Expert: Norman Auspitz - 8/24/2009

Question
hello Norman;

My senior alpha cat had to be put down two weeks ago with colon failure.  The remaining two cats, one a pure Maine Coon, the other a Tortiseshell, are struggling for dominance.  The Tortie is slightly older, but the Maine Coon is obviously larger.  It was first a trial to deal with their constant search of our 11 year old cat, but now these two 8 year olds are fighting.  The Maine Coon has even taken to peeing on the downstairs carpet!  

For informational purposes, the Tortie is older, and lived in our house for a year, before the Maine Coon (who is male).  The Tortie is about 6 months to a year older than the Maine Coon, but he outweighs her by about six pounds (or more!).  They are both fixed, and strictly indoor cats.  There was no problem when our alpha was around--he schooled them both as kittens/young adults, and kept them in check throughout their lives.  There were not many spats, however.  What can I do to help my cats establish a pecking order without destroying my carpet, each other, and return to their previous relationship?

Thank you.

Answer
Heatherly,

I have thought about this one.  The simple truth is that there is nothing you can really do.  They need to sort it out amongst themselves, and, eventually, they will.  Whenever something like a member of the "colony" dying or going away, the pecking order needs to get adjusted, and the cats go through a fairly complicated readjustment with takes weeks or even months.

I would not worry about size and weight as, often, these have little to do with dominance.  I would ignore any spates they have and not intervene in any way!!!!!  Any human interference will be counter productive and make the readjustment take longer.  Whatever their new relationship will be, do not expect it to be the same as it was before!

As to the male peeing inappropriately.  There are a couple of things to note.  The stress of losing the Alpha cat and having to readjust may have exacerbated a very mild urinary tract problem into a major infection.  So, the first order of business is to have him checked out by your vet.

How many litter pans do you have?  Are they co-located?  These two cats will probably need a couple of litter pans in different areas of the household.  There is a litter pan hierarchy and while they were willing to share before, this may no longer be the case.  Also, putting a Feliway diffuser (available from most pet supermarkets) where the litter pans are may alleviate some of the tension.  Any are where the male pees inappropriately should be cleaned up with an enzyme based cleaner specifically for pet stains and pet odors (available from most pet supermarkets or farm stores).

I am also giving you a link to a super set of articles on feline litter box problems, which may have further suggestions:

http://www.geocities.com/heartland/pointe/9352/litterboxhelp.html


You need to be very patient with these two.  They should come to some kind of arrangement; however, in rare cases some cats end up never getting along again!

Please let me know how it goes.

Best regards... Norm