Expert: Dear Tabbi - 2/12/2009

Question
I have 2 cats both female not neutered hose cats, about june the 9 year old started attacking the other cat, then she started attacking my daughters chiauahahas,, and even has attacked me when I interviened,, now I also have a 11month chiauhaha and she attack it as wwell,, Ive tried keeping them all seperated but as sone as she see any of them she attack un relentlessly, what can I do ?

Answer
Alex,

First, I would recommend that you get both cats spayed. That corrects a lot of behavior problems.

Your cat's behavior could be a medical problem. Whenever a cat changes it's behavior noticeably you should take it to the vet for a checkup. Pain causes aggressive behavior. At 9, your cat is approximately 52 years old in human years, and at that age they can begin to have age-related problems, and things start going wrong. I would have her checked by a vet that specializes in geriatric cat care and conditions. Not all vets do.

She may be stressed about having a new Chihuahua in the home.

She may also have what is called Redirected Aggression. That happens when a cat sees a strange cat outside and  becomes territorial, but can't get to the strange cat to defend his territory. The cat then turns on the closest animal member of the family and fights with them as if they were the other cat. They have been known to attack other family cats, even though they may have lived and gotten along together (as yours is doing), the family dog, and even their owners They are not attacking each other in their minds...they are attacking the strange cat. It is also common that they can begin 'spraying' and defecating outside the litterbox due to the stress of the cats outside.

You should block the window past the cat's eye level of the window that they can see other cats out of (out of sight, out of mind). If it is allowed to go on the cat may develop a permanent personality change.

I am including links to 2 good articles on Redirected Aggression that may be helpful to you: (copy and paste, or type, the whole links into your address bar.

http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/aggression3.html

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=redirectedagr...

If you can, keep the cats and dogs away from each other for awhile unless you are feeding them yummy cat treats TOGETHER. That is so they will associate something pleasant (cat treats) with each other and not unpleasant (the strange cat).

There is a very popular cat calming spray and plug-in you can use called Feliway (or Comfort Zone with Feliway). It is available at pet stores, vet's offices (they use it too), or on-line. It copies relaxing pheromones that cats produce from rubbing their faces on things.

There is also a calming product that you can add to the cat's food or water that reduces anxiety called Bach's Rescue Remedy. It is available on-line and in health food stores. Here is a link about it: (copy and paste, or type the whole links into your address bar)
http://www.bachflower.com/Pets.htm

If the cat is still being very stressed the vet can put her on "kitty Prozac" for a short term (usually 2 weeks) until she calms down. You may want to speak to the vet about it.

But first, I would make sure it is not a medical issue causing her aggressive behavior.

Tabbi