About Dear Tabbi Expertise My expertise is in helping people understand their cat (or cats) and their behavior. Questions are welcome even if you don't have a cat....just a question about them. Hopefully my experience, suggestions, and comments will be of help to you...and your cat (or cats). Looking through my past responses to questions will give you additional information and/or answers too.
Domestic Cats = cats (no matter what breed) who are tame or not wild, or abandoned cats who were pets that became wild, but can be tamed again.
Ferals = cats who are born with one or more parents who were wild stray cats. They usually have had no interactions with people. They have an inbred distrust of humans and are difficult to socialize. They are skittish, hide, and are afraid of people. They take a lot of time and patience to work with them. A lot of kittens from shelters had a feral parent.
Experience Since I was a child, over 45 years, I have been owned by a LOT of cats and kittens of almost every temperament, behavior, and personality. I have had experience with neurotic, disabled (including blind), stray, and 'problem child' cats and kittens. (A few normal cats too!) Plus all the things a lifetime of owning cats and research has taught me. I also have experience in feral cat behavior (which is different from domestic cats), and some experience with feral colonies that includes colony feeding and feral cat TNR (trap/neuter/release).
Education/Credentials ***********
Awards and Honors * One of the top 50 Experts Of 2008 *
Question QUESTION: I have one cat named baby he is a 12 year old male ragdoll and adopted a 1 year old female mixed breed in January named smitten. Smitten attacks Baby all the time. She stalks him then attacks. Baby can't get a moments peace. As a result anytime Baby sees Smitten he hisses and growls. I can't get Smitten to stop attacking Baby and as a result I can't get Baby to like Smitten. Both are fixed, I have tried spraying with water bottles, and separating them when Smitten is bad. If I don't fix this I'll have to take Smitten back to the pound. Please help!
ANSWER: Krystal,
My personal opinion is that you should rehome Smitten. A young cat is not a good choice to get when you have an elderly cat. Baby is approximately 64 years old in human years and Smitten is approximately 15 years old (a teenager!). An elderly cat usually cannot deal with the energy and playfulness of a young cat, nor usually does it want to. It can stress the older cat out and cause emotional, behavior, and/or health problems. It can also change their personality permanently. And it is not fair to the young cat who wants a kitty friend to play with, wrestle with, and chase, etc. which an older cat won't do.
Tabbi
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QUESTION: A cat breeder friend of mine said that getting another kitten/ young cat might help. What do you think? Would this help so Kitten Smitten has someone to play with or just stress out Baby further?
Answer Krystal,
That is a 50/50 call.
Getting another kitten may help in that it gives the other kitten someone to play with and hopefully she will lose interest in Baby and leave her alone.
On the other hand, BOTH kittens may gang up on Baby and totally stress her out!
You may want to try another kitten with the understanding that you can return it if it doesn't work out and see how it goes. Make sure Baby has an area that she can go for peace. At the first sign that it is not working I would consider rehoming both kittens and restore Baby's harmony in her "twilight years".
