Cat troubles... need help!

[Paul]

My gf, her sister (a.k.a. my bro's gf), my brother and I are moving in together in the next few days. The problem is girls have 4 cats and my brother has allergies, now I'm showing signs of having allergies as well, which I've never had before. Right now my eyes and nose are itchy as heck and watering a bit. Is there something I can take to help with this as it's driving me crazy and I love the cats, getting rid of them is not an option.

Also a couple other problems. There are 2 males and 2 females, all 'fixed'. Neo is the oldest and female, she's such a big suck but can take care of herself when the others bug her. Shadow is the oldest male, he's a brat but occasionally the biggest sweetheart, but he scratches everything and picks fights. Melody is the younger female, she's mated with Shadow before and had kittens but they've been taken apart and reintegrated so many times now that they don't get along. Blaze is the youngest male, he is Shadow and Melody's kitten, looks just like Shadow except he's a scaredy cat and a big baby.

The problem is that Shadow plays a hunting game with Melody all day long and terrorizes her, she spends all her time hidden in tiny spaces he can't get in and when she comes out, he attacks her, scratches and bites her. She's really sore all the time and won't let you pet her because she's hurting so much, which is really sad because she's the sweetest, most beautiful cat you'll ever meet. We've tried squirting Shadow with water when he starts hunting her or just getting in his way, but it's an all day thing and it gets really really tiresome after awhile. It's really hard to watch too because he's so nasty to her and she is always running and cowering everywhere she goes. Is there anything we can do to discourage this behavior? We don't really have the room or resources to keep them apart and it just seems to be getting worse.

The last problem (for now) is that I have a new couch I paid $1000 for and it's going into the living room of the new place, where the 4 cats will be. Shadow is going to scratch the life out of it and destroy it, like he does every other piece of furniture. He has scratching posts he can use, he gets squirted when he scrathes anything he's not supposed to, but he basically ignores everyone and does whatever the heck he wants. Short of getting him declawed, which has been discussed but the girls are really against, is there anything I can spray on the furniture so he'll leave it alone, or wrap around it? I don't want anything that's going to smell bad to the rest of us or stain my furniture but I have to make sure this cat doesn't destroy everything I move into the new place.

[Vautrin]

Originally Posted by Paul

My gf, her sister (a.k.a. my bro's gf), my brother and I are moving in together in the next few days. The problem is girls have 4 cats and my brother has allergies, now I'm showing signs of having allergies as well, which I've never had before. Right now my eyes and nose are itchy as heck and watering a bit. Is there something I can take to help with this as it's driving me crazy and I love the cats, getting rid of them is not an option.

Hi Paul,
I am afraid you will have to stick to more general anti-allergy pills. Not ideal, I know. I doubt there are specific anti-allergy pills available - my gf has a similar issue with cats.

The problem is that Shadow plays a hunting game with Melody all day long and terrorizes her, she spends all her time hidden in tiny spaces he can't get in and when she comes out, he attacks her, scratches and bites her. She's really sore all the time and won't let you pet her because she's hurting so much, which is really sad because she's the sweetest, most beautiful cat you'll ever meet. We've tried squirting Shadow with water when he starts hunting her or just getting in his way, but it's an all day thing and it gets really really tiresome after awhile.

That is a really tough issue. If a cat does something wrong, punishment can (and not necessarilly will) be effective, provided it is immediately handed out. And not all cats hate water that much - it might be slightly inconvenient for Shadow, but nothing more.

Sometimes raising voice in anger, and looking at them at the same time is much more effective. But given that there are a few cats around + people, I would not recommend raising voice.

However, if punishment does not work, the best solution may well be that Melody and Shadow are seperated - i.e. they don't have access to the same room(s) at the same time, unless of course someone is around. No idea whether that will be practically possible. A simple closed door may well do the trick - and depending on the size of the cats, there may be a few more options.

As for the couch, I have no experience with a clawing cat so I can't advice you there. Does Shadow claw away at things when you are away too? It may be an attention issue for him - and if the "punishment" is not a punishment in Shadow's eyes, he will continue to do it.

[Paul]

I'm sneezing and my eyes are all red and puffy right now, it really sucks. Looks like I'll be taking a trip to the pharmacy in the next while.

Last night I was doing a puzzle with my brothers gf in her apartment, just passing the time talking. She was drinking some wine and my brother came over and they watched a movie and then passed out on the couch. Shadow was up to his old tricks again but I sat there with the water bottle and everytime he started towards her, I squirted him. Within an hour Melody was able to sit out, eat her dinner and even played with a string I was dangling for her, without being terrorized. It's going to take a lot of work and vigilance but I'm already committed to protecting the poor little thing.

She was telling me that they've tried spraying a citrus formula on the furniture called Shoo but it only works for a couple of days and then he's right back at it. I'm going to buy a couple different types and try them out, it may just be one brand will work better than another. Anything's better than nothing at this point.

[Vautrin]

Be persistent. Young cats tend to be worse than older cats.

Just find out what Shadow really hates. The worse the punishment, the more easily Shadow is trained to behave. Sadly that may only apply when people are around though, who can and will hand out the punishment.

So in case you all leave (to go out, or whatever) you may want to consider putting Melody in a different room.

[Weiser]

Bring them to the nearest chinese restaurant.

[Fayebelle]

There are preventative allergy shots that your doc can give you so that you don't have to dose daily. Vaccuum TONS- it's the pet dander that causes allergies- that's why you are prob havin probs for the first time- you've always had a mild allergy but now you have so much around you can't fight it.

Dilute vinegar in the water- NO cat likes that. For the most part though you can let them figure out the social scene for themselves. Trust me- if one bothers another enough the 2nd cat will let their opinion be known.

Good luck!

[Paul]

Originally Posted by Vautrin

Be persistent. Young cats tend to be worse than older cats.

Just find out what Shadow really hates. The worse the punishment, the more easily Shadow is trained to behave. Sadly that may only apply when people are around though, who can and will hand out the punishment.

So in case you all leave (to go out, or whatever) you may want to consider putting Melody in a different room.

I agree with that and will mention it, the other problem is it's someone elses cats and because this has been going on for a year, they're tired of trying to keep this from happening all the time. I went up there for 5 minutes this evening and the entire time he was stalking or attacking her. My brother and I yelled at him when he did it but he could care less... the squirt water bottle wasn't close at hand at the time and his gf was just tired of dealing with the whole thing.

He's 5 now, I'll have to find out what he hates and I'll definetly mention to Jade about seperating them when we go out. She does put Shadow in another room sometimes when he's acting up but apparently he scratches the living crap out of the door or something, she mentioned it a couple days ago. I'll just put citrus or something on it and the couch.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by Fayebelle

There are preventative allergy shots that your doc can give you so that you don't have to dose daily. Vaccuum TONS- it's the pet dander that causes allergies- that's why you are prob havin probs for the first time- you've always had a mild allergy but now you have so much around you can't fight it.

Dilute vinegar in the water- NO cat likes that. For the most part though you can let them figure out the social scene for themselves. Trust me- if one bothers another enough the 2nd cat will let their opinion be known.

Good luck!

I don't have a personal doctor but there's a clinic down the road I think I'll drop into. The place they are in has tile floor and the place we're going to has hardwood in most of the rooms but the owner wants to carpet it before we move in. All of us don't want the carpet but I don't think he's going to listen to us, we need to sit down and talk to him about it. Either way, vacuuming is definetly a must.

Has anyone ever tried an air cleaner or ionizer? I mentioned it to a friend and he highly recommended it, saying it was supposed to neutralize allergenics among other things... I don't know how true this is but I'm willing to try anything.

I thought she would let it be known but Melody is always being attacked and she just hides all day, I'm not really sure what more she can do about it considering she's probably half his weight and very timid to begin with. I'll try the vinegar water though.

[Vautrin]

Originally Posted by Paul

I agree with that and will mention it, the other problem is it's someone elses cats and because this has been going on for a year, they're tired of trying to keep this from happening all the time.

And that is a big problem. Because when you are not around, he will do as he pleases.

My brother and I yelled at him when he did it but he could care less... the squirt water bottle wasn't close at hand at the time and his gf was just tired of dealing with the whole thing.

Then it would be best that the kitties are definitely separated, when noone is around, at least for now.

Also, because Melody is so terrorised, she may well eat less, or because of the stress have some health problems. Both problems which worsen the effects of Shadow's reign of Terror. Might want to consider feeding her seperately from Shadow, so she could regain strength and health. In that way she will be a lot better able to defend herself.