margin–it’s not the smell that bothers Buttercup…it’s the sight of Rumpleteazer. I will pet Rumple and have her headbutt me and smear (invisible to me) her scent all over me and then go play with Buttercup who will pay no attention to the smell. But if she SEES Rumple, we have a Battle Royale going on under the bed or behind the toilet or whatever.
IDBB
So, this will bring out the anti declawing folk in droves, but a friend of mine had a similar situation where one cat was beating the crap out of a new cat brought into the household. She had them both declawed (not because of that) and very soon after the conflict stopped. I guess the bully cat decided it wasn’t any fun if she couldn’t just get a quick swipe in and beat up on the smaller one, so she didn’t bother. They still wrestle around, but there isn’t nearly the injury there used to be, and the smaller cat stopped being afraid of her.
Zette—I am one of those who normally are totally anti-declaw BUT in this situation, if we can get them to work their differences out and live together again, they will get declawed. And even if there are no claws, Buttercup could STILL beat the crap outta Rumpleteazer simply by sitting on her because (despite efforts to make her lose weight) she weighs about 3X what Rumple weighs.
IDBB
Another possibility…
My cousin had one cat, Calvin, who, as he got older, decided he didn’t like the other cats in the house OR my cousin and her husband. He took to beating up the other cats, destroying the furniture, biting his people, and terrorizing the puppy.
In total frustration, my cousin gave him to a friend who was willing to take Calvin on. Calvin wasn’t particularly happy there, either, but he settled down.
Eventually, the friend gave Calvin back to my cousin, and he’s been an angel since.
Do you have someone who could take one or the other for a few months? It’s worth a try if you do.
I have two kittens, and I can’t imagine what I’d do if they didn’t get along. I really hope you don’t have to give one away entirely. 
And, though I’m anti-declawing, I think if it comes down to a choice between sending a cat away from the only home she’s ever known and declawing, I’d probably declaw.
Good luck and best wishes.
Q.N.–the only other people I would trust with my kitties are my husband’s parents, but seeing as they already have two very spoiled cats of their own, I’m not even sure either of mine would fit well into their household. Both of my MIL’s cats are very high strung, prima donna Persian/Himalayans ( I’ve looked at pictures of both breeds and HONESTLY cannot see a diff other than color) who start losing clumps of hair if you change their food dish, so I know this would stress them to the point of oh I don’t know…pretend kitty suicide or something.
I’ll figure something out. I just have to remember whatever happens may not be what I want, but it will be the best thing for all parties involved.
IDBB
I read an article about something like this, where the indoor cat was freaked out by some cats fighting outside and attacked her owner. There was a very logical plan in response to get the cat back to “normal”, and of course I’ve forgotten it. Let me go see if I can dig it up, andif I can, I’ll post it here. As a cat lover myself, I’d hate to see you have to give up either one.
Jess
Well, this isn’t exactly what I was looking for, but it does suit the subject pretty well… it’s a fairly common problem, especially with indoor cats. Hope this helps:
http://www.drpetra.com/Cats/Aggression%20&%20Redirection.htm
Jess
jess–thank you for the article. Re-training them to tolerate each other via exposing them to each other in crates was exactly what our vet suggested too! CG is supposed to bring home another crate tonight and we’ll see what happens.
The article also brings up an interesting thing I’d never thought of before, which is the use of harness and leash to control the cat while re-introducing it to the other cat. I’d never thought of that but it is worth trying I think. It might help in 2 ways…not only to control the two cats for the moment, but teach Rumple to behave on a leash so I can take her out in the backyard (because if she sees me laying on the deck she goes nuts and wants out anyway).
Thank you for the link, Jess. 
IDBB
I’d try a harness and I’d also consider aversion therapy. Have you thought of spraying the attacking cat with water every single time they start in on the other cat?
We went through a couple of weeks of Jim and Bob fighting after Jim came back from the vet. Jim had had serious surgery so I was eversothrilled with Bob jumping him every time Jim moved. Given time, they did settle.
Are the cats bored?
So glad to help, IDBB. I hate to see anyone have to give up their cat if they don’t have to (and clearly don’t want to!)
Jess
Hell, given my problems with animals over the past three months, I would let them combat until things settle down.
I brought in two adopted 8 year old boys into a home with my 16 year old cat and my 13 year old dog. The moment I brought them into the house, I let them wander. I did put the dog outside for a few hours so they could get used to their new surroundings, and they did fine.
Cats have a social oder much like wolves do. Not as extreme but they do. Sometimes upsetting that social order can cause kaos (sp) but in my opinion (having cats all my life) if you don’t let them work it out on their own terms you will have to give up one of the cats. It may be bloody and unpleasant for a week or so but they will work it out just like children work out their own problems.
But that’s just my own experience as I haven’t seen your cats in action.
BTW, they do have “soft paws” that will cover their claws, I know they have them for dogs, just not sure for cats since their claws retract.
Well, last night CG came home with a dual-door crate (top and front loading) and placed one cat in each carrier. The carriers were then set probably 15 feet or so away from each other, with each cat facing the other. There was some scuffling and yowling and I knew that was going to happen, but I totally ignored them once they were in their crates. After an hour or so, when they’d calmed down, I moved the crates to within 8 ft of each other and let them yowl and whatever. Within 15 minutes, they’d stopped yowling and what not so I moved them within 5 ft of each other and they got agitated slightly, but calmed down fairly quickly it seemed like, especially since they’d seemed to figure out I wasn’t going to give either one of them any attention at all.
I think that this going to work, hopefully, and I’ll keep what you said about aversion therapy (squirting the offender in the face), Primaflora.
techchick–they do make ‘soft paws’ little rubber/plastic (???) nail cover thingies for cats too (it makes it hard for them to retract their claws IIRC).
IDBB
Cats do not have a social order anything like wolves. Wolves are packanimals. They (wolves) absolutely have to cooperate in order to survive and they have very structured “roles”. Cats on the other hand are solitary, they don’t need another cat to survive. In feral cat colonies, their main goal is to avoid conflict, not to get along, or cooperate and they don’t have “roles” in the “community”, they share space, that is all. Time share, if you will.
While it may be more accurate to try and draw a comparision between cats and wolves (rather than dogs), they are nothing alike and you can’t use one’s social order to “reason” out the other’s behaviour.
The absolute worst thing to do would be to just let them fight it out. A very slow (and possibly long) reintroduction sounds like the best course of action here. And yes, a trained behaviourist might say that the situation is beyond repair by now and suggest rehoming one cat, but there are things they could suggest to try first. I still suggest you call one and at least ask if they’d give you a (free) phone consultation. They might say yes, and you’d be no worse off if they said no.
Mauvaise,
Yes they do have a social order. Yes, wolves are pack animals but cats do hve social understandings. Unfortunately, IDBB has seen that social order go kerblonkers.
I have been around cats all my life and usually two or three cats at a time. There is a definate social order when it comes to them.
For example, my Niki (who I lost in May) was the princess of the house. She made it her life to be the princess of the house.
Yes, the social order is different than dogs or wolves so my analogy was off but they definately have a social order. Niki, for example ran the house and when Sam was alive, he did as she expected.
Anyhow, rather than getting into a squabble over social order, it is possible to retrain cats that have had a disruption in their lives.
Cats usually have a hierarchy-in our house, the oldest Noel happens to be the one at the top, but second is Gypsy, even though Misty is older and was around before her. Then Misty, Buffy and Piper are on the bottom-because they don’t have dominant personalities.
Oh, and good luck, IDBB!!!
Wow, IDBB, I wish you the best of luck with your cats.
I’d sure hate to give any of our three little pigdogs (yes, they are cats, but still) up for adoption.
There’s at least some anecdotal evidence to gainsay that blanket assertion, tho I do believe it’s true most of the time. And that’s not the point of this thread anyway, so I’ll shut up now.
IDBB I do hope that the two-carrier re-intro works.
I’ve seen the social order go kerplonkers not once but TWICE in three years now. When Precious (who was our alpha cat by virtue of being the biggest and meanest) was put to sleep, Rumpleteazer had to figure out what being alphacat meant, since she’d always been second-banana to Precious. She is usually the alpha cat and keeps her position by giving Buttercup a swat on the ass when she gets outta line. I think this whole thing made think Buttercup realize for the first time in her short life that she could be dominant over Rumpleteazer and she wants to try and enforce that dominence by fighting with her every time she gets near her.
That being said…I think when they finally are able to tolerate each other again (which seems to be getting nearer and nearer, based on last night’s fairly positive results) there will be a changing of the guards and we’ll have a new resident alpha kitty.
IDBB
Cats have a social order, but it is very complicated. Jim’s cat (Max)is mostly dominant in our house, by virtue of not caring about what my cat does. My cat (Feather) is dominant in my room, when I’m in there with her. Jim’s cat barely comes into my room; she knows it’s Feather’s domain. Feather will give up dominance to Max in almost all situations except when there’s tuna on the line; then she becomes the dominant one. They have very complicated lives, cats do.
featherlou–I agree. Rumpleteazer has always been CG’s cat and only tolerates me because I happen to be married to the guy. She hates for me to pet her or even feed her unless there’s no other choice. SHe only comes to snuggle with me if CG isn’t home and if I"m laying in the right place in the correct manner.
Cats are extremely complicated little boogers. That’s why I love em!
IDBB