Expert: Dear Tabbi - 8/18/2008

Question
Hi,
I have 7 cats, Nilli(f) age 8, Felix(m) and Fritzi(f) age almost 4, they are brother and sister, Bailey(f) age 6, Swirl(f) age 2, Izzie(f) almost 1, and newcomer Zoe age 6 wks. All are former strays that I have taken in. My problem is with Fritzi. I have had her and Felix since they were about 4 mos old and had been on their own for awhile. Fritzi may have had her tail either stepped on or run over; there is a bump on the end. Also if I pat her right side it seems to be sensitive as tho there was/is nerve damage. She has become extremely aggressive towards Izzie in the past approx. 4 mos, to the point where Izzie stopped using the litterbox due to fear of going to the basement. I have since put litterboxes upstairs and things are better, but several times a day Fritzi will stalk and then chase Izzie upstairs and there is a horrible scream before I can get there. I don't know if they make actual physical contact or not. Fritzi is good friends with Nilli and Felix, she dislikes Bailey but Bailey is not afraid of her so cannot be terrorized, she is indifferent to Swirl and has not yet formed an opinion on Zoe. Her adopted mom cat Misty was put to sleep 1 mo. ago, but the aggression had started before Misty became ill in May. I use a Feliway plug-in and don't feel that it's doing much good. I have a fairly big house so it's possible for Izzie to spend much of the day away from Fritzi but there still seem to be run-ins on a daily basis. Fritzi is not really a "people cat" and does not seem to want a lot of cuddling with me. I think she may have been abused or hurt as a kitten, but am wondering how I can deal with this situation now. Thank you for your thoughts on this.

Answer
Sarah,

Have all your cats been spayed and neutered? If not, that could be alot of the problem.

The kink on the end of the tail sounds like it was shut in a door. If she is sore on the side it sounds like maybe she was accidently (?) kicked in the side. I would take her to the vet for an exam. Pain makes a cat aggressive and that may be her problem. I would find out if it a medical issue causing her behavior before treating it as a behavioral one.

The vet can also give you a prescription for kitty Prozac if it is not a medical issue. It is commonly used for stress, emotional problems, and aggression. I would speak to him about it and see what he thinks.

Without being able to be an indoor/outdoor cat the cat may be unhappy about being locked inside with that many cats. Maybe the cat would be happier being able to go outside.

Sometimes cats are screamers and will yell like they are being killed when the other cat hasn't even touched them. I have one like that that will yell if another gets too close or even looks at her funny.

Sometimes cats, like people have personality clashes, and just cannot get along. At those times it is possibly better to re-home one of the cats to keep peace with the rest of them.

I hope this helps. And have a vet check Fritzi.

Tabbi