Cats getting along - not!

[chris58]

Hello! We have a 15 year old male cat. Two years ago, my mother had to go into care, so we adopted her female pussy cat. Wasnt that fun and games - not! Anyway, they seemed to come to an understanding but for the last couple of months our male cat has been horrible to the female cat. He lays in front of the cat litter box and wont let her use it and when she goes near it he attacks her. He wont let her go to the food/water bowls and when she does, he attacks her. We have tried everything to get him to be 'friendly' with her, but to no avail. I am so stressed out about it all. As soon as my back is turned, he attacks her and she wont fight back. She is very passive. He seems to be getting more and more aggressive. I am at wits end. Just dont know what to do any more!

[greenkitty]

Have you tried adding more litter trays and bowls? Given his age I'd also get him checked by the vet to rule out any underlying health conditions.

[Crewella]

If you've not read Cat Chat's advice page, it might help:

http://www.catchat.org/hierarchies.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As Greenkitty says, it might help to give her more options so an additional tray or two and plenty of places she can hide and get away from him might help. I agree that it might be worth getting him checked out too.