Help

[Bel04]

Ok so there's three cats in the house but one will only show up every few days. The other two are both girls. One is ridiculously thin and I try feed her but she won't take to it. When she does try and eat the other girl will stop her from eating by attacking her. She also attacks the other cat when I cuddle her or give her treats. This same cat ALSO keeps pooing on the floor and I keep having to scrub it off the floor. The litter trays are ALWAYS clean. Please help.

How stressful for you all. Have you tried feeding her separately? Keep the other cat out of the room where the food is, just so that your other cat has a chance. Or put her food in another room altogether, so only she has access to it? Try some Feliway plug ins to try to soothe things. Maybe your other cat doesn't come home often because the house is too stressful, or could be he is just a natural roamer or has another home? Do you play with them together? Maybe that'd tire them out and the other one might not be so aggressive.

My 2 cats have to live separately in the house because they just won't get along. It's a bit of a pain, but fortunately my house lay out works well and my one of them is more of an indoor girl, so they don't really encounter each other unless there's a breakdown in security

Unfortunately we're in a 2 bed flat so can't really keep them apart. I've tried feeding the thinner cat separately but it's very hit and miss. Sometimes she'll eat a whole bowl of wet food to herself and other times she will turn her nose up. She very old so it could be that. I've just cleaned the spot where the other one always poos with flash, bleached it for 20 mins, cleaned it with floor cleaner and now covered it in cut lemons, vinegar and bi carb and left it sizzling. The smell makes me feel ill :/. What are the plug ins? Are they expensive?

Has anyone used get off spray to stop their cat pooing in a certain spot, does it work?

This'll give you an idea of how it works. Not sure where else you can buy it, maybe your vet?

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0031Q1KAY?ref_=Oct_CABSellerC_451109031_1&tag=mumsnetforum-21#productDescription_secondary_view_div_1525256971932

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0031Q1KAY?ref_=Oct_CABSellerC_451109031_1&tag=mumsnetforum-21

Is the cat that won't come home a boy? Is he neutered?
Have you had the old cat vet checked?

All cats are neutered/spayed and get taken to the vets.

So the elderly one has had a vet check since losing weight?

You have classic cat to cat hostility. Getting a feliway friends plug in is a good start. Make sure you have one of each facility per cat and a spare ( so 4 in your situation). Facilities are litter trays, water and food bowls and high sleeping places.

That's a lot of litter trays and litter though :/ and I researched the feliways and they're very expensive as you have to refill and replace them etc. Are there not any more cost effective ways of doing things?

Pets aren't cheap. Has the elderly one had a vet check?

More cost effective solution - rehome one of the cats.
Alternative have a feline behaviourist in at approx. £250 for first consult and their advice will include what I have advised.

Never mind 🙄

It must be horrible to be old and attacked in her own home like that.

It definitely sounds like a stressful situation for all concerned and cat hostility.

Plug ins may help calm them down but I think you also need to look at why it's happening in the first place. I'd definitely recommend you Google Jackson Galaxy. The guy is a genius and is famous for his Cat from Hell programmes on TV. He has free videos online on youtube about all sorts of behavioural issues and there isn't anything he doesnt know about cats (he's also successfully integrated lots of cats into his own house).

I've seen him recommend all sorts of things in situations like this, mainly around improving the environment by providing well-situated places of escape (often up high like cat shelves) and removing areas of entrapment by rearranging furniture etc.

You can spend hundreds of pounds or even a few quid on fancy products to help, but understanding what and where the trigger points are is crucial. Territory is so important to a cat and concerns everything from the obvious (food bowl, litter tray) to areas we may not consider - does one cat 'own' a cat tree like a watch tower? Does one cat have to walk through an 'alleyway of terror' to get from one part of the house to another, when all we see is the living room?

I really hope you manage to sort something out, good luck!