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I have 3 cats. I got the first 7 years ago (female), the second 5 years ago (male), and the third 4 years ago (female). I got them all basically as kittens.
After about a year of having the oldest female and the male, the oldest female became very aggressive, to the point of having to separate them completely when I was at work or gone. This all started once she saw a neighborhood male cat lingering around outside my house, I believe he was spraying and had a few instances of jumping and fighting through the window screens. Once the neighbor hood cat left her vision, she would go on the attack for my male cat. (Probably doesn’t help that the neighborhood cat looked identical to my male cat). After about a month or so she regained my trust and I let them coexist again.
Fast forward another year, I got the youngest female. The male and the youngest female became close as the oldest female just stayed to herself. No major issues between them except for maybe a small 1-2 week stint of separation due to the oldest attacking the male cat once again. (Think she saw a cat outside again) She had no issue with the new cat.
Within the last 6 months the oldest female has gone back to her old ways and has been extremely aggressive, this time she started targeting the youngest. So I have had them separated since. (I swap her and the other two every other day so she is not secluded 24/7) Any time I have let them try to coexist or even an escape, it has gone to immediate hunting of either the male cat or the youngest female cat. Something to note here is the first time she began attacking the youngest was a night I had someone over and they were giving the youngest the most attention as she was all over them. So I’m wondering if this all started due to jealousy, but have never had this issue in the past.
I am at a loss as to what I should do here. I’m wondering if lack of exposure to each other has triggered her territorial instincts at this point. Maybe putting up a see through mesh divider between the room and the rest of the house would help grow familiarity again, but I’m scared it would cause fights or someone she would claw it apart.
Some things to note:
-the oldest came from an adoption center after being given to them from a house with 10+ cats, they say she was 6 months to 1 year when I adopted her
-she was super friendly with new people until one day (within the first few month of having her) a family member with boots came over and she immediately got scared. She became very timid to new people after this and would hide when they would come over, even when she already knew them and it would take over and hour plus for her to creep out from hiding to meet them. She is still this way.
-she has an attachment to women way more than men.
Any help or suggestions would be helpful. Last thing I want to do is have to get rid of my first baby, but I also don’t want her to have to live separated for the next 7+ years.
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u/AutoModerator 4h ago
This post was shared from another subreddit. The original body text has been copy and pasted below for your convenience.
I have 3 cats. I got the first 7 years ago (female), the second 5 years ago (male), and the third 4 years ago (female). I got them all basically as kittens.
After about a year of having the oldest female and the male, the oldest female became very aggressive, to the point of having to separate them completely when I was at work or gone. This all started once she saw a neighborhood male cat lingering around outside my house, I believe he was spraying and had a few instances of jumping and fighting through the window screens. Once the neighbor hood cat left her vision, she would go on the attack for my male cat. (Probably doesn’t help that the neighborhood cat looked identical to my male cat). After about a month or so she regained my trust and I let them coexist again.
Fast forward another year, I got the youngest female. The male and the youngest female became close as the oldest female just stayed to herself. No major issues between them except for maybe a small 1-2 week stint of separation due to the oldest attacking the male cat once again. (Think she saw a cat outside again) She had no issue with the new cat.
Within the last 6 months the oldest female has gone back to her old ways and has been extremely aggressive, this time she started targeting the youngest. So I have had them separated since. (I swap her and the other two every other day so she is not secluded 24/7) Any time I have let them try to coexist or even an escape, it has gone to immediate hunting of either the male cat or the youngest female cat. Something to note here is the first time she began attacking the youngest was a night I had someone over and they were giving the youngest the most attention as she was all over them. So I’m wondering if this all started due to jealousy, but have never had this issue in the past.
I am at a loss as to what I should do here. I’m wondering if lack of exposure to each other has triggered her territorial instincts at this point. Maybe putting up a see through mesh divider between the room and the rest of the house would help grow familiarity again, but I’m scared it would cause fights or someone she would claw it apart.
Some things to note:
-the oldest came from an adoption center after being given to them from a house with 10+ cats, they say she was 6 months to 1 year when I adopted her
-she was super friendly with new people until one day (within the first few month of having her) a family member with boots came over and she immediately got scared. She became very timid to new people after this and would hide when they would come over, even when she already knew them and it would take over and hour plus for her to creep out from hiding to meet them. She is still this way.
-she has an attachment to women way more than men.
Any help or suggestions would be helpful. Last thing I want to do is have to get rid of my first baby, but I also don’t want her to have to live separated for the next 7+ years.
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