Fighting cats

Question
Hello- I have 5 cats and 1 dog. All the animals are males except for one female cat I adopted when my sister couldn't take care of her. The female is very shy and skiddish and usually runs away when she's scared. But lately the female and my youngest Bengal cat have been fighting. Normally, it starts off by the female cornering the male in the bathroom or a room and the male starts hissing. Most if the time we are home to break it up and many times we've found the male bleeding. I'm mot the kind of person to give away animals I am committed to them for life but I'm so stressed about this. What is she doing while no one is home? Is there anything we can do to stop them from fighting? I don't have the heart to get rid of her.

Please help.

Answer
Well you have the law of space working against you for one thing. Studies have show that one cat needs about 125 square feet of living space each to be happy. With five cats, unless you live in a palace, their living spaces are all overlapping which causes major stress in your cats.

I am guessing these cats are all neutered; if not, then you will not stop this problem until they are.

If they are, you may want to start giving them separate living spaces. Another thing that you can try is Feliway, which is a pheromone that helps calm cats down.

If all else fails you can try your female on some mood altering drugs such as amitriptyline.

One thing is the male/female imbalance in the house. That could also be a part of the problem.
Remember that if you find her a home where she will be the only cat and pampered cat at that, that wouldn't be a bad thing would it? You might want to advertise toward an older couple or woman that would like a nice companion. That might be just what she needs. And that would be a blessing you are giving her, not you abandoning her. Think about it that way.