Expert: Norman Auspitz - 1/13/2010

Question
QUESTION: I have a female cat who is almost 17 years old. About 18 months ago, my children gave me an 8-week old male kitten.  At first, they got along well, with the kitten looking up to the older female.

But, in the past few months, the young male has gotten much bigger and very strong.  Although the two cats seem to give each other space and time with me, the younger one has very aggressive bouts of jealousy where he doesn't want the female to be near me.

This happens if I am reading in bed, for example. The female will be happily sleeping close to me, but the young one takes a running leap onto the bed and bites the older cat on the neck.  He holds on tightly until the older cat gives in and gets off the bed.

I know he is a male and would like to be "top cat," but there is no need.  The female is not at all aggressive and gives him all the space he needs.

She is old and doesn't need this kind of stress.  What can I do?

Thanks very much for any help you can suggest.

Zelda

ANSWER: Zelda,

First congratulations on having a 17 year old cat!!!!!!!!  You must be doing something right!!!!!!!!!!

I am assuming the boy is not yet neutered, and it sounds to me like the boy is feeling his hormones.  The position you describe him grabbing her is the position a male cat uses to breed a female.  I know your girl is 17 and spayed, but the boy's hormones are raging.  You got the boy at 8 weeks (about 2 months) and that plus a few months probably makes him around 6 to 8 months of age.  Most male cats have reached puberty during this time frame and the 17 year old is not able to fend him off (after all she is quite geriatric).

Neutering the boy should take care of that issue nicely. I would also bet that his urine is a bit more musky than it had been.  THis is another sure sign he is ready to be neutered.  Keep in mind that it may take a couple of weeks for the hormones to dissipate, but he should forget about hus amorous intentions before too long.

Best regards... Norm.





---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you very much for your reply.  However, it unfortunately doesn't help much because my younger male cat is in fact neutered.  He is now 18 months old and was neutered when he was 6 months old.  

This is why I don't understand the jealousy.  He does this when he wants to be with me and the other cat is there.  Sometimes, I wake up in the morning and see that they have been "fighting" with each other because there is black fur around - from the older cat.  

Is there any other reason why the younger male would bite the female's neck like this?  She sure doesn't appreciate it.

Thank you very much for any help you can give me.

Zelda

Answer
Zelda,

Have you had the hormone levels in your boy checked by your vet to make sure they are correct for a neutered boy?  You could try a Feliway diffuser (available from most pet supermarkets) in your bedroom to see if that will blunt any of the boy's aggressive tendencies towards Zelda.

It could also possibly be a dominance/submission "game" as the boy is feeling more secure as Zelda gets older and is less prone to dominate. If this is the case, the best thing to do is to leave it alone.  I feel that any human interference in cat inter-relationships is counter productive and the best thing for everybody is to just leave it alone.

Thank you for letting me know the boy is neutered.

Best regards... Norm.