cat behavior problems

Question
QUESTION: My two female spay cats hate each other and cannot be in the same room or near each other without fighting . One is getting very fat while the other--very thin ! I cannot always be home to keep them apart. Any help appreciated !   thanks, carol

ANSWER: I need a lot more information that this. How old are they, how long have they known each other, what are they eating etc.

I don't know if this is territorial or not without some more information. I can say one thing, your fat cat is probably scaring off the other cat from the food. That alone is a good reason to feed them separately or the thin cat is going to get really ill.

Please send more information.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: My first cat is 6 yrs.of age and I've had her since she was months.My new black cat is about 2 Lyra. and I've had her for almost a yr.She was a stray; both are spay. Introducing them carefully, I've found NO way to help them with their nasty behaviour.  They eat Medi-Cal(fr. the vet), also Purina 1 different flavours, also a litle taste of wet food sometimes. Too much?? It is very difficult to feed them separately/ keep them separate rooms, etc. The oldest cat hisses &spits immediately on seeing the younger, fatter one, while the fat one only wants to attack & "kill" on sight (of the thiner one !!!) WHAT CAN I DO ?? I"M DESPERATE !!  Thank you,  CAROL

Answer
I am not sure what this is:Medi-Cal(fr. the vet)- where I live Medi-Cal is a program of free medical care for people.

So this has been going on for a year is what I am guessing? Are they together all day most of the time? There can't be a constant battle going on.

One of the things some people do is use a product called Feliway, which is a pheromone that calms down the cats and makes them think every thing is wonderful in life. I have not had any experience with it so I don't know how effective it is.
Another thing you can try is to put the younger one on some amitriptyline, which is a mood enhancement drug that works quite well for most pets.

Other than being in the room and not showing favoritism (in their eyes as I am sure you don't) when they are both in there, you might want to take the thin one in for a check up. If there is a medical problem going on the younger cat might sense that and since only the strong survive in the animal world, the younger cat might be trying to "weed out the weak" as it were. They may be house cats, but they still have big cat instincts.

So that is about all I can tell you Carol. You are overfeeding them and feeding them junk on top of it.
Stop buying so many kinds of foods and put them both on Science Diet Adult Maintenance or Indoor cat formula. They might be lacking in some essential nutrients that is causing this behavior problem. Dyes and junky food can do that.
It will be a bit more in cost at the start but once they are on it for a few weeks they will eat less and it will cost you less per feeding than what you are feeding now. Plus it is way healthier for them. Obese cats are unhealthy cats, so both of yours have malnutrition issues. Obesity is actually a form of malnutrition, which means -lacking in nutrients.

So get the new food for them, donate the old food after you mix it for seven days into the new food, and see how they do. Get the Feliway and try that also.
I hope that some of this helps.
Let me know how they are doing in about two weeks. Feel free to write if you have any more questions.