Cat has stopped tolerating other household cats

[Lauryn]

Thanks for the further replies. Yep, I'm well aware that the hormones that make her want to mother them have well and truly gone (don't blame her, they were nursing from her until 5 months - enough is enough), but her biggest problem is with her brother who she used to get on with well. She also tolerates the only daughter she has left here.

I actually just let her out for a wee since it's been raining all day and she hates using a litter tray and I can hear her picking fights with the neighbourhood cats (refuses to come in, of course), so maybe she's just a mardy cow.

She's not always fond of me either.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Dont know whether this is the problem, but on some programme or other there was a similar problem and it could be to do with her kittens. Usually they reach an age, mum "sets them free" (aka. Gets sick of being harrassed) and they wander to form new clans of their own (now known as being rehomed lol) this didnt happen. Dave has done her mumly duty and now their probable harrassing behaviour of still wanting to rely on her has caused her to cut herself off from her brood of pre-teens. Her brother is probably just getting in the way of her moody p **d-ness - much like OH gets it from me when his mere presence is just the final straw on the camels back   
The theory may be wrong - I dont know, but given the dynamics i thought i fling it in as food for thought!!

I'm far from being an expert on kittens, but I'm inclined to agree with this viewpoint.  Once they're 3-4 months old they would normally be rehomed (or be thinking about leaving their mum in the wild) so maybe she's just had enough of them and wants them gone!  I remember when I got Mosi his mum was starting to get fed up of him (can't say I blame her  ) and when I asked his then meowmy whether his mum would miss the kittens when they all went (all 4 of them left the same weekend) she reckoned mum would be just glad to get rid of the rowdy bunch and have a bit of peace and quiet! 

Regardless, hopefully things will settle down as they enter adulthood and Dave will learn to accept that they're sticking around.  Some kittens stay with their mum and get on fine.

[Dawn F]

sounds like you are doing everything you can, I do think it is nature that they get sick of the kids eventually!

I have one of my four who would rather be a loner, we feed her away from the others and by choice she sleeps downstairs at night while all the others are up

[funkiechicken]

Hi Lauryn! so glad to hear Dave is back to her usual self after the accident 
Shes done really well with the recovery!! 

Dont know whether this is the problem, but on some programme or other there was a similar problem and it could be to do with her kittens. Usually they reach an age, mum "sets them free" (aka. Gets sick of being harrassed) and they wander to form new clans of their own (now known as being rehomed lol) this didnt happen. Dave has done her mumly duty and now their probable harrassing behaviour of still wanting to rely on her has caused her to cut herself off from her brood of pre-teens. Her brother is probably just getting in the way of her moody p **d-ness - much like OH gets it from me when his mere presence is just the final straw on the camels back   
The theory may be wrong - I dont know, but given the dynamics i thought i fling it in as food for thought!!

Hope things work out!! 
big snuggles for Dave 

[Lauryn]

Oh, yes... sorry, forgot to mention. Absolutely, I wouldn't have it any other way. I took in Dave when she was pregnant, her and her brother had been left intact and her previous owners had upped and left them. The brother was neutered immediately, Dave was neutered as soon as the kittens had been weaned and the kittens were neutered at 4 months.

[Angiew]

are they all neutered?

[Lauryn]

Thanks, I felt it might be a hierarchy problem. She actually behaves as though she's quite afraid of them. She has the biggest problem with her brother, but God, that cat is an idiot. He never learns!

Should I just be patient? I'm trying to rehome her brother and one of the other toms at the moment, so that might help, I suppose. I certainly never meant to have so many adult cats, but it's not been easy to find homes for them. You know how it goes...

[Angiew]

If its only the odd swipe I wouldn't be to concerned. Her kiddies are now 'teenagers' and there will be some repositioning amongst them.
most multicat households will have one than doesn't get on as well - I have a vicious thug with my lot.

[Lauryn]

My 2 year old female, Dave, has an attitude problem when it comes to my other 4 cats. She is mother to 3 of them (now 1 year old) and the sister of the other. They have never lived apart.

I've had this problem for about 8 or 9 months and have tried various things to try to manage it. I've tried working with their scents, Feliway, separating them as needs be. She growls at them if they're within 3 metres of her and will take a swipe on occasion. I've heard thing get more aggressive with her brother today, but didn't see anything and it was over by the time I got there. She tends to avoid them if possible.

I allow her to sleep separately at night and she's the only one allowed upstairs during the day.

Some of you may remember that she had a road traffic accident at Christmas which resulted in he having a plate fitted to her pelvis and her having two weeks away from us at a surgeon's a couple of hours away. She's been given the all clear for some time, healed quickly and well and this problem predates her surgery so I don't think the two are related. Actually, I had a couple of quiet weeks with no aggression after she returned home.

What else could I try? I'll do anything at this point.