cat aggression toward dogs/other cats

Question
We have 6 indoor cats, 3 were feral (neutered) and 3 are polydactyl cats(non neutered) born in our home a year ago to a feral mother.  We also have a dog (neutered) and an Eclectus parrot.  All got along fine, even surviving a move to another state.  Just after Thanksgiving, one of our neutered males escaped.  Shortly after, one of the non feral cats began exhibiting aggressive behavior toward our dog, attacking him for no reason, biting and scratching. They can no longer be left alone in the same room. After a month, the escaped male returned.  Two of the non feral cats have become aggressive toward our dog, and even aggressive toward the returning male.  We're at our wits end!  What can we do to calm everybody down?

Answer
Hi Barbara,

The territorial boundaries were upset and shifted. You can try a product called Feliway Comfort Zone. This is a spray the mimics cat's happy pheromones. See if this works. You might want to keep the dog away for a little bit and use a cat to dog introduction protocol to reintroduce him to the cats. The biggest thing that helps is just time. They need to get used to each other again. They will calm down and return to what they were like before. They just need time. Good luck.

Ciao, Karen