Expert: Ali - 11/2/2010

Question
We have three cats. Two of them have been adopted from our local shelter. Jack is an older, black persian male who is very laid back and gets along well with the other two. Sadie, is a black and white domestic short hair, who is very territorial and often has a bit of an attitude. We got her as a kitten from a friend whose cat had kittens so she did not come from a shelter. She joined jack and they got along very well. She did not show signs of being territorial at this time. We adopted Abby as a kitten from another shelter four years later. Sadie and Jack got along well, so we didn't think much of it when trying to introduce Abby to the other two. We were told to let the new kitty sit in the cage and let the other cats sniff and investigate. Jack was perfectly fine with her right off the bat, but Sadie hid under the bed for a couple days. When she did finally meet up with Abby, she hissed at her and wanted nothing to do with her. It got to the point where sadie was guarding the food and litter boxes and would attack and hiss at her. We sought out other advice but really didn't get anywhere. Abby got to the point where she was very scared of her and became rather timid. We eventually ended up putting sadie in a separate, large room where she has a large window, food, a bed, and litter box, basically her own little space. She's always seemed very content.It has been this way for several years now. My dad spends a lot of time in there so she gets plenty of love and affection. Jack likes to go in that bedroom and Sadie used to be ok with him being in there, but within the past couple years she's gradually gotten worse. Every once in awhile we will let her out and she will immediately start prowling around, looking for Abby. There has been a couple instances where she has gotten out when we didn't know it and attacked Abby, who immediately runs into my bedroom under the covers. Every once in awhile she'll go after jack, but if he fights back she'll leave him alone. We think that if Abby would do the same it would be better, but she's way too afraid of her.
It appears tho that Sadie is getting even more territorial. She has started peeing on my dad's clothes. We believe that it is either other animals or smells from where he works or its because my dad often picks up and cuddles Abby before going back to the bedroom and changing his clothes. And Abby freezes and runs back toward the other side of the house when that door opens, knowing who is behind it. Is there any hope to get Abby and Sadie to get along with each other so we don't have to have her locked up in one room for the rest of her life? Also, Jack may not be around for too much longer and we would eventually like to adopt another male cat, but we're afraid that Abby may be afraid of the new kitty being that Jack is the only other cat she has come in contact with that is nice to her. Thank you in advance for any help or information you can offer.

Answer
Mallory,

I’d like to start off by commending you for the courage you’ve shown in asking for help for Sadie. It’s never easy for us as humans to admit that things have gotten a bit out of hand and we really don’t know where to turn next. This is definitely a unique situation in my experience and clearly you and your family are deeply committed to providing Sadie with the best possible forever home, many pet parents would have given up on this little girl a long time ago and either had her euthanized or placed her for adoption.  

I think that the very first step to helping Sadie live a happier and more normal life is to have her completely assessed by your family vet as soon as possible. The fact that Sadie has recently started peeing outside of her litter box is a red flag that indicates that she may have some sort of medical issue. My recommendation would be for you to ask your vet to perform a full pre-anesthetic blood profile (which gives the doctor an overall picture of how Sadie’s body and organ systems are functioning as a whole), a complete urinalysis will show the doctor whether Sadie’s got a bladder infection, stones in her bladder or kidneys or even a kidney infection all of which are extremely painful and can cause cats to associate their litter box with pain which often leads them to seek out less painful places to relieve themselves resulting in a kitty who goes potty outside of the litter pan. If blood glucose values aren’t included in your vet’s pre-anesthetic blood profile then having the vet test the level of sugars in Sadie’s system will allow him/her to rule out the possibility that Sadie has become diabetic - sometimes diabetic cats will urinate outside of the box simply because they’re urinating so frequently and in such large quantities that it’s difficult for them to control their bladders. If Sadie has a bladder or kidney infection she’ll be placed on antibiotics, whether they’re oral antibiotics administered at home or they’re given by injection at the vet hospital where she can be closely monitored will depend on the severity of the infection that test results reveal. In the event that Sadie’s got some nasty stones in her bladder or kidneys the vet will most likely want to place her under anesthesia, flush out her bladder with sterile saline until the stones have come out of her body and then place her on antibiotics to fight any bacteria that may have been introduced during the process of flushing the bladder clean of stones and treat any infection that might already have taken hold in the delicate tissues of the bladder, kidneys and urinary tract.

What we have here is a situation where a new cat (Abby) wasn't properly introduced and unfortunately Sadie has paid a terrible price - her freedom to move about within her own home. I know that it's all too easy to see things from Abby's perspective, but it's important to consider Sadie's point of view as well...Sadie lived a happy, comfortable life with full freedom to move about her own home prior to Abby being adopted into the family, then all of the sudden there's a new kitten that everyone is gushing over who invaded her territory without warning. When Sadie did what came instinctively to her and tried to defend her home from the intruder she was completely removed from the life she knew. Jealousy, territorial issues and a fear of abandonment or even being replaced could definitely be playing a huge role in Sadie's emotional and psychological state. Properly introducing new arrivals cuts down significantly on behavioural issues related to territory, jealousy and anxiety over a variety of issues. Keep in mind cats are naturally territorial so they don't respond favourably to having a kitten or another cat come into the household and being given free reign immediately. When you adopt a new feline companion the resident cats need time and space to adapt to the new arrival in a completely safe environment (for starters the new arrival should be the one confined to a room of their own for at least 2-3 weeks with all of the usual kitty necessities). It's crucial to remember that just like people all cats are individuals so while some may not react badly to sudden changes in their environment others need longer periods of time to come to terms with changes. If after reading a few of my previous answers on new cat/kitten introductions you've got further questions or concerns I'd be happy to address them.

This is a unique situation that calls for a unique approach to finding solutions that will enable Sadie to live out the remainder of her life outside of the walls of her own room and enjoy the freedom of living in her whole house once again. Since Sadie has been isolated for a number of years she's spent a considerable amount of time away from the normal daily activities of a busy household so there's a good chance that she may be a bit more sensitive to changes in her environment and other stimuli that she'll be exposed to over the course of her rehabilitation process. At this stage I truly believe that both Sadie and Abby would benefit tremendously from being under the care of a veterinary homeopath or a holistic vet with extensive training and experience in the use of homeopathy as well as a veterinary acupuncturist. Your holistic or homeopathic vet should be able to refer you to a veterinary acupuncturist that’s skilled, educated and experienced in helping pets through the use of acupuncture. Abby will likely gain some confidence and lose the anxiety she harbours while Sadie will need to be more relaxed and much less stressed than she is at the moment and I think that the combination of homeopathic remedies and acupuncture is a great solution for both of your girls. The upside to using natural treatments to help Sadie and Abby recover from their current psychological and emotional issues is that the girls’ bodies and minds will begin to heal themselves with the help of safe, chemical free treatment alternatives, the downside to using natural remedies is that in today’s society we are very focused on instant gratification - natural remedies take time to work, sometimes they work slowly over a period of weeks or months, but in my experience the bottom line is that these treatment modalities DO work and they work well without creating side effects or potentially dangerous health issues later on in that pet or person’s life. While I'll admit that these treatments may sound a little unorthodox this approach is definitely worth trying because it will be much less stressful for Sadie, Abby and the humans within the household if things settled down and everyone could live harmoniously with only the usual incidents of "sibling" rivalry to spice things up from time to time.

It's going to take some time to get Abby confident enough to defend herself against Sadie, help Sadie to recover from the stresses and frustrations that have been building as a result of spending her life in one room for a number of years. I am more concerned about the situation as it must appear from Sadie's perspective. I can certainly understand why she'd be frustrated, angry and anxious - from her end she must feel as though she's been rejected in favour of Abby, placed in solitary confinement in a single room when she was accustomed to having full freedom to roam about her home prior to Abby’s arrival and given a few cuddles whenever possible as a means of easing her loneliness and comforting her. That's nowhere near enough stimulation, entertainment or TLC for any cat (or other living being for that matter). Sadie was accustomed to being a much loved pet with all of the freedom that goes along with being a pampered pet until her new sister Abby came along. Since I did notice that you’ve mentioned that you are considering adopting another male cat or kitten when Jack passes away I really believe it’s in your best interests as well as the best interests of each of your resident cats for you to read through some of my previous answers on proper new cat/kitten introductions where one or more resident cats are already part of the family. It sounds to me like an improper introduction is at the root of many of Sadie’s issues with Abby so at this point preventing a similar situation in the future is crucial and the best way to prevent problems is to educate yourself so that you’re able to take the proper steps to ensuring that every one of your resident cats gets the love, freedom and stimulation that they deserve. I know that you've done the best you could under the circumstances so I'm not trying to diminish the efforts you made to keep Sadie comfortable - after all, you did what you thought was right with the knowledge that you had at that time. That being said, a nice comfortable, bright, cheery prison cell is still a prison cell. With every day locked up inside her room Sadie is probably getting more frustrated, angry, hurt, jealous and anxious - in fact preliminary psychological studies in humans have found that people who are incarcerated in solitary confinement over long periods of time actually have changes in their brain chemistry making it more difficult for them to exercise self control and increasing the likelihood that they'll become violent, I don't know if this applies to cats, but I don't see why it would be much different. Nobody really wants to spend their lives looking at the same four walls day after day, especially when they know that beyond those doors others are getting attention and rewards that they don't have access to.

Essentially Sadie is somewhat traumatized and the only thing that she can think of to do in order to release some of that frustration, anxiety, hurt and anger is to lash out at Abby whenever she gets a chance - Abby makes the perfect victim because she is very submissive and her human caregivers nurture her fear and anxiety ensuring that she remains submissive and fearful. A gentle, natural and pro-active approach will likely go a long way towards rehabilitating both cats and creating a situation where all of your cats are able to co-exist peacefully within your household without the need for anyone to be confined away from the others unless they are ill or you’ve set up temporary quarters to introduce a new cat or kitten into the family (and in this case the new cat would be confined, NOT your resident cats). At this point I don't recommend letting Sadie out to allow the girls to fight things out - that would be irresponsible and potentially dangerous to the other cats in the household as well as any human who tried to get in the middle of a cat fight to stop it. A good start on the road to rehabilitating Sadie is going to be comprised of a few easy steps:

1) Sadie absolutely needs to have more time with everyone in the family - her relationship with your father is a good start, but she needs more social interaction with everyone so that she can begin the process of bonding and trusting everyone again...It's really in Sadie's best interests to bear in mind that although she's getting some attention she's not getting anywhere near the amount of attention and stimulation that Abby and Jack are because she's been confined to a single room for such an extended period of time. It’s not unreasonable to look at things from Sadie’s perspective - she’s been confined to her own room for years with limited stimulation and interaction compared to Abby and Jack so she’s got plenty of pent up negative energy. It's crucial to find ways of helping her to burn off pent up energy fueled by frustration, anger, anxiety, jealousy and a whole host of other negative emotions. You don't want to overload Sadie at this point because this could make her behaviour much worse so it's important to start her off slowly so that she doesn't get over-stimulated. Ideally every human member of the family should be spending as much time as possible helping to re-socialize Sadie so that she doesn't have to live out the remainder of her life in her own room isolated from the family that she loves. Having family members and people that Sadie is familiar with come in to her space to visit with her as frequently as possible for as long as possible will help her to feel less insecure about her place within the household which will hopefully go a long way towards helping to calm her down somewhat over a period of days to weeks. The behaviour that I would expect to see from Sadie during the course of re-socializing her would be for her to welcome the additional attention, affection and entertainment, but we've got to bear in mind that she has been somewhat lacking in terms of the amount of time she gets to spend with people because she has been confined in her own room for some time at this point.

***At this stage since Sadie might be less predictable than she normally would be just because she's been isolated and confined for some time I don't recommend that any child under 12 spends unsupervised time with her just to be safe.***

2) Helping Sadie to release pent up energy created by her period of confinement is another critical step. playing with her and providing some sort of psychological and/or environmental enrichment for as many hours in the day as possible. If Sadie will tolerate Jack's presence then having him come in with close supervision to spend time rough housing and playing with Sadie will be good for her on a physical, emotional and psychological level. through things like:

    - Getting her new toys and changing them up frequently so that she's always got something new to her to play with. Be sure to include toys suitable for interactive play like kitty teases, kitten mittens, laser pointers, kitty "fishing" poles with toy lures, etc as well as toys that are suitable for independent play when nobody is available to spend even a few minutes with Sadie.

    - Putting on a kitty movie such as the Cat Sitter DVD series (movies designed specifically for cats with plenty of fun video footage of rodents, fish, birds and other prey animals).

    - Teaching her simple obedience commands (sit, beg, down, stay, etc which will help once she's finally calm enough to be allowed out into the general feline population in your home) with food/play rewards depending on what she prefers to work for.

    - Even placing a bird feeder just outside of Sadie's window and scattering bird seed on the outside ledge of the window to encourage the birds to come closer will provide tons of mental stimulation for your girl which will help her to use up some of the pent up energy she's accumulated.

Once your vet has done blood work and taken a urine sample to check Sadie's overall health and determine whether or not she's got any medical issues and treated any underlying medical conditions that might be contributing to Sadie’s inappropriate elimination I'd be more than happy to offer further behavioural counselling to help turn things around. If you have any further cat related questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me again - I'd be more than happy to help you, the other human family members who share your home, Sadie, Abby and Jack in any way that I can.