Hi everyone!
Apologies in advance for the length of this post, but I’m looking for a bit of advice / reassurance....
I have a lovely, well-trained, sweet, polite 1 & 1/2 year old neutered male red tuxedo tabby called Riley, who I adopted from PAWSS a year ago. I live in a flat in the city, so he is an indoor cat. He is very healthy and affectionate, though not a lap-cat, and has plenty of little vantage points around the place that are exclusively "his" space, as well as a cat tree and plenty of toys.
However, I thought he might benefit from a playmate, as I work during the week and he doesn't get to play as much as he would like.
Last week, I "adopted" (on a trial basis) a very sweet, confident little 5 month old female dilute tortie (Skye), also from PAWSS, who is currently "intact". PAWSS was happy for her to stay on a trial basis to see how they got on before I made a decision about whether or not to keep her.
To my surprise and delight, they got on very well with only a few minor misunderstandings, and seemed to be settling well with each other. I was very careful that they both got equal attention, toys, treats, food etc. so that my resident boy did not get too jealous. I duly contacted the rescue agency to finalise the adoption, which will go ahead on Friday. Typically, having done this, all hell has broken loose!
Though they have been playfully chasing each other all week, last night things got very rough. Riley, my older boy, has started to play VERY rough: he is chasing her as before, but has started grabbing her by her neck, jumping on her back, wrestling, biting and kicking her, only releasing her when she shrieks, fights back, runs and hides, or I intervene.
Bizarrely, she still approaches and attempts to initiate play as before, despite his rough treatment.
I have booked her in to get spayed next week, as I suspect that this behaviour is sexual aggression, possibly set off by her being about to come into estrus, and that it should subside once she is neutered.
Apologies for the very long post....any thoughts? I would welcome any advice / input!
I am going to have her spayed regardless, and hopefully she won't come into estrus before next Tuesday (when she will be having the op). My main concern is that this rough treatment might continue immediately after her operation, while she is still in recovery.
While she is currently entirely capable of standing up for herself, being 5 months old, I'm worried about the potential risks to her while she is healing.
I'm inclined to think it is sexual aggression because they sleep happily near each other, and have long periods of getting along perfectly peacefully. The roughousing only develops when their play-chasing escalates into this wrestling/mating type behaviour from Riley (presumably because he gets a bit over-excited). Though he is the only one being rough, he is not always the one to initiate chasing. Skye (the little girl) is just as likely to wind him up, even after him being very rough with her - she is apparently quite happy to provoke him, even though she objects strenuously to being grabbed and jumped on!
I've never nursed a little girl through spaying before (I've only ever had boys neutered, all my previous girls were already "done" when I got them) - any advice / pointers? I was planning on shutting her in the bedroom with a litter tray, food, water etc and a heater, while I am at work, to ensure she gets peace and quiet and will rest. Obviously, while I'm at home she'll be free to potter around and do as she likes, albeit under supervision. Is there anything I can do to help her recover and heal quickly, and prevent Riley being too rough with her?