Thread: Fighting :(

Originally Posted by Laura1982

Well i've had to start from square one again

After thinking it was going ok, with sam grooming Sookie and sharing food it's taken a turn for the worst. He attacked her yesterday. Was right on top of her biting her and even when i intervened he went back for more.

Poor Sook

I really think Sam has anger issues! He can be really spiteful and often bites me/the kids. I really don't know what to do with him anymore

Sure as heck he knows you are stressing out too,getting exactly what he wants,attention from you even if it is the wrong type,put him into the same context as a child who is jealous of a sibling,they never do something nice to get attention back onto them.Try the time out that has been talked about on here,scruff him off of her tell him a firm no & put him somewhere to fester on his own but give him praise & a special play when he comes out,when he bites someone tell him no straight away & time out plus attention when he is allowed back,my first girl used to nip & it was her who in the end put herself into her room without being told if she had overstepped the mark,although people hate to scruff an animal in case it "hurts" them,when they were little how did mum put them in place,they go subservant when you pick them up there & that is what you want,with the crowd I have now I find the water squirter the easiest way to go,by giving a quick sharp burst with a no it isn't long before they learn & mostly just picking it up now makes peace reign.
Could also be something to do with time of year & hormones that even if they have gone seem to still affect some,my daughters cat was well into humping his blanket when she phoned this morning & it is four years since he was neutered but he still has bad stages,he used to go for the female cat & get timed out but once he realised "shagging blanket" was accepted he just hopped on that to get rid of frustrations.
Good luck I am sure you will be able to sort things out,as we all say on here but is hard to do,relax....x

We've had the same problem for a month or so now with Louie going at Tango even though they were the best of mates. Its got so bad Tango went for the snip last week & Ive got some Zylkene for Louie which is'nt makeing any difference yet but can take up to 2 weeks to work. I think if Tango stood up for himself Louie would pack it in as the pensioners just give him a bat if he starts on them

Have you tried Feliway?

No......?

Is that the like plug in thing? Is it any good?

Ive kept them seperate today. Sook is soft as anything and rolls over when she see's Sam. Whihc he thinks is a cue for 'Attack'. When he does he ets told off and shut in another rrom. But he still carries on.

I just wonder if it is his nature? As he is lways attacking me, and the kids. And nothing seems to help.

Yes you can get a plug in one & spray, we have the plug in one, it works with one of our pensioners who can be a bit of a moody paws, Im not sure what Louie would be like without it, probably worse Tango just rolls on his side to but last night he stood his ground & Louie just went past him growling so fingers crossed Tango will stick up for himself & Louie will give in

The feliway can be very helpful as it mimics the feline pheneomones which in turn is supposed to help the cat relax into its surroundings although it had opposite effect on one of mine when we tried using it to ease the effect of daughters two MC's having to come into the household....
You very often need to use it for up to a month to see any difference & this time of the year I think it is a bit harder as you tend to open the house up more with the warmer weather{said with tongue in cheek}if you keep everywhere closed then go for it,has Sookie been spayed ? As for the biting & nipping if he has always been like that then it is going to take a while to teach him it is wrong as all nasty habits do when they have took hold,did he used to get over stimulated & excited in play when you first had him which does encourage them to be more nippy,exactly the same with pups,if so you really have got to go right back to basics & start again,tell the children that if they are playing with him & he starts to wind up then tell him no & walk away,never look him straight in the face & challenge him,MC's as a whole are pretty laid back & learn quickly but like everything you can get a rogue one but normally that ties in with something that has happened earlier in life,why not have a quick word with the breeder,she will know his breeding line & might be able to help you because no good breeder would want to think either you or one of her babes is having a problem,I know I relied a lot on my breeding friend in the early days & still have the occasion too 10 years on....

Just read your first post again,don't know about the early biting still think that is a bad habit that needs breaking but how you say he suddenly attacked her while feeding does sound like the hormonal side of things,being on top of her & biting her ear goes along with the mating ritual so don't know if he could have anything to help,might be worth phoning your vets to ask,Merlyn used to pounce on our flat chested girl at this time of the year & 8kg as he was then on top of two didn't work so I used to have him on Ovarid for spells to stop him but luckily he soon outgrew thinking he was still capable of doing the job so really seems as if you might have two problems ongoing here,one bad habits & another raging hormones that he still thinks he has..!

I don't want to be the voice of doom but we had a neutered male who, despite everything had to be rehomed as an only cat, he was fine with us and loved the girls but he would go for the kill with any boy, in fact my darling Quiff still has a faint scar on this face, just under his eye from being attacked!

We used to scruff him etc, even put him in the barn, in a pen to cool off but it didn't work, he was a magnificent lad too.

And it isn't only boys, we had two girls, one went to stud had a litter, was a great mum etc but when her 'best friend' came back from stud later that year C almost killed her, she was so jealous that they were never allowed to be together again! And the other girl later lost her pregnancy.

You might be luckier, as you only have two cats and we had four, plus two older kittens at that time, but it has to be realized that some MCs are not as gregarious as others, I guess it is in the genes as the two cats I has problems with were mother and son and I know now that C's father had to live in his own space or else!

Yes it's true, sometimes they won't get on no matter what you try, and at that point you have to admit defeat and look at rehoming (as I had to do last year with my beautiful rescue moggie). But Laura, don't despair, you are not there yet, so do try everything else first and see if Sam makes any progress. I gave it 3 months with Humphrey, and there was no improvement, in fact his attacks on the kittens were actually getting worse, so we made the decision to rehome. Good luck!

Thanks,

Sam isn't a MC he is ginger moggy. His mum was 1/2 persian. So he hasn't got the laid back attributes like Sookie has.

Yes she was spayed before i got her. Still has her bald patch bless her.

Whenever Same gets 'agitated' and starts biting he gets told of and shut away. Always has. But it makes no difference. Whenever he see's Sookie now he is waiting to pounce. And it's starting to affect her confidence and she hides from him now.

So i am trying to keep them separate. Which isnt easy in a flat