A female attacking another female. Is it possible to stop?

[Olga_Snow]

Hello everyone,

I am new here, and looking for your advice on how to stop one female cat aggression toward another female.
I bought both of them at the same time (about 2,5 months ago) from the same breeder.
One is older F3 melanistic (3 years old) another is younger F2 snow (1 year old). The older one is always looking for a chance to fight with the younger one. It is not severe damage but I do not want to check it out how far will it go ...

For right now the F3 is in a cage in the night and in separate room during day time.
Any suggestions how can I manage it? Is it even possible? They are not spayed (I am planning on breeding). I tried all kinds of pheromones, calming down supplements and sprays (waist of money!)

If I dewclaw the F3 will it help?

I do not want to get rid of F3 since she is a nice cat to people,

Please, help!!!!!!

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

No, declawing will not solve your issue...it may only drive your F3 to use her teeth more.

Has the 3 year old cat had litters already? I've found that once my girls have their first litter they are definitely more difficult and assertive with others. It can make introductions difficult and much more drawn out.

Were these two cats kept together at the breeder's place you bought them from? It sounds like they weren't hence what you really need to do is a full introduction like they came from separate catteries. Being both adults it is going to be a slow process, but also complicated by them being hormonal at times.

Have you bought a stud yet then for your program? You have two cycling females, you really need to be thinking about breeding them sooner than later I think!

 

[Olga_Snow]

Briditte, thank you for your reply.
Yes, the 3 years old had litter before.
The breeder said they were fine together. I was actually thinking that 2 cats will keep a company to each other (silly me , and the breeder said those 2 will be a good match.

I did not bought a stud yet, I am thinking to use a stud service at first.
The 1 years old one just get into heat once and I decided to wait till next heat.

So, as far as I understand there is no way to make them manage with each other?

Thank you

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I didn't say that there was no way, just it will be a long process of introduction... there is no simple immediate way to make two adult cats like each other on the spot.

Have you looked into the possibility of stud service before you purchased two breeding aged females? Maybe the breeder you purchased them from intends to help you out there? I would never sell breeding females to a new breeder without knowing they had a male option or two lined up (I'm a fan of having Plans A, B, C and even D if possible!). You do know that in breeding season, a cat can come into heat every 3 weeks...it's not a once or twice a year thing...

 

[Olga_Snow]

I do have plan A and B for stud (not C yet, sorry

I could start introducing them to each other if I had a plan....
If there is a plan which had worked for someone, I would like to adopt it.
Thanks

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I would imagine there are threads on this forum for introducing a new cat. Mostly the difference with adult cats rather than introducing a kitten is the timing, you most likely need to go slowly. When one step goes badly, you go back a step and try again later... it can take months and the best you might achieve is a wary truce between them.

 

[Patti]

Unfortunately, as Brigitte said sometimes females who have had kittens become more aggressive with others. I would recommend you keep the cats separated for now unless supervised. Try having them play side by side with their own wand toys so that they associate a pleasant experience in each others company. Make sure you have plenty of vertical space for the cats to establish their own territory. Some people have had success using clicker training to integrate cats. Here are a couple of fairly good articles on introducing cats:
http://www.catbehaviorassociates.com/how-to-introduce-a-second-cat/
http://www.petfinder.com/cats/bringing-a-cat-home/cat-to-cat-introductions/

 

[Olga_Snow]

Unfortunately, as Brigitte said sometimes females who have had kittens become more aggressive with others. I would recommend you keep the cats separated for now unless supervised. Try having them play side by side with their own wand toys so that they associate a pleasant experience in each others company. Make sure you have plenty of vertical space for the cats to establish their own territory. Some people have had success using clicker training to integrate cats. Here are a couple of fairly good articles on introducing cats:
http://www.catbehaviorassociates.com/how-to-introduce-a-second-cat/
http://www.petfinder.com/cats/bringing-a-cat-home/cat-to-cat-introductions/

Thank you Patti for the links!
I will try to find info on this site also.
The breeder said this "they will stop fighting as soon as they will have kittens", I am in doubt about this statement...
I think they did not share the the space in breeder`s house.... and I did not know about it. If I knew, I would start with different strategy from day one....
I will let you know in several months if anything will work in my case...
Thanks again

 

[shelby]

I agree with both Brigitte and Patti. One other thought here...sometimes cycling females can agitate another female with her constant rubbing, cooing and constantly following them around. They do not take no for an answer quite often;>) Two cycling females with no male can be a headache due to their frustration. If they were not intact...you might see a big difference..... or maybe not... just a thought;>) If the aggression is seen more during the heat cycles of either...this could very well be a factor in this particular case.

 

[Olga_Snow]

Well, I was planning on breeding my cats only about 2 times a year, how would having a male help the situation? If I buy a male, I would have to keep him separated from females anyway...
I also think that when my older female will get pregnant, she will get more aggressive to a younger one.

I have heard people having neutered male with females to have them feel less frustrated.... does it work?

My older cat aggression toward younger does not increase during heat. I think it is just a wild territorial aggression, she will try to get rid of another female (like in wild- make her leave territory at any cost).

The question now is: should get my own male? If yes, should it be a kitten or an adult ( i mean if adult male will be aggressive too...)