sumbride
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2006
- Messages
- 3,867
I know a few PSers have had a cat behaviorist help with their situations, and I think I might need one, but logistically can''t bring one in because the problem cat is afraid of new people and would completely hide and waste a visit. Maybe I should videotape?
Here''s the issue...
Bill was a stray. He lived in a storm drain with a few other cats before we rescued him. He always seemed bored when he lived alone with my now DH. He played a lot but would also talk to his friends outside, the cats that wouldn''t let us touch them, so we thought maybe he wanted to live with other cats. When we moved in together, I brought my two cats into the mix, Max and Lucy. They were very bonded to each other, but Max was cool with Bill and they often played together. There was still some growling and hissing a year into it, but Max just really didn''t care. Lucy and Bill have NEVER gotten along. Lucy wouldn''t come downstairs for the first six months. We put her on prozac. She chilled out. She didn''t like Bill but she was better at ignoring him. He stalked her, but was busy playing with Max most of the time.
Max died last year and a few months later, after pure warfare between Bill and Lucy wouldn''t let up, we adopted Jack. He was about 4 months old at the time and came in with a similar "don''t care" attitude as Max. He and Lucy bonded pretty quickly and he''s ok with Bill, though Bill picks on him more than he did with Max. He stalks him some, smacks him around for what looks like no reason (to us). Just starts fights and growls and such. Jack doesn''t care. We took Lucy off prozac because she stopped letting us give it to her (in a pill pocket). I confess I didn''t try all that hard to find something else that would work because she''s basically stayed the same off of it, except her fear of Bill is coming back slowly, and I think it''s because he''s picking on her a lot more than before. He will just smack her senseless, corner her, growl and hiss... she''s afraid of him.
So I don''t really know what to do. It''s becoming rather intolerable and I''m not sure the best way to handle it. Bill just likes to "start things", and he frequently does it when he''s been disciplined for doing something he wasn''t supposed to (like getting on the table) or when he''s been brought back inside after a few moments on the patio. It''s like he gets mad and takes it out on them. One thing I''ve definitely noticed is that even though I may spend 10 minutes petting him, if I pet one of the others, even for a minute, he will snap at them. So I feel sometimes like it''s my fault or he''s jealous, but I don''t know if those are animal behaviors.
I''m sorry this is so long... thanks for reading. Any ideas?
Here''s the issue...
Bill was a stray. He lived in a storm drain with a few other cats before we rescued him. He always seemed bored when he lived alone with my now DH. He played a lot but would also talk to his friends outside, the cats that wouldn''t let us touch them, so we thought maybe he wanted to live with other cats. When we moved in together, I brought my two cats into the mix, Max and Lucy. They were very bonded to each other, but Max was cool with Bill and they often played together. There was still some growling and hissing a year into it, but Max just really didn''t care. Lucy and Bill have NEVER gotten along. Lucy wouldn''t come downstairs for the first six months. We put her on prozac. She chilled out. She didn''t like Bill but she was better at ignoring him. He stalked her, but was busy playing with Max most of the time.
Max died last year and a few months later, after pure warfare between Bill and Lucy wouldn''t let up, we adopted Jack. He was about 4 months old at the time and came in with a similar "don''t care" attitude as Max. He and Lucy bonded pretty quickly and he''s ok with Bill, though Bill picks on him more than he did with Max. He stalks him some, smacks him around for what looks like no reason (to us). Just starts fights and growls and such. Jack doesn''t care. We took Lucy off prozac because she stopped letting us give it to her (in a pill pocket). I confess I didn''t try all that hard to find something else that would work because she''s basically stayed the same off of it, except her fear of Bill is coming back slowly, and I think it''s because he''s picking on her a lot more than before. He will just smack her senseless, corner her, growl and hiss... she''s afraid of him.
So I don''t really know what to do. It''s becoming rather intolerable and I''m not sure the best way to handle it. Bill just likes to "start things", and he frequently does it when he''s been disciplined for doing something he wasn''t supposed to (like getting on the table) or when he''s been brought back inside after a few moments on the patio. It''s like he gets mad and takes it out on them. One thing I''ve definitely noticed is that even though I may spend 10 minutes petting him, if I pet one of the others, even for a minute, he will snap at them. So I feel sometimes like it''s my fault or he''s jealous, but I don''t know if those are animal behaviors.
I''m sorry this is so long... thanks for reading. Any ideas?