Cat Help

[Seshat]

As many of you know, we have two cats. Elderly Cat, and White Cat. White Cat is actually just on the age where vets call him 'senior', but Elderly Cat is 15 - definitely well into feline old age.

Ever since we got him, White Cat has tried to play with Elderly, who just didn't want to play. White Cat wants to play sneak-and-pounce. With his claws extended. Elderly would hiss and swat.

White Cat is not the sharpest pencil in the box. (IE: he STILL hasn't learned.)

Our dog plays with White Cat, and we humans do as well: it's not like he's lacking in people to play with, he just doesn't have another feline to play with and/or he's DETERMINED to pounce on Elderly.

The problem is that Elderly is becoming frail. She's not as fast at the swat and hiss, and she's taken to taking paranoid paths around the house, looking for White, behaving afraid. We don't want that for her.

White KNOWS he's misbehaving when he pounces Elderly. Shouting 'No!' sharply, water pistol squirting, swatting him (appropriate level of strength only), and Elderly's own feline-language 'no' has no effect. Well, it has guilty body language, especially if we catch him before he pounces. But he still pounces at the next opportunity.

In fact, we can say 'White, we're watching you', and he'll turn to the talker, look guilty, wash his paws, then go right back to pre-pounce stalking.

We're considering fostering him out until Elderly dies, or rehoming him entirely.

Any other suggestions?

[draggar]

You can always try this watergun:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXc5ltzKq3Y

Just kidding.

How big is white kitty? Is he big enough to hurt Elderly cat? This is a tough call, cats aren't easily trained and you need to make the training their idea, notyour's (talk about passive aggressive!).

Fostering out won't be easy (giving up any pet is never easy) but if it is this bad and nothing is working then it may be an option.

[Seshat]

Yes, he definitely is. White Cat is very large and muscular, Elderly is one of the smallest adult cats our vet has seen.

And White doesn't take well to complicated training. Any idea more complex than 'sit and you'll get a treat almost immediately' just doesn't seem to get through his skull.

Elderly is far more trainable - as you say, she has to get the idea that it's HER idea, but if we can make the game something she'll want to do, she can do some fairly complex things.

(Our dog is the training champion in the household - she can wait patiently for permission with a treat within reach, and she is aware that behaviours she can do with other family members/pack members cause me pain.)

White is just ... a bit daft on the training thing. If he were smarter, I think we'd have been able to get across to him that he can play all he wants with the humans and the dog.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

well... if these were people, you'd persuade White to take himself elsewhere, as much as he likes Elderly. Since he's so darn dense (in both senses, although, glad to see he's healthy, albeit dumb), you'll have to do it for him.
... and rare is the person who is willing to take in a cat without loving it forever and never wanting to give the cat back.
Maybe you can find a home where you can visit him?
(It does sound like the best option is to rehome him/send him on vacay)
I imagine drawing a line down the middle of the house won't work either.

[teh_blumchenkinder]

... >_>
<_<
???
Maybe the cat people on this forum haven't seen this?
Or maybe they aren't sure on either option. Neither are 100 percent happy.

[Seshat]

At this point we're keeping White Boy's claws blunted, and monitoring the situation closely. And keeping an eye out for foster/forever homes for him.

We'll settle for a rehoming with the right family: WE would miss him, but if he's happy and Elderly is happy......

[Miss Fatale]

Would it be possible just to keep them in separate parts of the house?

Good luck! I have a kitty who is 15, and one who is 8. It can be interesting sometimes.

[Sapphire Silk]

I had the same exact problem with Stumps and Jasmine. Stumps just wanted to play, but Jasmine wanted nothing to do with him.

I ended up rehoming Jasmine It was hard, but the right decision. The fighting was awful.

Cats are not pack animals. I've never had success having two or more cats. One always is a problem.

[Seshat]

Would it be possible just to keep them in separate parts of the house?

Unfortunately not. If we had the money, we'd cat-fence the back yard and put White out there most of the time, keeping Elderly inside, and just make sure to spend a fair bit of time out there.

But two of us are on disability, the third on a carer's pension....

[BrightEyedKitty]

I currently have 4 cats...3 of my own, plus one that had obviously had a home at some point that I took in, temporarily I thought, last December. Multiple online ads and notes on the laundry room doors of my apartment complex later, no one has claimed her. She's afraid of my cats and they don't get along, so she stays here in the bedroom. She has her litter box, food and water in here, plus a nice big bed to get cat hair all over sleep on.

Any way you could do this with either Elderly or White Kitty?

[Seshat]

Both of them want to be with their humans/servants. We could TRY to teach them to live apart like that, but it would be a stress on both cats and humans.

The reason putting White outside might work is that he loves that sort of stimulus.

[protege]

I have a pair of cats. For the most part, they tolerate each other. But, there are times...when I have to separate them. Of the two, Sally, the smaller kitty...is usually the instigator. Baxter, the big Maine Coon, will be curled up, or playing with his favorite toys...and she'll start pestering him. She'll either take his toy, start pawing at him...which sets him off. He's nearly twice her size, yet she thinks it's a good idea to piss him off. He will strike at her, and will attempt to bite her.

Usually, a stern "Bad kitty!" is enough to stop it. If that doesn't work, a swat on the tail does the trick. I thought about using a squirt gun, but with hardwood floors, I don't want to deal with water spots on my floors

But, one thing I did do, was make sure that the kitties had plenty of places to hide. For example, if Sally is being annoying, Baxter can hide atop the 'fridge, which she can't reach. She has her own hiding places--several carefully-placed boxes, with spaces between too small for Baxter to crawl into.