my cats hate each other

Question
Dear Ali
I tried to send an email earlier, but my computer crashed and i am not sure if you will get my email, so I am trying again just in case.
I fostered 2 female kittens about 2 yrs ago, fell in love with them and decided to keep them. Chillie and Pepper.
Around 7 months ago I found a 3 day old kitten in my garden, once sure the mother had abandoned it, I took it in. I bottle fed and cared for it and against all the odds Chip survived. During this process my other cats were always around, I even kept Chip in a cage in the lounge, they showed little interest apart from ocassional hissing, which I expected. As Chip grew I allowed him out with the others, always supervised by me. However if I turned my back for an instant they would set upon him, swipping and hissing agressivley when this happened i always rescued him, perhaps wrongly, but he is so small and they were so agressive. I have tried putting a large pen in the lounge and putting chip in it when we are all together, however my big cats try and swipe him through the bars or circle it to get him off guard I did this for hours every evening for 6 weeks. I then put them in the pen and let Chip out, but they watch him like hawks, he shows little interest but is very nervous. Chip now lives in the kitchen, whilst we have a large kitchen, this is not ideal. One cat accidently got into the kitchen and was very agressive growling spitting and scratching Chip, even holding his neck. Chip was badly scratched lost some fur on his neck and very frightened. I have tried having the cats in the kitchen and chip in the house to mix their scents. Do i let them battle it out with him once and for all and see what happens? I fear they may actually kill him they seem so aggresive. It breaks my heart to see him getting a beating (Chillie has managed to get to him on 2 ocassions)
Chip is very small for his age my other cats are 3 times as big as him he also has eye problems which makes him more nervous. My other cats have been rather spoilt  and could be jealous, but i have never pushed them out, love and fuss them always and make sure the have special time with me. Chillie and Pepper are normally so loving you can do anything with them the perfect pets, i dont understand it. We are now 7 months on and i have tried everything i could think of. will they ever get on or do i accept things the way they are, i want my house back and a happy home. My other cats often just sit by the kitchen door as if waiting for any oppurtunity to get into the kitchen and attack him, they go straight for him. However if this is how it is to be i will have to live with it. Chip will always need special care for his eyes and the thought of parting with him is out of the question, he is happy and content with his little life, i would just love  him to have some cat company other than me. is this a lost hope.
all cats are nutered / spayed.
Hope you can help.
kind regards
Sam

Answer
Sam,

Chillie and Pepper may very well be feeling left out because you had to give Chip more attention and they were probably jealous. It seems odd to me that Chillie and Pepper are so aggressive even after having had the opportunity to get to know Chip over time through a kennel. My first suggestion would be having all of your cats examined by your family vet to be sure that there are no medical issues contributing to this behavior. I dont expect that there will be any health issues that are causing this aggression.
There are a few tips that I hope will help. I think that Chillie and Pepper may be less aggressive with Chip if you reintroduce him to the household properly. I would recommend that you isolate Chip behind a closed door with food, water, litter, a bed and some toys for about 2 weeks. It is important that you realize that just because Chip is behind a closed door doesnt mean that you cant take time to interact with him a few times a day. It is important that you also take the time to interact with Chillie and Pepper to avoid more jealousy. I would recommend that you feed Chillie and Pepper on the opposite side of the closed door that you are feeding Chip on. It is also a good idea to play with the cats under the door with a kitty tease or some similar toy if at all possible. During this reintroduction period I would recommend that you try a homeopathic remedy called Bachs Rescue Remedy which is a blend of flower essences that is designed to calm and reassure. You can generally find Rescue Remedy in health food/natural health stores. I would recommend that you add about 10 drops of Rescue Remedy to all of the water bowls in your house and be sure that the water is fresh every morning. For more acute anxiety many retailers carry Rescue Remedy in spray or cream form. For instance if any of the cats are anxious in spite of the dose that is being added to their water you can spray Rescue Remedy in a room or on a bed. You can apply Rescue Remedy cream to the part of the ear flap that is just skin. You may be amazed at how effective Rescue Remedy. Rescue Remedy is used by some vets worldwide to calm anxious animals and the best part of it is that it is very safe and provided that there are no allergic reactions (I havent heard of any yet and I have used it in my home on various animals for about 10 years now) you can use it as often as needed. You may find that as Chip relaxes, Chillie and Pepper calm down and are more receptive to Chip. Prior to allowing Chip out of isolation it is a good idea to be sure that there isnt any potential for fighting over resources. The best way to start off with this is to have one litter box per cat plus one (many pet stores sell disposable litter pans that are ready to use which means that as they become unnecessary you can throw them away) per level of your home and one set of food and water dishes per cat plus one. Be sure that your litter boxes and food and water dishes arent close together because that can cause the cats to urinate or defecate on the floor rather than in the box because cats dont like to use the toilet where they eat. Be sure that you try to have a bit of space between the litter boxes or the older cats may feel the need to guard their resources. I would recommend that you place the food and water bowls in opposite corners of the kitchen (or where your cats are normally fed) to further prevent bullying or possessive behavior that can escalate to serious aggression. It sounds as though Chip is a fairly shy and submissive cat so it is important that when you are handing out treats, toys or a regular meal that you give him his share after Chillie and Pepper have gotten theirs (it may be best to have Chip eat in the opposite corner of the room from the older cats to prevent fighting).I wouldnt suggest that you continue to overprotect Chip once the isolation period is over because that may stimulate jealousy and anger in Chillie and Pepper. It is important that you give affection the same way that the food is given. Before snuggling up with Chip or caring for any special needs that he has I would recommend that you pick each of the older cats up and pay attention to them for a few minutes. It may take some work and patience to get things settled down. I am not suggesting that you stop loving, handling or caring for Chip, I am suggesting that you do your best to take the time to have the older cats understand their positions within the household using the suggestions that I have offered. There is no real overnight success in this situation. If you have little or no success with the reintroduction process in terms of reducing bullying and fighting over things like toys, food and litter boxes you may want to speak to your veterinarian about a referral to an animal behaviorist. An animal behaviorist is trained to understand the reasons behind animal behaviors and the best way to adjust or stop them. The fact that the cats are all neutered is a positive thing because while I suspect that jealousy, bullying and guarding resources makes for tension between the cats and frustration for you I can say with almost 100% certainty that things would be a lot worse with the add issue of hormones. I know that this will be tough but it is important that you try to make a conscious effort not to immediately jump to Chips defense once you have reintroduced him to Chillie and Pepper because that may be frustrate the older cats and make it more difficult to change the patterns that have evolved. Cats are quite tough, they have incredibly thick skin. Unfortunately because Chip was hand raised he missed out on the normal scraps and scuffles that happen between littermates while they are very young and still with their mother. The fights for dominance start almost immediately after birth, if you have ever had experience of watching a very young litter of kittens interact with each other you will see that even before their eyes open they are using their paws to push their brothers and sisters out of the way. All of the normal play with kittens focuses on practicing hunting and survival skills as well as vying for dominance. Usually the runt in a litter of kittens is the weakest one because they werent strong enough to push their way past their more dominant siblings to nurse. It is important that you understand that cats are predators and they routinely practice hunting/survival skills and establish a hierarchy by forcing the weaker cat to submit. In larger cats like lions the more submissive cats must wait until the dominant ones have eaten their fill, they survive on what is left over and if food is scarce they often dont survive. It is really quite amazing how much domestic house cats have in common with their larger relatives. In order to curb the aggression and fighting I am recommending that you make more resources available. It is okay for Chip to get lessons on how to be a cat from Pepper and Chillie. I would suggest that you step back and watch, the obvious exception is if things are escalating to the point that fur is flying and the cats are caterwauling and snarling at each other. It is important that you not stick your hands or any other body parts in between fighting cats to separate them or try to avoid them hurting each other. My recommendation is to use a water pistol or a broom to gently guide the cats to separate spaces so that they can cool off. Some cats are very vocal and will hiss and even growl while they are play fighting and it is normal to hear one cat using a more high pitched meow (not screaming at each other) which is submissive. Cats have very thick skin and they will routinely use their hind paws to kick each other in the head and scratch each other. Simple scratches that arent too deep can be treated at home by cleaning it with warm salt water (which needs to be rinsed off completely) and applying an antibiotic ointment daily. If you have any reason to suspect that one of the cats has bitten another and broken the skin it is necessary to see your vet for treatment as cat bites have a nasty habit of becoming infected. I hope that you have found this information helpful. If you have any further questions or concerns or you would simply like to send an update my way, please don`t hesitate to contact me again.