Cat Battles

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Fred21gps
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Joined: Thu Mar 25, 2021 4:26 pm

Cat Battles

Post by Fred21gps »

1 year ago my sister & I moved in together. I brought 5 cats, she brought 2. She only allows her cats in her room (none are allowed in mine). She has an automatic door for her cats to be able to enter her room (mine aren’t chipped for it). Lately my cats sit outside her door & torment her cats as they try to enter or exit. They are also more frequently attacking her cats when they are in the common area. I’m of the mindset to leave them alone & they will figure it out. She loses it, screams, yells and has now resorted to crying as she feels they are being held hostage in her room. Any advice?
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Ruth B
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Joined: Wed Jun 15, 2016 11:31 am
No. of cats in household: 3
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: Cat Battles

Post by Ruth B »

It sounds like your cats have worked out they can bully and control your sisters cats, as well as counting all the house as their territory and your sister's cats as invaders to be driven out. Leaving them to sort it out will only lead to more problems, not only for your cats, but for you and your sister as well. It might also end up leading to some steep vets bills if the attacks continue.

I can only suggest going back to first principles as far as introductions are concerned. if possible confine to both sets of cats to separate areas of the house, that is assuming all of your 5 get on, if they don't then you might need to think about separating them further. Then slowly introduce them to the rest of the house a little at a time so they get used to the scent and sound of the other cats, and make sure that you give them something to enjoy when near anything that smells of the other cats, feeding them either side of a door is a common trick, but treats, and play can help as well. You need to make sure that all the cats feel they own the whole area they are allowed in as well as having safe places to retreat to. I would also suggest if your cats are all confined to ground level, trying to add more vertical surfaces for them, cat trees and shelves they can walk along or snooze on. You need to give them ways to move around the rooms with out having to come into contact with another cat.

In a way the cat flap into your sisters room is its own problem as it is an obvious area they can guard with no alternative route they can use. If you were both willing to open up your bedrooms to all the cats it might improve things, particularly if you could then add higher routes in and out of the room that would make it far harder for a cat to guard the entrance.

I will also add you need to make sure you have plenty of litter trays, food bowls and water bowls around so that none of them can become something worth guarding. For 7 cats the ideal number of litter trays is 8 (1 per cat +1) in numerous different locations, I can understand this may not be possible, but it gives you something to aim towards. Seven cats in one household is a lot to try and accommodate, and you might have to be willing to make sacrifices to catify your house enough for them to all live in harmony.
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