Conference misery::feline_v1

   I'll have to remember to give you the authors of that book.  They have a 
chapter on aggressive cats.  I really don't think it has anything to with the
sex of the cat though.  Between my finace' and myself we have 5 male cats and 
their tempperments range from holy terror to shy.  I've had female cats that
were *much* more aggressive than any male cat I've ever had.  In fact the only 
cat I've ever taken to the shelter was one that we tried to adopt from the 
shelter and when we brought her home she beat the ##$@!! out of my 2 male cats
I was afraid to leave them alone even for a minute.  She was a large full grown
cat at the time and my kitties were not full grown yet so she couls have really
done some damage.  Taking her back to the shelter was one of the hardest things
I've ever done.  We got a kitten in her place.  There was a little aggression 
between the kittens (especially when we brought number 5 into the group) but
we just waited it out and punished extremely aggressive behavior.  They did fine
after a few days (after a couple of weeks in the last case).  

tlh

(pardon mistakes, REP/EDIT isn't working today)

     When I got my Maine Coon Kitten, he was as shy as any cat I have ever
seen.  My tiger striped mutt decided it would be fun to pick on the new
cat in the house.  I separated them at every chance and finally gave up
figuring I couldn't keep them apart forever.  I am not home a lot and the
two were forced to spend a lot of time together.  They are not great friends,
but they get along and the kitten now takes great pleasure in chasing and
attacking the tiger striped mutt.

     Give the kittens some time.  They will settle down and get along.

I'm currently trying the squirt bottle technique, but I'd love to see that
book you mentioned!  I'd actually let them work it out, having seen things
work out (sort-of) between two cats my family had, except that the baby is
only ~6 weeks old and was getting hurt.  She was also going off feed and
she can't afford to lose any weight.  So they remain separated when we're
not there to supervise, until baby gets a little bigger.

I have five cats, four females and one male (all neutered).  Melissa used
to be the boss, but within the last year or so she has become the victim
instead of the agressor.  This has affected her to the point of interfear-
ing (sp?) with her digestive abilities and her personality.  This is one
of the reasons I had to look for a bigger apt.--so there would be more
room to separate the antagonists.  I have reluctantly concluded that it is
in her best interests to keep her apart from her two most severe critics,
and thus I keep doors closed between various pairings and combinations 
while I am at work and during the night.  I try to alternate who gets to
sleep with "mom" and who gets to be with each other during the day, but
it really is a pain.  This is probably not a good solution, but it works
for me.

cathy

You know the story of Hobbit and Kismet.  They occaisionally have what
appear to be monumental battles...but no one ever seems to get hurt.  
I've learned to ignore them.  If the little one is getting hurt, 
however, you are probably taking the best approach.  When it gets a 
little older, the baby will probably be able to defend itself quite
nicely...although there will probably always be some jockeying for
dominance...its the nature of the beast.

When they get a little older, you might allow them to go outside for
short periods of time under your supervision.  My cats suddenly 
developed a "you and me against the world" comaraderie when they
began to explore the great outdoors.

Roberta

    Well, I finally got a chance to enter this...

    The book is _You_Can_Train_Your_Cat_ by Jo and Paul Loeb.  It's a Fireside
book published by Simon and Schuster.  Mine was a trade paperback that cost 
$6.95.  There is information on everything from potty training to curbing ag-
gression to teaching "doggy" tricks.  It's a good book and there are some 
really creative ideas in it.

tlh

For the record:

The cats, now named Chorniy (means Black in russian, where it's used in
phrases indicating devilishness) and Koshka (which means Cat), are now
getting along fine.  They still 'fight', but rarely manage to hurt each
other.

What seemed to work was 1) the squirt bottle, 2) separating them during the
day for about 2 weeks, 3) giving them something else to do when they were
fighting, 4) pulling them apart and telling them 'NO!' and 5) feeding Koshka
up so she's now big enough to defend herself.  In fact, most of the time it's
Koshka chasing Chorniy around the house!  The other day I found them at the
top of a pole in the cellar (which is carpeted since the cellar is carpeted)
taking swipes at each other.  They were about 6 feet off the ground!

I'd recommend having 2 kittens, rather than one, to anyone.  They spend
enough time and energy terrorizing each other that they have so far not
had much left to terrorize our belongings.  Occasionally they have swiped
at my plants, but they have really not been as bad as I had expected.
And the plants needed trimming anyhow....

  Two is not enough!!  My fiance' and I have 5 between the two of us.  That
way even if someone is sleepy, there always someone to play with.

tlh

    Sukie and Jasmine my parents cats are frequently scrapping.
    
    when I left home Sukie was the boss.
    
    Then I came back and frequently I gave them bigger meals tha mum
    &dad used to.
    
    My little Jazzy started to grow a bit and now Jazzies boss but Sukie
    seems to enjoy spending half here time picking a fight so's Jazzie
    gets told off for carrying on fighting when Sukie trys to run away.
    
    By the way even when theres large lumps of fluff on the floor neither
    of them have ever had scratches - dramatically worrying though it
    looks.
    
    They seem to use it as practice for the outside world since they
    never seem to hurt each other.
    
    Halfd the time they stop and look embarrased when someone looks
    at them.
    
    Jo 
    
    Reading, UK.
    

    Has anyone any advice on how I can cope with my one year old male
    cat who beats up his Mum?  I had Cleo (the mother) from the RSPCA
    just over a year ago when she was heavily pregnant, and when the
    kittens were born soon after, we decided to keep one of the kittens
    for ourselves.  We thought they would be company for each other
    as we are out all day, but I am afraid it hasn't worked out at all
    as I had planned.  They have both been neutered, and for the first
    few months everything was fine, I even bought a double cat basket
    with fond thoughts of them sleeping together!  Rodney, the kitten
    cannot bear to see his mum comfortably sleeping and if she is on
    my knee!!! well he has to disturb her.  He even sits on the stairs
    when he knows she is upstairs so she then dare not come down.  I
    don't know whether he is jealous,wanting to play or just a bully.
    He is now over 10lbs in weight and Cleo is just a petite 7lbs, so
    there is quite a difference in size.  He knows he is being naughty
    because as soon as I appear, and I don't have to say anything,
    he disappears under the furniture and peeps out looking guilty.
    He is otherwise a loving, cuddley cat who loves everybody and likes
    nothing better than to sit on my knee and be stroked.   I don't
    think any wounds have been inflicted, but certainly fur has been
    shed as a result of all these scraps.    Ihave tried smacking on
    the nose, saying NO very firmly,(this usually works for other
    misdemeanors)and putting outside with the cat flap on "no entry"
    but to no avail.  Will he grow out of it?
    
    
    Diana
    
    
    
    
    
    

    I'd try the isolation technique -- it worked like a charm with
    my Holly. Rodney wants you all to himself, so when he gives Cleo a
    hard time, pick up Rodney and shut him in a room by himself for
    awhile.  It only took about 2 minutes each time for Holly to
    become as good as gold, and after maybe 5 or 6 times, she learned
    permanently that this behaviour is a no-no.  She will very
    occasionally still try it, but a loud No suffices to en dit.