Okay, two months ago we had three cats; Kit, Bat, and Belle. Kit was my cat, Bat is my younger sister's cat, and Belle is my parents' cat. First I suppose I need to tell the backstory:
Kit was the oldest cat and she was dominant. Belle didn't get along with any cats in her old home, but in ours she and Kit made friends and there were no problems; she and Bat even became playmates. Bat is a male and I don't remember if he's older then Belle or not, but he is much, much larger (Belle's the size of an older kitten and Bat's a large and heavy cat). We used to have five cats living here, one being another male, Summer. Summer used to mark the couches until we locked him in one room (the owner's, my older sister, bedroom). Bat then marked on two doors; one connecting to the Jack and Jill bath Summer was allowed in and one that belonged to my brother who didn't get along with him. Once we stopped letting Summer in the bathroom and locked Bat in our bedroom (my younger sister's and mine, which connected to the Jack and Jill), Bat stopped marking. Both my sister and brother moved out and we let Bat out with no marking issues. We lived like this for almost a year with no problems until Kit got sick.
About two months ago Kit got what I thought was an ear wax problem. To put a long story short I ended up having to take her to the vet and then lock her in my bathroom to keep an eye on her (she shared litterboxes and food with Bat, as these items were in my younger sister's and my bedroom). At around the beginning of August Bat started acting differently. He was scared of my bedroom and refused to go in to eat, drink, or use the litterbox. He used Belle's litterbox instead and also ate her food and water (she is given food freely in the main part of the house, as she is my parent's cat). I figured he sensed Kit was sick and in my bathroom. Then, about two weeks before she was put down he started marking the bedroom door again; the one where my brother who didn't get along with him used to live. Two of my other brothers live there now, and he gets along with them very well. He and Belle also started to get mysterious scabs; scabs not caused by any parasites that I could find. I thought it was strange, but I figured both problems would dissapear once Kit got well and was aloud out again. At the end of August we figured out Kit's problem was cancer, and we had to put her down.
Since then the marking hasn't stopped (he marks about once a week) and Bat's still acting strangely. He's finally getting over the boogy-man in my room, but there's just something strange about the way he's behaving. I told Mom about the mysterious scabs and we decided to take him in to the vet today, but when I told my brother about it he told me something I didn't know. Some days ago, he doesn't remember when exactly, only that it was recent, he heard fighting and hissing. Belle then ran past him and Bat chased her (my brother put his foot in front of Bat and thus saved Belle). I did a more through inspection of Bat's scabs then and they did look like battle marks, so we decided not to take him in to the vet after all. Last night Bat pooped on the public bathroom floor -the one my brothers use (he's not allowed in mine, but he can go into Mom and Dad's). I am now convinced that it's a dominance thing, but how do I solve it? I know with dogs the people become the leaders of the pack, but how on Earth do we fix it with cats? Bat cannot become an outside cat. He's not smart enough to live outside and we have a road right in front and cat-eating mastiffs next door. I also don't want to chance him running away as my younger sister -who is very much attached to him- is mentally challenged. We really don't want to lock him in my bedroom again and our house is of open concept design, so we can't split the main house in two for them. I've heard of pharamones that's supposed to help calm cats and I'm going to look into it, but I would appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction.
Here are my questions:
- Am I correct in assuming it's a dominance issue?
- How do I resolve it?
- If we decide to go the pharamone route, how long would we have to use them?
Kit was the oldest cat and she was dominant. Belle didn't get along with any cats in her old home, but in ours she and Kit made friends and there were no problems; she and Bat even became playmates. Bat is a male and I don't remember if he's older then Belle or not, but he is much, much larger (Belle's the size of an older kitten and Bat's a large and heavy cat). We used to have five cats living here, one being another male, Summer. Summer used to mark the couches until we locked him in one room (the owner's, my older sister, bedroom). Bat then marked on two doors; one connecting to the Jack and Jill bath Summer was allowed in and one that belonged to my brother who didn't get along with him. Once we stopped letting Summer in the bathroom and locked Bat in our bedroom (my younger sister's and mine, which connected to the Jack and Jill), Bat stopped marking. Both my sister and brother moved out and we let Bat out with no marking issues. We lived like this for almost a year with no problems until Kit got sick.
About two months ago Kit got what I thought was an ear wax problem. To put a long story short I ended up having to take her to the vet and then lock her in my bathroom to keep an eye on her (she shared litterboxes and food with Bat, as these items were in my younger sister's and my bedroom). At around the beginning of August Bat started acting differently. He was scared of my bedroom and refused to go in to eat, drink, or use the litterbox. He used Belle's litterbox instead and also ate her food and water (she is given food freely in the main part of the house, as she is my parent's cat). I figured he sensed Kit was sick and in my bathroom. Then, about two weeks before she was put down he started marking the bedroom door again; the one where my brother who didn't get along with him used to live. Two of my other brothers live there now, and he gets along with them very well. He and Belle also started to get mysterious scabs; scabs not caused by any parasites that I could find. I thought it was strange, but I figured both problems would dissapear once Kit got well and was aloud out again. At the end of August we figured out Kit's problem was cancer, and we had to put her down.
Since then the marking hasn't stopped (he marks about once a week) and Bat's still acting strangely. He's finally getting over the boogy-man in my room, but there's just something strange about the way he's behaving. I told Mom about the mysterious scabs and we decided to take him in to the vet today, but when I told my brother about it he told me something I didn't know. Some days ago, he doesn't remember when exactly, only that it was recent, he heard fighting and hissing. Belle then ran past him and Bat chased her (my brother put his foot in front of Bat and thus saved Belle). I did a more through inspection of Bat's scabs then and they did look like battle marks, so we decided not to take him in to the vet after all. Last night Bat pooped on the public bathroom floor -the one my brothers use (he's not allowed in mine, but he can go into Mom and Dad's). I am now convinced that it's a dominance thing, but how do I solve it? I know with dogs the people become the leaders of the pack, but how on Earth do we fix it with cats? Bat cannot become an outside cat. He's not smart enough to live outside and we have a road right in front and cat-eating mastiffs next door. I also don't want to chance him running away as my younger sister -who is very much attached to him- is mentally challenged. We really don't want to lock him in my bedroom again and our house is of open concept design, so we can't split the main house in two for them. I've heard of pharamones that's supposed to help calm cats and I'm going to look into it, but I would appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction.
Here are my questions:
- Am I correct in assuming it's a dominance issue?
- How do I resolve it?
- If we decide to go the pharamone route, how long would we have to use them?
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