Will a male cat solve my females' problems

[Kitten78]

Ok peeps I need some advice pls. I have 3 female cats at the mo:7yr old, 8yr old and a 12 yr old.
None of them get on. They don't fight, jus hiss at each other sometimes. Last year I lost my 11 yr old Tom and since then there has been 2 young female cats that are in our garden every day and when they get chance they harass my girls. My two eldest girls have in the last few months been washing their tummies too much and are going slight bald. There's no sores or redness and I've checked all 3 of them for fleas and they are all clear so I'm guessing it's stress.
We have thought about getting another boy prob 2-3 yrs old with a calm personality to sort out the issue but obviously we dont want them even more stressed.
Can anyone give me some advice pls.

[Lilith]

Hi there, sorry to hear about your cats' problems. They sound very stressed and personally I wouldn't introduce another cat into the house at the moment as this could well add to the stress. I don't think the presence of a male would deter the visiting bullies as he would be 'new cat' and a stranger to the territory and fair game too; they're clearly determined to take over your cats' garden as their own.

However, I would do all I could to keep these little madams out of the garden!

A while back I was forced to install a cat deterrent because of lazy neighbours' cats fouling big time in my yard. I'm amazed at how well this works, and it's easy to switch on and off for when my cats are using their garden.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/STV-STV610-Mega ... ultrasonic" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You need 2 alkaline 9v batteries (which don't come with the device) but you could probably get those from amazon too and get your free delivery.

I can definitely recommend this; hopefully if it's kept turned on turned on while your cats are indoors, the visitors ought to get the message and get out of the habit of using your garden. You might need to supervise them while they're out for a while but once the garden becomes off-limits and the bullies go elsewhere it could be a way of giving your cats their territory and confidence back. Then if you're considering adding another cat, you could think about the new lad.

I identify with you btw - I have 3 girls and 18 months ago we lost our old tomcat Finn, and the place just isn't the same without him. I keep saying there's 'room for a stray' (Finny was) and one day he'll turn up.

There may be people on here who can suggest other solutions and I do hope that things work out for your girls and that the situation calms down. Good luck

[Kitten78]

Lilith, thank you very much for your reply.
There's def a lot to think about.
I will look into your suggestion and see how do able it is. Thanks again.

[Cussypat1974]

If the cats are ðesexed, the sex doesn't matter. Adding a new cat would more than likely make things far worse.

I recommend the books by Vicky halls. She is a feline behaviourist and her books deal with this sort of issue, as it is common. She also has a website you can look at for free.

Basically, your cats are very unahappy with something. So unhappy they are self-harming. This is very serious, but it can be resolved, and sometimes by a very minor change. It seems likely that it is due to the appearance of the other two cats. But your Tom would not have kept them away.

If you know the people who have the 2 female visitors, maybe you could talk to them and arrange a timeshare of outdoor time?

I have a huge colony, and occasionally they have minor scraps. But of a strange cat arrives and is not introduced properly by myself, then holy hell ensues. I never have to deal with the stress issues as my gang bond together and are like a force field against intruders. Having said that, Big Mick has be ome an established colony member through sheer persistence!

[Kitten78]

Thank you cussypat1974.
I am now reading her website for more info.
X

[Cussypat1974]

Great. It can be a very real problem and my friend is having similar trouble at the moment with her little rescued female being bullied.

It is all down to the way we keep cats really, we have our boundaries, but theirs are very different!

[Crewella]

I do agree with the others that adding a new cat to the mix could well make things worse and not better.

A few years ago we used to have a local 'bully' cat that would come into our garden and beat up our cats. I used to lie in wait for him and squirt him with the hose, and I also used to hiss at him and chase him out if I saw him. That did make him warier of coming near the house, but he didn't stop coming in altogether until one day, out of the blue, my tiny little Spook, the smallest of my gang at the time, suddenly decided she'd had enough and went for him. There was a heck of a kerfuffle and they managed to knock over a stone bird bath in the melee, but he kept out after that!

I've often wondered if she would have gone for him anyway, or if the fact that he started to look warier when he came into our garden gave her the confidence to take him on.

Good luck, I hope you manage to find a solution.

[Cussypat1974]

That's a great story Crewella!

I have noticed that my Touchlamp is FAR more confident lately. He has epilepsy and is a loner. He loves people, but thinks other cats are horrible things. Indie used to bully him at our old house but stopped when we moved to the countryside. Since then, Touchy has taken to standing up for himself, even swatting other cats when they are in his way! Like you, I am not sure if his confidence has grown naturally with age, or I'd it has more to do with the fact that he isn't picked on by Indie anymore. I suspect the latter in his case as he is about 9 now.

Indie has met his match in Mama Puss and especially Anu, who used to live with ferals but was somebody's pet once. She takes nonsense from nobody!