Why is my kitten attacking my older cat? How to stop cat fights?

When you have that many cats, you are bound to have conflict at some point. They may single him out due to his age or size. Separate him for a week or two, then gradually reintroduce him. First, allow the others to hear and smell him but not see him. Progress to sight but without physical contact. Before a physical introduction, place him in a closed carrier in the room with the other cats. Once they have accepted him, you can try a supervised physical introduction. Provide an adequate number of litter boxes (typically one per cat plus an extra). An adequate number of bowls, beds and toys should also be provided to prevent resource protection. A pheromone product, such as Feliway spray or plug in diffusers, may decrease any anxiety in the home.

Poor cats! It's possible there is stress being caused over dispute of territory, especially if you have quite a few cats in a small home or apartment. A good first step is making sure each cat has their own access to food, water, litter, and perches they can get away from each other so that the cats can establish their areas without having to compete for resources. A good second step is to add in a pheromone collar or diffuser, which can help reduce inter-cat aggression and make things less stressful. In some cases, a younger cat may bully an older cat if there is an underlying health problem going on. A vet visit to rule out any pain or illness that could be making Mr. Winkle the target of this attention may help reduce the problem as well. If the changes to the home don't help, speaking with a veterinary behaviorist in your area may also be a good option: https://www.dacvb.org/page/about

Cats can behave like this after any separation (even just as short as a trip to the vet). Generally this behavior will calm down. For now, separate food, water and litter box so that there is not competition. Also try a pheromone diffuser in the house to see if this helps to calm them down. Separate them if things become too aggressive and then reintroduce once they have calmed down. Best of luck with Lucy.

It is possible that Piçole is exhibiting signs of stress in her home environment, but there are many things that you can do to help alleviate stress and help her feel better. Start by having her seen by your veterinarian to help rule out medical causes for her behaviour. If no medical issues are noted, you may need to try some adjustments so you can help keep your home a fun and comfortable place for Piçole. Cats need at least one litterbox per cat plus one extra to help reduce stress associated with the litterbox. They should be placed in separate rooms, away from the food and water bowls, must be scooped at least daily (preferably multiple times a day)and washed out at least weekly with a mild soap, followed by thorough rinsing. Cats need a lot of space to explore, but keeping them indoors is much safer than letting them outside, due to the risk of injury from cars, wildlife, other animals, etc. The key is providing space (particularly vertical space for climbing, such as cat trees, ledges, and the like) inside the home. Visit http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=T&C=33&S=2 , healthcareforpets.com and https://indoorpet.osu.edu// for tips on stress reduction. Also look into Feliway, a synthetic pheromone that is available in a diffuser and spray form that promotes calm feelings in cats http://www.feliway.com , and Feliway Friends, a pheromone that helps cats get along with each other. I definitely recommend talking to your vet about having the boys neutered, as this can help prevent and/ or reduce many behavioural issues.

Moving can be very stressful on any species. Cats will sometimes display signs of mis-directed aggression when they are stressed. I would recommend getting Feliway pheromones started asap. These come as plug in diffusers or even collars if the cats will tolerate them. They release calming hormones into the air that people won't smell, but do help relax agitate pets. Give the cats a safe place to retreat to - a room or hideout where they can get away from each other, the dog and people. If possible try to have items from their last home there (a bed or toys). Try to feed the same food, switching it over gradually. I would recommend having several litter boxes in different areas of the house while they are acclimating. If the fights are serious enough you may need to separate the cats into separate areas of the house and gradually reintroduce them to each other. If the behaviours continue or worsen, I would recommend consulting with their veterinarian. There are medications that can help in conjunction with training to decrease behavior problems. The following website has some great information about cat behavior by one of best behavior veterinarians there ever was. You may want to search for articles on aggression and anxiety in cats for some more ideas. https://drsophiayin.com/resources/cat_behavior/

There are some things you can do which may help. You will need to take these actions towards both cats. First, try to meet the instinctual needs. Here is a great article about cat's instinctual needs: https://www.petcoach.co/article/why-every-cat-needs-a-place-to-climb/ Make sure to have separate litter boxes and food/water stations to decrease competition. These separate stations need to be in different rooms. Using a Feliway diffuser, setting aside 30 minutes a day for vigorous play for both cats or switching the food to Royal Canin Calm may help. The veterinarian can also prescribe medications which can help with stress management. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

First, make sure your older cat has places she can hide and get away from the kitten. High perches, a tunnel, a cat tower, make sure that there are plenty of places for both of the to scratch, climb and hide without interfering with the other. And makes sure you play with the kitten a lot, both to tire him out and give your older can some breathing room. A kitten's life is all about play, and play is all about prey. Every race down the hallway, every pounce from behind a door, every swat and nip is a display of a kitten's hunting skills, instincts that are just as strong in today’s housecat as they were in her ancestors thousands of years ago. To a kitten, everything in the house is potential prey, including you. A kitten's first playmates are his mother and littermates, and from them he learns how to inhibit his bite. A kitten separated from his family too soon may not have learned that lesson and doesn't know when to stop. Also, if people use their hands and/or feet instead of toys to play, the kitten may learn that rough play is okay. In most cases, it's not too difficult to teach your kitten or young adult cat that rough play isn't acceptable. Don't let your kitten play with your hands or feet (or any other body part). Use a toy when playing with him. Drag a toy, preferably a fishing pole-type toy that keeps your hands from kitty’s mouth and claws, along the floor to encourage your kitten to pounce on it, or throw a toy for him to chase. Some kittens will even bring the toy back to be thrown again. Give your kitten something to wrestle with, like a soft stuffed animal about his size, so he can grab it, bite it, and kick it with his back feet. This is one of the ways kittens play with each other, especially when they're young. It's also one of the ways they try to play with human feet and hands, so it's important to provide this type of alternative play target. Encourage play with a "wrestling toy" by rubbing it against your kitten's belly when he wants to play roughly—and be sure to get your hand out of the way as soon as he accepts the toy. Don't hit or yell at your kitten when she nips or pounces. This will only make her fearful of you and she may start to avoid you. The idea is to train her, not punish her. Equip yourself with the right training tools: toys, toys, toys, and a water pistol.