their claws out and in use.

feliway . . . eh. i can't recommend it to anyone. it never did a thing for me. i used it to try to get baci to stop p'ing in my bed and might as well have put up a sign that said, "pee here ---------->" he stopped, but only because of an extra litterbox.

it doesn't do anything for me, it's expensive and it smells weird. i've tried to spray it around after one went to the vet and another was upset, nada. it was one of my last resorts for the urine problem, so my advice is start with whatever is cheapest (after you neuter) and just work your way up.

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MowMow

· #5 · Jun 8, 2012

I have found Feliway a sanity saver. It makes a BIG difference to MowMow. I dont find that it has any smell at all. 14.00 a month is well worth the calm it brings to my house.

Also the OP states that Oscar was adopted already neutered.

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