Expert: Ali - 10/16/2008

Question
We currently have two cats in our household: my little brother's 1-year-old cat Eli and my mom's 17-year-old cat Missy.  Both are altered, and Missy is declawed.  Missy is kept indoors, but Eli likes to sneak out when my little brother or sister open the door.  So far he has killed three rabbits, a songbird, and countless lizards and frogs.  We have done our best to keep him inside, but he always manages to find a way out.  We are going to buy a safety collar with a bell as soon as possible.
What really concerns me, though, is how Eli has been treating Missy lately.  When we first got him in February, he did not bother her at all.  She would hiss at him, and he would back away.  Now, however, he is constantly bothering her.  The other day I found scratches on Missy's back where Eli had grabbed her.
I researched a little, and I'm pretty sure Eli's aggression is just play.  Eli met every criteria for play aggression.  I then looked for some ideas to correct the behavior.  One of the solutions was to get another kitten.  I thought about it for a minute, and I realized that Eli started chasing Missy shortly after my cat, Sam, was put to sleep.  Sam and Eli played together pretty often, and they seemed to get along really well.
I wanted an opinion from a cat expert; would an older, playful, sturdy kitten be a good choice?  I know that there are no guarantees that a new kitten and Eli would get along, but I honestly think Eli may be bored.  I know that cats are not social creatures, but Eli has always been around tons of other cats and people, and now that there is one less cat in the house and me and my siblings go to school each day, he doesn't have much company.  With a three-year-old and a five-year-old, we don't have time to constantly correct Eli's bad behavior, and we don't have time to play with him enough to wear him out (I don't think he has a limit to his energy, anyway).  If we got a house-trained, young cat from a shelter, and were sure to find a cat with a personality as similar to Eli's as possible, do you think it might work?  If it would, what sort of cat would you recommend?  
Oh, and do you know any way to keep Eli inside?  I don't really enjoy finding dead bunnies on my front doorstep.

Oh, yeah, sorry if this is hard to understand; it was pretty hard to explain.  :)

Kaitlin Barrett

Answer
Kaitlin,

It's possible that Eli is acting out because he is bored or he may even be jealous that the attention isn't as focused on him as it was prior to the children coming along. There's nothing wrong with getting a younger feline companion for Eli, but there are a few unique considerations in your case. First of all there are young children in your household so it's a good idea for all of the human family members to go to the shelter and meet any kitties that you are considering adopting. Any cat or kitten that you adopt should really be okay with being handled more roughly than usual because there are young children in your home. I'm sure that all of the family members try their best to supervise the children around the cats, but I really think that finding a cat or kitten with a great temperament is important in this case. Just because you find a cat or kitten with a good temperament to adopt doesn't mean that the things to consider end there. For instance - do you have a room that you can isolate the new family member in for at least 2-3 weeks? Is your family able to afford the financial commitment that comes with adopting another pet? Do you have the space in your household to have one litter box per cat plus one and at least a couple of food and water stations that are located away from the area where the litter boxes are kept? Is everyone in your family in agreement about adopting a new family member? How is Missy's health and temperament?

Missy's advanced age and her needs are very important factors when it comes to deciding whether or not to adopt a younger cat as a playmate for Eli. Is Missy healthy enough to withstand the stress of introducing a new young cat into the household? Does Missy have a safe place to go where she can be comfortable and safe from the children and other pets in the household? Is it realistic to consider setting Missy up in a special room with everything that she needs to meet her needs? I think that it's very important to have Missy's health fully evaluated with blood and urine tests to determine whether or not she is strong and healthy enough to handle the stress and chaos that comes with having a new pet introduced to the household. It wouldn't be uncommon for a complete pre-anesthetic blood test to reveal that Missy may have ongoing issues with her kidneys. It wouldn't be unreasonable to find that her health is actually starting to slowly deteriorate. If Missy has any chronic health issues that require daily treatment to keep her stable that has to be taken into consideration when deciding whether or not to introduce a new furry family member into your home. If Missy has ongoing issues like renal failure and her health is being maintained with treatments that are administered at home like subcutaneous fluids or she has other ailments common in elderly pets such as arthritis, hearing or vision loss it's possible that she may be somewhat grumpy and handle a new cat's introduction poorly, especially if this kitty tried to engage her in a wrestling match. It's important to realize that Missy has earned the right to have special treatment in her golden years. It's only fair to consider the decision to adopt another cat very carefully and make plans to minimize any anxiety or stress that Missy may experience. I really think that this is a decision that is very important for the whole family to agree on. I also think that Missy deserves to live out her retirement years as quietly, comfortably and peacefully as possible, after all she is quite an old lady, about 85 years old by human standards. Missy has earned the right to retire and be left to live out the rest of her days peacefully without being pounced on or bugged by young children or energetic, mischievous younger cats.

As for Eli there are a few things to consider. Since you have two young children you can recruit them to help you play with Eli once you have shown them how to handle him and play with him properly. Interactive toys like kitty teases can be great tools to help children get involved in playing with and caring for cats. It's obviously quite important that the children not be allowed to play with Eli, Missy or any other pet without adult supervision to avoid the possibility that the pets or children may be injured. Eli's hunting and bringing home the bodies of his prey is instinctual. The fact that Eli is bringing home "gifts" is meant as a compliment - he's simply leaving a thank you note on the porch to tell you how much he appreciates the love and care that he gets within the family. Cats evolved to hunt mice, rats, and small animals like rabbits and chipmunks. There really isn't any way to turn off Eli's prey drive. There are a few choices when it comes to preventing Eli from leaving dead prey animals on the doorstep. You could try to keep him indoors, although it's important to realize that keeping Eli indoors and preventing him from draining that extra energy may cause him to have more excess energy to burn which can lead to him bothering Missy more often. About the only way to guarantee that Eli's prey is never going to end up on your doorstep is to keep him indoors, which as you have seen may end up being next to impossible. If there is space in your home you could try setting up a room that Eli spends his time in when the door to the outside is going to be open. It's important to make sure that if you do set a room up for Eli there is food, water, litter, a few toys and a cozy place for him to sleep available. You can try to place him in his special room before anyone opens the door to the outside. This isn't a fool proof method to keep Eli indoors, but it's worth a try. The most realistic approach to prevent Eli from hunting and leaving his kills where the family must dispose of them is to bell the kitty. Putting bells (the small bells that are often sold around Christmas time in craft stores) on Eli's collar will allow prey animals to hear him coming and make it much harder for him to have a successful hunt. I have seen some cats remove the bells or their collars so that they can go hunting anyway, although that doesn't usually happen. Eli's new collar should be a "break away" collar which will release automatically if it becomes accidentally hooked on something. This should prevent Eli from accidental injuries or death if the collar gets caught up on something in his travels. When you apply Eli's collar you should be able to comfortably place a finger sideways under the collar, otherwise it's too tight. A tight fitting collar can become embedded in the flesh around the neck causing a serious infection and painful cuts, so checking to see how the collar is fitting Eli is a very important routine to establish just in case he manages to get lost or go on an extended tour outside. Checking Eli's collar every few days will allow you to find things like foxtails, grass seeds, and other vegetation that can cause skin irritation or cuts and make sure that the collar fits properly at all times.

If you do choose to get a younger cat or older kitten as a companion for Eli it's very important to introduce them properly. I have answered countless questions on new cat/kitten introductions and you can find the information in my previous answers on the subject. For the time being I think that it would be beneficial to Missy if she was to have her own private space in your mom's room with all of the usual kitty necessities (litter box, food, water, toys and a comfy place to sleep). If Missy is allowed to have quiet time in your mom's room when Eli is full of mischief and determined to find a playmate it will minimize the potential for Missy to have accidental injuries related to play or dominance from Eli. You did mention that Missy has some minor scratches from Eli being a bit too rough when he plays with her. I do think that it's a good idea, especially given Missy's advanced age, to clean the scratches thoroughly with sterile water - you can find this in a first aid kit or your local pharmacy or home health care center should be able to point you in the right direction if you don't happen to have any on hand. Once Missy's scratches have been thoroughly cleaned out then you can apply an antibiotic ointment such as Polysporin to prevent infection. If you aren't entirely comfortable with applying antibiotic ointment to Missy's minor scrapes and scratches then you can break open vitamin E capsules and apply the liquid to Missy's wounds which will help to aid healing. The antibiotic ointments and vitamin E capsules are safe, even if Missy licks them off. If any of Missy's wounds look red or swollen I would suggest that she be assessed by a vet promptly because it could mean that an abscess or infection has started in a scratch or bite wound. Given Missy's advanced age it is very important to address any health concerns promptly because elderly cats can be more susceptible to complications from relatively minor injuries and infections similar to elderly human beings. I would be interested in hearing about how things are going with Eli and Missy and whether or not you and your family have decided to save a life by adopting a new feline family member from your local shelter, so please feel free to send updates my way.