Hi, I have 6 cats (5 boys, 1 girl) in a large house. They have been living together for about three years and generally get along (though the girl likes her space). One of our boys, Reese, though has been harassed by one of our other boys, Nikki, since last year when we lost our 7th cat and simultaneously Reese had minor surgery. However, Reese was able to handle himself and overall it was highly manageable and they just stayed out of each other's hair.
However, in the past week or so Reese is being severely abused by another one of our cats (Nikki's biological brother, Baby) and is also being hit by the girl, Seisu and also by Nikki. Seisu and Nikki hit him and chase him away if he tries to go into a room that they are in. But Baby actually looks for him in order to hit him (and has repeatedly slashed his little nose). He blocks him from the litter and the food (and we have these in various locations)
Reese is so scared at this point that he won't go to the food nor the litter -- even though we have various location for food and two locations for littler boxes (we have 6 HUGE litter boxes for them). He even pooped on the floor the other day b/c he didn't want to venture to the litter ... he gets hit every time he tries. Reese is sleeping with me on the bed but Baby still has tried to attack him there and it wakes me up during the night.
I believe I know what has caused this problem. 1) we are expecting a baby in less than a month and had the house in complete disarray for two weeks (painting, moving furniture all over, closing off parts to work on, etc). This really stressed them out, disrupted their routine and sort of dislocated them from their favorite locations in the house, and 2) Reese had a vet visit recently just for a checkup.
What I don't know is how to fix this problem. I can't keep escorting Reese to the litter box to avoid him going elsewhere (I take him to it twice per day and he uses it) nor can I keep bringing him food and having food all over the house (outside of the designated areas). More importantly, I can't protect him from being hit all the time (he hides all day now). AND the (human) baby is coming very soon so I'm worried about them being alone in the house for the days I'm in the hospital and about still having this problem between them going on when I'm post-partum.
Unfortunately, we cannot separate them because we don't have any rooms available to put one of the cats in (the old "cat reintroduction room" is now the nursery) and using the cage for more than half a day is torture on everyone and, when I tried it for half a day it seemed to make things worse. I've also tried herbal remedies in their water but that's useless. I give them plenty of playtime (Reese is not participating as he is too scared).
How can I make Baby (and Seisu and NIkki) less agressive toward Reese? Why have they chosen Reese as their punching bag? How can I make Reese less fearful and more assertive (is it possible that they may not beat up on him so much if he was less of a coward?).
Thank you, thank you to anyone who can offer some advice.
However, in the past week or so Reese is being severely abused by another one of our cats (Nikki's biological brother, Baby) and is also being hit by the girl, Seisu and also by Nikki. Seisu and Nikki hit him and chase him away if he tries to go into a room that they are in. But Baby actually looks for him in order to hit him (and has repeatedly slashed his little nose). He blocks him from the litter and the food (and we have these in various locations)
Reese is so scared at this point that he won't go to the food nor the litter -- even though we have various location for food and two locations for littler boxes (we have 6 HUGE litter boxes for them). He even pooped on the floor the other day b/c he didn't want to venture to the litter ... he gets hit every time he tries. Reese is sleeping with me on the bed but Baby still has tried to attack him there and it wakes me up during the night.
I believe I know what has caused this problem. 1) we are expecting a baby in less than a month and had the house in complete disarray for two weeks (painting, moving furniture all over, closing off parts to work on, etc). This really stressed them out, disrupted their routine and sort of dislocated them from their favorite locations in the house, and 2) Reese had a vet visit recently just for a checkup.
What I don't know is how to fix this problem. I can't keep escorting Reese to the litter box to avoid him going elsewhere (I take him to it twice per day and he uses it) nor can I keep bringing him food and having food all over the house (outside of the designated areas). More importantly, I can't protect him from being hit all the time (he hides all day now). AND the (human) baby is coming very soon so I'm worried about them being alone in the house for the days I'm in the hospital and about still having this problem between them going on when I'm post-partum.
Unfortunately, we cannot separate them because we don't have any rooms available to put one of the cats in (the old "cat reintroduction room" is now the nursery) and using the cage for more than half a day is torture on everyone and, when I tried it for half a day it seemed to make things worse. I've also tried herbal remedies in their water but that's useless. I give them plenty of playtime (Reese is not participating as he is too scared).
How can I make Baby (and Seisu and NIkki) less agressive toward Reese? Why have they chosen Reese as their punching bag? How can I make Reese less fearful and more assertive (is it possible that they may not beat up on him so much if he was less of a coward?).
Thank you, thank you to anyone who can offer some advice.