We had two domestic tabby cats before we bought our beautiful Bengal kitten. Everyone got along great, after a short period of time. The two older cats died the same year and month, leaving the Bengal when she was five years old. We then bought a Tonkinese kitten. It was WAR from the first moment the two laid eyes on each other!
Our vet suggested we get another kitten to keep the Tonk occupied and away from the Bengal. We went to a shelter and picked out a domestic tabby for the Tonk. It never helped our Bengal from being tormented, it only added another cat for the Tonkinese to abuse!
They have been together now for seven years and there has been no let-up in the daily, constant war between the two purebreds. Sometimes I feel like all I do is SCREAM at them, mostly at the Tonk for going after and attacking the Bengal all day long.
I have now taken to locking the Bengal up in a back bedroom with food, water and litterbox. Or she comes upstairs with me to the master suite and I close the door so the Tonk can't come up. At night, one of them is kept downstairs until my husband comes up to bed. Then the Tonkinese will settle down and sleep under the covers with me, and the world is at peace for a few short hours!
Does anyone else have cats that are at constant war with each other? How do you handle the situation?
Sounds like you have a territorial issue among your cats.
I don't have cats myself, but some of our members do. One of them have 4 cats, and they each have their own territory in the house. The best way to not have them constantly fighting is to separate them into different parts of the house.
During the cat "war", how violent do they get? Have they ever hurt themselves?
When I had my first few cats, there were some "issues" between the now deceased males, but absolutely nothing like this war in our house now! The war between the male Tonkinese and the female Bengal is seriously brutal. She is clawless while he has full claws, unfortunately. (No, I wouldn't consider declawing him now at the age of seven. We'd planned on declawing him as a kitten, but were talked out of it by an advocate of NEVER declawing cats under any circumstances, ever!) The Bengal has scars on her beautiful face from where he's slashed at her. He'll ride her, claws stuck in her flanks, as they charge down the stairs and through the house, with her screaming like a banshee. They really, really hate each other! If he even LOOKS at her, she growls. If he gets anywhere near her she hisses and growls. It's just never ending.
I guess the best thing is trying to keep them separated as much as possible. Whenever I leave the house, I always lock the Bengal up in that back bedroom. I tried locking the Tonk up before, but he DESTROYS the room! He rips and shreds and knocks everything around that he can. Little devil cat!
But I love him best of all, which is why he still lives with us. My husband would love to get rid of him. The Tonk is the sweetest, most loveable, most devoted cat we own. It's like a split personality! He follows me around, wants to be held and kissed and cuddled all the time. He just cannot tolerate me paying attention to the other animals though. My husband says once Puma kills off the other animals, he'll plot to get rid of him, the hubby! LOL
I heard that "My Cat From Hell" is looking for cases to film for their second season. I'm trying to remember if it's in Animal Planet, or Nat Geo. Your situation sounds like one of his shows.
Yes. I would say your Tonk is VERY jelous. I've done a lot of cat behavior counceling, and this one has me stumped. Try a Feliway difuser, and perhaps talk to your vet about drugs for the Tonk. I assume he's fixed?
Karen, I've never heard of that show! I'll have to look it up since I'm sure it's got to be rather entertaining. Yes, I bet my Tonkinese would fit in quite well for a show like that!
Yes, he's fixed. That's a good idea about the Feliway. I've heard of it and I think we even tried it years ago for a different situation with our now deceased cats (it didn't work then for the problem). But it just might work in this situation - it wouldn't hurt to try. The Tonk is very, very interested in how the Bengal SMELLS! And he even goes around rubbing (marking) every single place she's rubbed on. Plus wherever she's been laying, that is EXACTLY where he, all of a sudden, MUST lay! He's a real trip.
Our DSH, just has learned to get out of the Tonk's way asap. If the DSH is being petted on the couch by me, as soon as he sees the Tonk eyeing him, he gets down and walks away because he knows he's going to be attacked otherwise. Sometimes he gets attacked anyway - just as a reminder, I suppose!
