Ziggy: Mean Gene, Zuzu: Battered Kitty Syndrome, Mum: heartbroken and exhausted

[diandpat]

Originally Posted by 14+kitties

Mmmm, I just watched the first one before I posted. After watching the other two it looks like normal play.
The thing that is concerning is Ziggy attacking you and Hobo. To me that says he is getting overly excited during play. It may take Prozac or another calming med to get him over this period. It's not something that he would need to be on the rest of his life. Just long enough for him to settle down and learn to be nice.
You could talk to your vet and see what s/he recommends. Let him/her see the tapes you made.

How are you reacting when Ziggy does his little act? Are you letting him see or sense your distress? He would feed on that and not necessarily react in a good way. Cats are masters at reading us.
Love all the toys! They sure aren't bored!!!

My vet has her masters in feline/canine behavior and I will be making an appt with her in the new year to discuss this situation. Right now she is working with Vets without Borders and is preparing for a trip to Guatamala. Also, to be honest, funds are running scarce right now with Christmas coming up and all. She has also asked for tapes to see what is going on

I am not going to lie...I yell when he swats at me (scratched my lips and eyelid the first time) and certainly Hobo as he has cataracts and probably can't even see it coming. It's like he goes cujo all of a sudden...definitely overstimulated.

Originally Posted by luckypenny

Do you know anything about their histories, Di? Whether either one of them lived with a dog, a cat, or both before?

Ziggy was at the door of the SPCA one morning when they opened so no history at all. To me, it seems like he was not socialized properly, probably taken away from the litter too soon. He will bite after a very short time of petting so I let him headbut me if he wants to be pet and am very observant of the tip of his tail.

Zuzu was given up because she was pregnant and got kicked out of the house. The reason they kicked her out, according to the neighbor who finally brought her in, was the older female cat in the house did not get along with her.

[QUOTE=[B]catlover2[/B];853938]diandpat, I viewed your videos and what I see is domination, not a cat fight. I was expecting to hear screaming, yowling, hissing, growling and to see fur flying! This is domination when he bites her neck and straddles her. The flicking of his tail shows annoyance and excitement. If he were really fighting he wouldn't give up because she goes behind a table or flops down not far from him. When you see Ziggy just before attack mode, say a loud "PSSST! No!", then call Ziggy to you or redirect his attention by throwing a toy or ball of paper, or pen to distract him.

There usually is some hissing and growling (if they would just stop mocking me!!!!) When I see it coming I do throw him one of those felt mice...he LOVES them. Problem is, now I have read that catnip can make some cats aggressive and they have catnip in them. Do you think that could be instigating some of the extreme behavior? Will he always try to dominate her or will the finally go to their corners?

Originally Posted by Love4himies

Thank you for posting the videos, diandpat and catlover.

That is absolutely 100% play between a female and male, they are having fun and I would let them be.

Yup, catlover, that is fighting, reminds me of Snowball when he was able to get at a cat :sad:

I will try to let them be but when it escalates it can get scary (for me!!!) This morning there is peace again. The two dogs and Zuzu are in the living room with me and he is upstairs on the big chair in my room looking out the bay window (same place he always went when he first got here ) so I am just enjoying the moment.

Thank you all again for your support and input. When I look on youtube at cat fights there is definitely no fur flying so I guess that is a good thing, non?