Alpha Male Spraying

Question
I have two female Savannahs who are less than two years old (an F3 and an
F4). We recently moved into my boyfriend mother's home. She has three cats,
two males and their mother (they appear to be a Bengal mix). The smaller of
the brothers has been the alpha male in the house for ten years and has
been my boyfriend's mother's favorite. He is very possessive of her. My alpha
female (the F4) doesn't run from him, but she doesn't back down either. My
F3 just tries to steer clear of him. Although one night I woke up to hissing and
I saw him blocking her in the bathroom attached to my room. We keep our
cats' food, water, and litter in our bedroom and bathroom. Her cats' litter and
food are in the kitchen on the other side of the house. When we first moved
in, we slowly introduced the cats. There has been some hissing, but no
outright brawls. Recently, the alpha male has been spraying. Once near our
cats' food,  twice near their litter, once on a CD case of mine nowhere near
either food or litter, and just tonight, near his own food (while the F3's nose
was in it) right in front of my boyfriend's mother. (The first time he's actually
been caught in the act.) We have been in the house for about three weeks.
We were hoping that they would work it out themselves, but it seems to be
getting worse. We are planning on moving out in August.  What can we do
about the situation in the meantime?

Answer
Amanda,

My first recommendation is to take the male cat who is fighting and spraying to the vet to be sure that there isn't a medical reason behind his less than polite behavior. If there is nothing medically wrong with the offending cat and he isn't neutered then I really suggest that you recommend neutering to your mother in law. If your kitties weren't properly introduced to your mother in law's household that could also be the reason for the territorial displays. In order to introduce cats properly it is advisable to put the new cats behind a closed door with their own food, water, litter, beds and toys for a period of 2-3 weeks. If you isolate the new cats the resident cats have the chance to get used to the idea of having the new cats around. I usually recommend that you feed the resident cats on the outside of the door where the new cats are temporarily housed. Since you are planning on moving out reasonably shortly it may just be best to keep your kitties in the room that you and your boyfriend are staying in and the fighting and urine marking should settle down reasonably quickly. You can try a homeopathic remedy called Bach's Rescue Remedy which is a blend of flower essences that is designed to help calm and reassure the cats. You can generally find Rescue Remedy in health food/natural health stores. It is okay to give it to all of the cats in the house. I would suggest about ten drops per day in fresh water. If the urine marking continues even after you have isolated your cats then there may be another issue that needs diagnosis or a behaviorist may help to defuse the situation until you and your cats move out. If you opt to introduce the cats properly then you will want to follow the rule of thumb that I recommend to anyone with a multiple cat household. It is best if you have one litter box per cat plus one per level of your home. The purpose behind this is to avoid aggression around the litter boxes and prevent the other cats from eliminating outside of the box out of fear. It is also a smart idea to follow the same rule for beds, toys, food and water so that all of the cats' needs are met without fighting and jealousy. Whatever your choice is I do recommend that your cats are isolated for a period of 2-3 weeks to defuse the situation and help to have a more peaceful household as far as the cats are concerned. Cats are extremely territorial which is the reason that I recommend a gradual introduction, I have found that cats don't respond well to having new cats deposited into their territory and often react with aggression that can get out of hand...It is important that you NEVER put your hands in between fighting cats to try and break up the fight. Doing so can cause serious injury. Cat scratches can result in infection, but bites are quite serious. If you do get bitten I recommend that you get immediate medical attention. It is wise to ensure that the all of the cats within the house have current vaccines for everyone's health and safety. If you must intervene to stop a fight that has gotten out of hand then I suggest that you pour a glass of water on the cats or spray them with a plant mister (only water, no fertilisers or chemicals). I recommend water as a safe means to settle the cats down a bit and get them safely separated, however you can use a couple of brooms to gently but firmly separate the cats and send them to their own rooms to cool off. I do hope that you have found this information helpful. If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me again.