Expert: Jessica - 9/4/2010

Question
Peppy is an adult male I'd had since a kitten but disappeared for several years. Returned quite wild. I had him neutered a few weeks age and now he's aggressively chasing my other cat, Buffy, away who's a female. She's afraid to come home. It doesn't seem to be a sexual attack – more like just plain mean. Now I'm wanting to chase Peppy away so Buffy can come home. HELP!!!  

Answer
Hi Jenny,

The best thing you can do is to keepy Peppy locked away in one room right now until Buffy feels confident enough to come home.  Once Buffy does come home, you should continue to keep Peppy isolated, and try to reintroduce the two extremely slowly.  Do this by scent transference - using a towel to rub down Peppy and letting Buffy smell it, and using another towel to rub down Buffy and letting Peppy smell it.  Also, try to feed them extra special meals on opposite sides of the door to the room that Peppy is staying in.  The pleasant experience of mealtime will give them a positive note to start building their relationship on, because they'll be aware of one another's presence by sound and scent.

Once the cats seem fine with one another's scents on the towels, you can try feeding them at opposite ends of the same room.  Don't allow them to stay together for longer than 15 minutes at first, and separate them immediately if they react negatively.  If they do well together, you can lengthen their visits a bit each day, and they can visit several times a day.

During the introduction process, you might want to use a product called Feliway.  The plug-in diffusers will be necessary to treat the home adequately.  This can help reduce stress during the introduction period to put an end to aggression.  See www.feliway.com to learn more.

However, if the aggression continues, you may need to talk to your vet about an antidepressant.  One of my cats took Elavil (amitriptyline) for aggression several years ago.  It worked wonders for him after just several days, and within a few months, he was able to taper off the medication.  The behavior never came back.  Many vets now prefer Prozac or Clomicalm for aggression.  Most cats are able to discontinue treatment in less than six months.

Best of luck!

Jessica