[auspiciousmind]

*waves*

So... They look really cute here don't they? Like Brother & Sister

WELL DON'T LET THIS PHOTO TRICK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

Romeo has gone from.. A skinny , ill , dirty kitty into a huge, handsome , gorgeous , beautiful..... bully cat!

Most of you will know that I took the introductions really slowly, we had a safe room , did the scent swapping , gradual introductions and for the last month Button & Romeo have had full access to each other and the house.

At first there was a little bit of hissing, growling , ears back , spitting from Button who Romeo wanted to play with.. That virtually disappeared only happening maybe once or twice in a day. Now it seems that Romeo isn't wanting to play he just wants to make Buttons life a living nightmare!

I've tried making loud noises , squirting water (which I know isn't the best thing to do - but I'm willing to try anything), physically breaking them up (to my own peril), Tried putting Romeo in another room to calm down.. he just comes right back out and starts again, Keeping Romeo entertained with toys.. until he's tired out.. Still makes no difference.

It's not happening ALL THE TIME, but it's happening a lot and it's usually early in the morning or late at night.

We stopped Button from going out for a few weeks because of problems with the neighbors (kittens - see previous threads) and due to fireworks night. I've started letting her out for a few hours in the last couple of days because I know she enjoys being out and she gets a bit of a reprieve from Romeo.

and if that wasn't enough... Romeo seems to have gotten a bit..human aggressive? I'm being woken up in the middle of the night with all Romeo's feet around my arm (claws out) biting as hard as he can on my elbow/hand. Last night after we finished eating dinner Romeo jumped on our makeshift table.. lowered his body and starting squaring up to my OH .. he started hissing (the first time we've ever seen him hiss) and spitting then ran away. While my OH's son was here at the weekend.. Romeo crouched down ran and leaped from the floor on to the OH's sons shoulder and started biting him.

There seems to be no trigger for this? And it's not playful biting it really is hard.

I've always made a real point of telling my OH and his son that I don't want him to be played with involving hands - always using toys .. for the most part they've done what I've asked but I can't be 100% sure. I don't see how playing with hands would lead to this anyway :001_unsure:

The only person he isn't attacking (while awake anyway) is me.

Help please !

Oh PS: Romeo had his fluffy poms off on the 1st Nov!!

 

[sharonchilds]

Sorry i dont have any ideas to help
Im having a bit of bother with two of my girls (sisters) Mavis will just attack Jt for no reason lately and they used to be so close!

Romeo is a handsome little fella tho
Good Luck

 

[auspiciousmind]

Sorry your having trouble

We've now sunk to an even new low... Cats aren't fighting AS MUCH but my kitchen smells of ammonia... and the Button is poo'ing on the floor.. and not using the litter tray!!

I've tried cleaning and disinfecting floor but the smell won't go away so my next guess is... somebody is going underneath the kitchen units and wee'ing!

Oh and... somebody... *cough* Romeo *cough* knocked the lid off the bin and pulled the contents all over the floor during the night... :nonod:

 

[lymorelynn]

Oh dear It sound as if Romeo has some serious issues going on
I would hazard a guess that Button isn't using the litter tray because she is scared of Romeo Do you have Feliway plugged in? I really think you need some advice from a behaviourist regarding the aggression towards people. I don't think play would incite the sort of attacks Romeo has made on your OH and his son.

 

[Treaclesmum]

Male cats can still have testosterone in their bodies for a couple of months after neutering, so I expect he will calm down, at least a bit, by around January or February, it does sound a bit like tomcat behaviour, but I'm sure he'll settle down a bit now he's been done xx

 

[chillminx]

AM -- Sorry to hear of these aggression issues with Romeo Especially when it is directed towards your OH and his son Not good at all, and needs addressing urgently before Romeo does one of them some harm.

I echo what Lynn said -- I really think you need to get an animal behaviourist in a.s.a.p. to observe the situation and advise you what to do to change this behaviour.

Personally I would keep Button and Romeo apart meanwhile, for Button's sake. Otherwise she could start developing behavioural problems too, due to anxiety. As you say, she has already started having litter tray issues anyway

I know I have mentioned "diet" to you several times before in my replies and perhaps you think I am going on & on about it, but I really do think it is worth reviewing Romeo's diet. You have mentioned more than once how food obsessed he is, and diet is known to be the cause of aggression in some young cats. There have even been cases on this forum where a kitten's aggressive behaviour has been resolved with a change of diet.

If by chance, Romeo has chronic pain in his gut, this could be making him think he is hungry all the time, hence why he is food obsessed, and could also be putting his temper on a short fuse.

For a start I would take him off all foods than contain cereals, as these are sometimes a dietary intolerance issue for some cats. If you are lucky that may be the answer, but if is not, then it is worth persevering further. I am very happy to help with any advice as I have one of my own cats on an elimination diet atm (he has dermatitis), so I am in the midst of it all.

 

[auspiciousmind]

Thank your for your replies guys:

Oh dear It sound as if Romeo has some serious issues going on
I would hazard a guess that Button isn't using the litter tray because she is scared of Romeo Do you have Feliway plugged in? I really think you need some advice from a behaviourist regarding the aggression towards people. I don't think play would incite the sort of attacks Romeo has made on your OH and his son.

No we don't have a feliway plugged in.. but I am considering buying one.. We had one last year because of some issues with neighbors meant we kept Button in.. But the Feliway in my opinion made her even worse? Or didn't work at all.

I will stress with Button her toileting issues have happened before.. especially when I first moved into the OH's house.. and with "gifts" being brought into the house. It settled down and stopped after a month or so.

It also happened AGAIN when we kept her locked in for 3 months because of the neighbors but settled once she was allowed out.

There both having 2 daily doses of Serene-um now (because it was the only thing I could buy off the shelf from pets at home on the weekend). And that seems to have taken a lot of the edge off from Romeo.

I'm also feeding Button in an upstairs room so she has chance to eat hers before Romeo tries to steal it.

AM -- Sorry to hear of these aggression issues with Romeo Especially when it is directed towards your OH and his son Not good at all, and needs addressing urgently before Romeo does one of them some harm.

I echo what Lynn said -- I really think you need to get an animal behaviourist in a.s.a.p. to observe the situation and advise you what to do to change this behaviour.

Personally I would keep Button and Romeo apart meanwhile, for Button's sake. Otherwise she could start developing behavioural problems too, due to anxiety. As you say, she has already started having litter tray issues anyway

I know I have mentioned "diet" to you several times before in my replies and perhaps you think I am going on & on about it, but I really do think it is worth reviewing Romeo's diet. You have mentioned more than once how food obsessed he is, and diet is known to be the cause of aggression in some young cats. There have even been cases on this forum where a kitten's aggressive behaviour has been resolved with a change of diet.

If by chance, Romeo has chronic pain in his gut, this could be making him think he is hungry all the time, hence why he is food obsessed, and could also be putting his temper on a short fuse.

For a start I would take him off all foods than contain cereals, as these are sometimes a dietary intolerance issue for some cats. If you are lucky that may be the answer, but if is not, then it is worth persevering further. I am very happy to help with any advice as I have one of my own cats on an elimination diet atm (he has dermatitis), so I am in the midst of it all.

Hi again Chillminx I don't think your going on and on about it.. I really appreciate the help you and others have given.. and sometimes people do need to repeat themselves for it to enter my head! lol

You'll be happy to know I have changed Romeo's diet to grain free / cereal free when you mentioned it to me around the time I first joined! As I found out that was the problem with the loose stools (after treatment for gardia). I'm now happy to announce we have no more loose pool! - And ZooPlus is now my best friend

I also took your advice about feeding more regularly.. Instead of two meals a day he gets between 4 / 5 and If I feel that he's acting hungry I'll give a bit extra.. He's beginning to leave food on his plate and walk away (even if it is for only 5 minutes) which is is a huge milestone considering that when we first got him he would eat EVERYTHING in one go without taking his head up from the plate.

As far as the HUMAN aggression goes it seems to have calmed down.. It scared me a little bit when he attacked the OH and OH'S son so I instantly started using "time-outs" as soon as I could see it about to happen.. We had another couple of incidents since my first post but NOTHING has happened recently towards humans.

With regards to the aggression towards Button.. It only seems to be happening around 2am to 5am... It may occasionally happens during the day but literally is a few paws flying and a hiss from Button and is over in seconds.. :huh: - It could be rough playing? But I'm just worried that Button is older and she's quite a small cat where as .. Romeo is becoming a massive tom.. and I don't want her hurt.

The OH is fitting a door to the kitchen sometime this week so that I can leave the cat flap open for Button and she can come in and out as she pleases until night time (like she used to be able to) and we'll see how she's acting then - I have a suspicion that that is the problem with the toileting issues.. but if it isn't at least we can eliminate it.

 

[chillminx]

Hi AM -- very pleased to hear you had already changed Romeo's diet, and that it helped clear up the loose stools. Also that he is having more meals per day,
great:thumbsup: Sorry to have misjudged you hun, you obviously were taking notice all along

I can only think Romeo's existing levels of testosterone may be responsible for some, if not all, of his aggressive play with Button, and that hopefully now he has been neutered he will calm down considerably over the next few months.

However if he is a boisterous fellow by nature, he may continue to be like this until he stops growing (by age of 3 in most cats). Also, if you are planning to let him go outdoors when he is a bit older, this will use up some of his energy too. (It is amazing how much energy my cats use up, by going outdoors!)

I think you are right to remove him temporarily from the situation if you think he is getting over excited with your OH or his son.

Best of luck with him

 

[auspiciousmind]

I do plan on letting Romeo out but.. I'm really paranoid about the whole thing.. I've never been paranoid about Button going out I'm just so scared that he won't come back :crying:

Myself and the OH think that he'll definatley feel better once he's allowed out.. because as you probably know he came from a hoarders where he was out all day and most of the night - Thats where I think all these issues are coming from really.

Although he doesn't seem desperate to leave the house.. he quite likes my company :huh:

I guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed for it being the tetesterone.. and try to calm myself down about letting him out lol

Thank you again xx