I dont know what to do

[Nicole4186]

I have a 3 year old female Maine Coon named Baby, shes very laid back and friendly and weve raised her from a kitten. On the other hand we have a cat we rescued as a kitten. Her name is Storm and shes about 1 1/2 years old. Shes just about insane, she attacks Baby everytime she sees her, and she gets into EVERYTHING. Shes even chewed/scratched a hole the size of a golf ball in a wooden cabinet. Shes always very hyper and never seems to calm down, Baby is to the point where she finds anywhere possible to get away from her and hides all day. Storm is about a third of Baby's size being an 18 pound Maine Coon but she manages to pin her down and hold her by the neck, she sheds blood whenever she attacks her and weve begun to reach the breaking point. Both cats are spayed and we do not believe in declawing so that is not an option. When i say Storm never calms down i mean it, anyone shes met have told us theyve never met a cat like her. Even my aunt who has had cats her entire life dosent know anything else we can do. I have watched much of Jackson Galaxys show and tried various methods to make them get along and calm Storm down. We live in a place where she has much room to run around and let out her energy. Today though weve talked about rehoming her and thats why im here, id really rather keep her but with Baby being laid back and Storm being so high energy its not working out. My aunt whos had many cats refuses to take her because of how she acts, and my grandmother isnt in the position to take her right now even though she loves her. If it was only her we'd be fine with having her, but the biggest issue is how serious the fights are becoming. Baby is also a naturally more anxious submissive cat so she just tries to run from her and thats what Storm likes. Is there anything else i can do? Had anyone else dealt with a similar situation? Thanks for reading.

[Janey]

Hi and welcome. Has Storm always been like this with Baby?

[alanc]

As the owner of a Maine Coon, I am on Baby's side. Unfortunately, I don't have any suggestions on how to solve your problem. Some Maine Coons (like my now deceased Badger, the largest cat round here by a long way) just do not stand up for themselves. (Fortunately for Badger, my other Maine Coon (Tilly) was always prepared to stand up for him and gave any cat attacking him a hiding, although she does not stand up for herself particularly these days (shes getting too old for that kind of thing) and has never attacked other cats without reason.)

[filardimarg-9]

Have you tried Feliway Friends, it is a plug in, I haven't tried that one, as I only have 1 cat but I do have Feliway Classic, my kitty was, still is a little bit very scared, she was a rescue that had been a stray, it is helping her come out of her shell, might be worth a try before you decide to rehome her.

Marg.

[fjm]

If Storm were a dog I would suggest investigating her for a thyroid issue - not bad enough to be full blown hyperthyroidism, but a sufficiently overactive thyroid to make her hyperactive. Even more likely is that she does not have enough natural outlets for her energy, and is taking it out on the nearest target, poor Baby. Does she go out to hunt? Was she a feral kitten, or separated early from her mother? How feasible is it to separate the cats for as much of the time as possible?

I would set up a safe zone for Baby, at least one room where Storm is excluded completely. Make sure she has access to food, water, tray, etc there. If they are both used to going out, you may need to supervise them outdoors, and to make sure there is more than one entrance and exit so that Storm can't bully Baby on the threshold. I would take Storm for a full vet check, to eliminate any physical cause for her behaviour. And then I would think of ways to work off some of that excess energy - flirt pole, chase toys, lots and lots of games - and clicker training. It might not work, but reward based training can be very effective with cats, and if Storm is concentrating on ever cleverer ways to inveigle you into handing over roast chicken she won't be beating up Baby!

[lilynmitz]

She's much too young for hyperthyroidism, it's extremely rare in cats under the age of 10. If Storm was being assessed for rehoming in a rescue centre, I suspect the recommendation would be "must be an only cat". Some cats simply do not socialise well with others in a domestic environment, and that's one of the risk of getting kittens - you don't know how they're going to turn out. At the very least, you need to provide Baby with a safe zone that Storm can't get to - you could try getting a microchip cat flap put an internal door giving access to a safe room and only register Baby's chip to the flap, so that Storm can't get in there. There should also be separate and supervised access to the outdoors, but it's a miserable way for Baby to have to live, and you, and Storm doesn't sound like a happy contented cat either. If all other attempts at bringing peace to your home fail, and I know this will be unpopular advice, but if you can find a suitable home for Storm where she will be the only cat and have free access to a safe outdoor environment, I suspect this would be the happiest outcome all round, including for Storm.