My Pet World: Ways to reduce tension between cats

I have a beautiful 4-year-old spayed female cat who was diagnosed with congenital heart disease. She was raised with another female cat that we got at the same time. I also have a 7-month-old spayed kitten. They are inside-outside cats. However, Sadie, the one with congenital heart disease, is mean to the other two. What is causing this? — Janet, Gate City, Virginia

Dear Janet,

If she has always been a bit testy, then her personality or increasing age may be just making her a little less patient with her housemates. If this is a new behavior though, then it could be related to the addition of the new kitten in the home, or the congenital heart disease could be making her feel less herself. When animals feel ill, they are more likely to lash out at other animals as a means of ensuring they aren’t attacked in a weakened state. I am assuming all of the felines are fixed as that can contribute to issues, too.

Regardless of what’s causing it, we can address the stress between your cats. Talk to your vet to make sure Sadie is getting all she needs medically. Then, because they are indoor-outdoor cats, buy a feline pheromone collar for each of them to wear for the next few months. Pheromones can help reduce stress between cats. The collars only last 30 days, so you will have to purchase them again. Also, put a few drops of Rescue Remedy into their water. Rescue Remedy is a tincture that helps with stress and can be found at health food stores or online pet stores.

Let me know if these things help ease the tension in the home.

Dear Cathy,

I read your column regarding feral cats in Newsday. I adopted eight feral cats a number of years ago and they’re all healthy and well-fed. Only one of them lives in the house with my wife and me. They all have shelters with heated pads if they want to stay warm on really cold days. Being a big softie, I feed them twice a day and my neighbors wonder why some fool is ringing a bell every day at 4 p.m. The cats come running out of the woods knowing that it’s time for dinner. Even after feeding them for five-plus years, they only allow me to approach them when I have food.

The things I want to stress is that the first order of business when you discover you have feral cats living on your property is to trap them and get them spayed or neutered. Spring for some shots that the vet recommends. The spayed and neutered cats don’t fight, mark their territories or have more kittens. In addition to shelter, make sure they have a source of clean water. I have a heated water bowl that never freezes. Living on a wooded property, the cats supplement their diet by catching many field mice, moles and voles. — Jim, Ft. Salonga, New York

Dear Jim,

Taking care of feral cats is straightforward: They need to be fed and given fresh water daily; they need to be fixed; and they need shelter in extreme hot and cold weather. Providing these things to an abandoned cat or to a kitten born to an abandoned cat are some of the kindest things anyone who cares about animals can do.

Thanks for showing how easy it is to take care of these homeless felines.

Dear Cathy,

For the second time in my life, I recently made the sad mistake of force-feeding a dying cat. In both cases, separated by a few decades, my force-feeding only made their last hours miserable. I will never do it again.

When a cat has stopped eating and is clearly in its last days, the message the cat is sending is that it is time to say goodbye. In both cases, I thought the food would turn things around, but when the body starts shutting down, this only creates added stress for the cat.

Anyway, this has been my experience. — Mary, via email, mom to five cats

Dear Mary,

Don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s not easy saying goodbye to an animal companion, and it’s perfectly normal that you would want to do whatever you could to save your pet’s life. I think the longer we have pets, the more respectful we become of end-of-life issues. I applaud you for realizing that it’s OK to let go when it’s their time.