New kitty moved in.

Question
Thank you, Dr.Fry, for taking the time with my questions. We have two cats Reba(age 2 female, spayed)and Stuart(age 11 male, neutered)is very territorial and has an issue with spraying. About 5 months ago a good natured kitty, Snow-Snow (approx 2 yrs old male,now neutered ) who lived nearby but was neglected, slowly moved in with us. Stuart is constantly herding Snow out of the yard or surprise-attacking him and his spraying is relentless. Will Stuart ever relax(just socially; we've given up on the spraying part) and accept Snow-Snow? Also, in Snow's formative months he wasn't fed properly, if at all, by his former owners. Now his main focus is food. He eats all the time and worries about his food dishes(he has many) being full. I know this is a lot to deal with but any help you can give is most appreciated. Thank you, Joanne

Answer
Joanne,

Many cats will TOLERATE each other after time.  Since he is so territorial, he feels as this male is trying to take over his space, his food, his people, etc and the spraying is directly related to that because he is marking his territory.  I would highly recommend FELIWAY (Comfort Zone) to reduce some of the underlying anxiety and see if that, too, may help reduce some of the spraying.  ALso Bach Flower Essences may be of benefit too...Rescue Remedy is a combination one and BEECH is specifically for territorial issues and spraying...just add a few drops to each water dish daily.

As far as Snow and the over-eating...the best thing I can say is portion-control otherwise he will become overweight and have other health issues.  When he goes to the food dishes try to distract him with a pole toy or grooming or a mouse to play with and give him some one-on-one time instead of food.

GOOD LUCK,
Dr. Fry