Cat problems.

[combwork]

It says anything goes, so here goes. We have 6 cats, 5 for a long time and a stray we've adopted. The stray (ex Tom) has been castrated, looked after and he gets on great with all the other cats.........except one; this one's also a modified ex-Tom. How can we make these two get on? We can't afford any more vets bills. One answer would be to try to re-home the newcomer, but is there any other way? These two don't have to like each other; just tolerate each other. This evenings stupidity started with the 'newcomer' fast asleep in a chair when the other (who's the smaller of the two) jumped on him.

Think Tom & Jerry, only with real cats. Outcome? Two cats, each with a well chewed paw and another trip to the vets. Any ideas guys, preferably ones that don't involve euthanasia? It's insane; I've seen these two start at the top of the stairs and roll down, like a furry football with claws. They are both nice cats; I don't want to lose either if at all possible.

[Dave Cawley]

Look at www.DartmouthPussyCat.com ? You must let the existing cat dominate, feed him first, make him the boss. The newcomer will adjust. Where do they all sleep?

Regards

Dave

[combwork]

Look at www.DartmouthPussyCat.com ? You must let the existing cat dominate, feed him first, make him the boss. The newcomer will adjust. Where do they all sleep?

Regards

Dave

Hi Dave,

I think that's the mistake we made. When we adopted the newcomer he was in quite a state; as an un-neutered Tom he got into a lot of fights, most of which he lost so we made a bit of a fuss of him, feeding him first etc. I hope it's not too late to put that right. The odd thing is it's the smaller cat; the one that's been here the longest that seems to start the trouble. I guess that makes sense; he still thinks of himself as dominant so I'll try supporting this.

Thanks,

Jim.

[DSJR]

Yeah, make a huge extra full fuss of the established Tom, to let him know that he's top cat and still very much loved. The other can still get a big fuss, but not necessarily in front of the established one. I had this on a much lower scale years ago, the older one being used to sleeping on the bed with me at night. The newcomer really gave the established cat the hump. My way of dealing with it was to have the older one on one side, me in the middle and little one on the other side, making huge fuss of both. They seemed to accept this and were friends for nine years until the older one passed on five years ago. Now, having lost the other this summer to kidney failure, we are catless and I'm beside myself...

[StanleyB]

Get a dog as well.