My wife and I have four indoor cats that fight with each other or pick on each other constantly. We cannot let them outside, as we have a neighbor that will kill them as soon as he sees them out by themselves. The authorities here will do nothing, even though some of our kitties have been shot, poisoned, or run down near our home. So, out of thirteen, we have four left.
Only two of the deceased kitties died natural deaths. They were both eighteen and died within two months of each other. What can we do to keep our babies from attacking each other?
By VIETVET
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
Indoor kitties need a variety of things to do. Ours have several spots set up for napping, a couple of areas where they can sit and look outside, a good scratching post in a prominent place, lots of toys (no catnip, one of the boys becomes too aggressive when exposed), and a fold-up play tent that is used for hiding or pouting. Above all, they get lots of attention and affection, and whenever two are vying for our attention we pet both at once to ease the jealousy. We still have the occasional tiff but overall they get along well.
What beautiful kitties! The Animal Planet channel has a new show titled "the cat from he*l". It is worth watching because it deals with bad behavior in indoor cats. Most bad behavior comes from territorial issues or boredom. The cure seems to be the same for both behaviors. The territorial problem is solved by changes to the house that allow cats to be up above the action. Arrange the room so they can get to window sills, curtain valences, tops of tall furniture, and cat trees. This and toys seems to solve the problem almost always. Several folks have put shelves on the wall with brackets so the cats can be up, or get to higher places.
Do you mean you had thirteen Cat's at the same time in a confined space? This can cause as many problems as keeping the same number of Dog's under the same conditions.
Here are my suggestions:
Ironing boards with pillows on them all around the house, and tie them up where they won't fall over.
Get lots of different food bowls and don't make them eat next to one another, that will cause fights.
Get an entertainent center from freecycle.org and put cushions on it and make a cat area. Make lots of hidey holes where they can hide, boxes do great for this.
The main thing to all of this is making them each feel they have a place to go to that is theirs alone.
I have a few cats that have moved into a laundry basket that is filled with storage things and I keep a few clothes on there for them.
You can also buy little cat or dog beds and place them around the house on chairs you get off of freecycle.org or at garage sales. THe idea is to be high when you are a cat. Higher up is less threatening.
Blessings,
Robyn
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
