I have 3 cats. A Cranky Siamese called Tina and two brothers - Minou and Willy. They were all adopted. Tina came first, and then came the little ones. They used to be sweet to each other, usually even sleeping together. Now Minou moans and sometimes even hisses at Willy! She is BOSSY. And now Willy decided that pissing at our stuff is indeed a great idea. He pisses at clothes, bags, shoes… anything that might have got in contact with another cat, it seems. Is there something we can do to at least avoid those showers? They are all neutered, by the way.
Talk to your veterinarian. There are medications that help with feline anxiety, including a prescription diet that I’ve read positive things about.
Irritability and peeing everywhere could mean your car has a UTI, get to a vet.
Watch My Cat From Hell. Seriously. After a few episodes you will start to realize that cats are relatively simple creatures. Their behavior is largely informed by their environment and they do not deal well with stress (and stress kinda easily). Manipulating the environment will almost always resolve the cat’s bad behavior.
In particular cats are territorial and need to have “safe spaces” they feel are their own. From watching the show it seems these are common ways to sort out multiple cat problems:
-
Feed them in separate areas. Make sure each has access to its own bowl without any interference from other cats.
-
Each should have their own litter box. I forget his rule…something like Number of Cats + 1 litter box. Not sure though.
-
Give them ALL enough room to call their own. Verticality seems to be a big thing for them (places where they can get high up). Have enough such spaces for all the cats to do this.
-
Play with them. Both individually and together. Keep them socialized.
I am no expert. Watch the show though. A few episodes will give you some insights probably and is a simple first step. If problems continue consider taking the cats to the vet for a full check-up to see if there are medical problems and ask them for advice.
This episode might help: - YouTube
Whack-a-Mole beat me to it. He’s right about the litter boxes. The standard rule is “one for each cat, and then one more”.
Sudden changes in behavior, are usually triggered by some change in the environment, or in their health. It could be they’re being bullied (or just feel threatened by) a neighbor cat. It could be one is ill and cranky and that’s making the others act out, as well.
So, to solve it, get them all checked by the vet. If there aren’t any health issues, look for things that have changed in their environment.
Is there a cat or other animal intruding on their territory (even just walking across the yard or in front of the windows)? To find this culprit, inspect areas they used to enjoy but now avoid, or where they tend to act out the most. It could be a neighbor’s dog barking at the cats every time they go outside (or when it just sees them). It could be somebody walking their dog along the sidewalk that goes crazy when it sees the cats in the window. To solve these, add deterrents to keep other animals out of the yard. For creatures outside the yard, put curtains/blinds over the windows where they can see the animals.
All this is stuff that’s covered in various episodes of “My cat from hell”.
YES. There is a gray cat from the neighbour who is not neutered and is a bully. He is actually very gentle with us, but he is a bit territorial. Funny thing is that we had a few months ago another cat coming over and he was actually friends with our cats. Crazy animals…
Moderator Action
This is more of an advice question than a factual question.
Moving thread from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion.
Are they strictly indoor? Because wouldn’t that make nearly anyone neurotic and crazy?
We have four cats and they are all indoor cats. Only one of them is neurotic and crazy and I think she would be neurotic and crazy even if she was an outdoor cat. We’ve nicknamed her Psycho Kitty.
Two of the cats are brothers from the same litter. When we first got them as kittens, Psycho Kitty would smack them on the head every time they all came into the kitchen for dinner. The brothers ended up growing up to be big cats and are now bigger than Psycho Kitty. So now every day at dinner, one of the brothers smacks Psycho Kitty on the head. In a way I feel sorry for her, but then she did start it.
Other than the daily dinner time head whaps and the associated hissing, the cats mostly all get along. There are very few hissing matches and there’s no whizzing anywhere except in the litter boxes.
Being indoor cats won’t cause the OP’s problems.
So, by your own report, 25% of your sample is psycho, 75% regularly inflict/have inflicted unprovoked violence upon other group members, and 75% have regularly been targeted victims of violence, but because everyone pees in the right place, all is well?
You “think” that the cat would be neurotic and crazy anyway, not that being forced to share a cell block has had any effect? Thoughts are not facts. Your cats sound like they are playing out a prison drama. Outdoors, cats have infinite places to avoid each other. Imagine being sealed in your home with your childhood bully. Cats are thinking, feeling creatures, and to imagine that they are not negatively affected by imprisonment is nuts. Although you personally come and go of your own free will and harbor this opinion, I don’t think it would be fair to count you as a control group for purposes of comparison.
Feliwaysprays and diffusers can help calm down kitties. It reduces the hissies in my house.
Lots of playtime and attention to each cat also does wonders. Find them toys that engage them – mine are big fans of “the birdie” and its mylar alternate toy.
Working off energy is pretty important, as is each cat getting attention .
The urinating inappropriately is almost always a) a health issues, b) a litter box issue.
That’s a statistically correct but bizarrely biased and exaggerated way to put it, but yes.
There’s a lot more to it than just everyone whizzing in the appropriate box, though. All four cats are active and healthy. And despite your melodrama of them living a harsh prison-like existence that is taking its toll on their psyche, they are instead very happy and playful. For a bunch of depressed, violent prison inmates they sure have a heck of a lot of fun.
Psycho Kitty is just weird. She always has been. It’s just her personality.
A quick 5 second dominance display at dinner (where no one actually gets hurt) is nowhere near the equivalent of a household filled with horrific and constant bullying. You are aware that outdoor cats get into territorial fights that are far more violent than this, aren’t you?
I have cats. My neighbors have cats. Some of my friends have cats. I have never, ever, witnessed cats behaving in the poor manner as described by the OP due simply to them being indoor cats. You are going to have a very difficult time convincing me that this is even possible. The only time I have seen confinement be an issue is in veterinary settings and animal rescue pens where the animals are much more confined than they are in a household setting.
Bolding mine.
How can you - or anyone - possibly know this?
And why must it be the only factor to matter? Some people handle confinement well, others become neurotic and crazy, probably due to other contributing factors. Why would cats be any different?