Cat is being a bully

[myrab51]

In June, we found a nearly dead kitten behind our chicken coop. She was about 3 weeks old, and I didn't think she would make it through the night. She was in bad shape. Fleas, larva in her fur, eyes barely opening. We got her cleaned up, got some KMR in her, and got her onto a heating pad. She was doing better the next morning.

I work from a home office, and I have been with her every day since. She is strong, healthy, purrs all the time, and is very loving. She sleeps on my pillow or on my feet every night. She loves the husband and kids. She isn't shy with company. She wakes me up every morning by purring, rubbing my face, and kneading her paws on me. The kids named her Batman. The vet has given her a clean bill of health. She is about 7 months old now, and no problems at all. She is a total sweetheart towards all the people that come into the house.

Until...
We have a 90 pound golden retriever, Tristan. He has never been anything but sweet to her. We had a cat before her (Hermione), and he would let her sleep on his back. Hermione and Tristan were best buddies.

Well, it is not working that way with Tristan and Batman. They have been together since day one, when she was still bottle feeding. He would lick her when she was a tiny kitten.

But now, he will be sleeping on the floor, and she will stalk and attack him. He will walk by and not even look at her, and she goes all archy backed Halloween cat. He will be in the kitchen eating, and she will push him away from his bowl. He will back away and look at me like "Mooooom?" She attacks his tail. She jumps up off all fours to land on his butt, claws out.

Today, my daughter was petting Tristan, and Batman randomly ran up and took a swipe at his face. Luckily, my daughter pushed her back before she got him. She isn't aggressive at all, until it comes to him.

The weird thing is, he doesn't get into her space, or chase her, or jump around her. He seems to know she is little, and he steers clear. When she comes up to him now, he will get up and walk away to avoid trouble. I feel bad for him. It had been his home for the last seven years, since he was six weeks old. He's a total gentle giant.

She is entirely indoors. He comes and goes from the house to the property as he pleases. They are both fixed. She has her claws. I put their food and water in different rooms away from each other. They both sleep in my room. She sleeps in our bed. He sleeps in his own bed at the foot of ours.

I try to let her get close to him and be curious (hoping she will realize he is nice), but I will push her away with my foot if she starts puffing up at him. She has plenty of places to get up high and away from him. I split them up when I have to leave the house. I feel out of my depth here. The big guy is really trying. What do I do with the little girl? Any ideas?

This is him with Hermione, the last kitty. We finally lost her to age.


This is the new girl, Batman.

[Barkingdog]

Does Batgirl have any toys to play with and some toys, a cat tree would be great for her to climb but don't put it next to something she will try to jump onto. My daughter's cat got hurt by trying to jump off his cat tree and onto something . I had a cat like Batgirl and he was a wild kitten but he mellowed out when he was older. Your cat has a lot of energy and needs some way to burn it off.

[Reg]

hello myrab51

Welcome to the forum.

The other day I happened to be reading an article in W.V. Cats.com that I think sounds like it could shed some light on your problem. I don't think the new kitty is being vicious, she's perhaps trying to play with the dog. The problem is that without having any siblings or mother, it would appear that she has not learned the art of playing without being rough.

I'm including a web site and the article is in 2 sections, so I'll include them both. Something else I found with this site, there has been quite an amount of investigation done. You need to go down the menu on the left hand side and click on "Links related to Cats". It is full of information that could be of value to you.

http://www.wvcats.com/biting_cat.htm

http://wvcats.com/bitingcatplayaggression.html