Life threatening male cat aggression toward young female cat

Question
Dear Mr. Auspitz,

This is a rather complex two part question ...but here goes.

Our eight year old "neutered" male cat (Memphis) is most definitely producing sperm! (My hometown vet neutered Memphis when he six months old.) HOWEVER, recently a new addition to our family "Piper" now eight months old became pregnant. We'd had her since six weeks, she came in heat twice but was still so small (five lbs.) that I wanted to wait for the surgery. When I took her in to our current vet (first week in February '07) she was already 4 weeks pregnant! You can imagine my awestruck surprise since her little feet had not once touched the ground since rescuing her at six weeks on September 30, '06! Our eight-year-old daughter later informed me that she had witnessed Memphis "holding Piper by the neck and mounting her 'like the horses do'"...we raise and train horses here on the farm. Oh boy! That's when it hit me! Why/how was his neutering surgery eight years ago not a success? Piper, being a kitten herself, was not ready physically or mentally for motherhood. She was spayed successfully with no serious problems and the three tiny kittens aborted.

(Over the years we have accepted Memphie's somewhat eccentric behaivor patterns with little question since he is totally deaf and somewhat peculiar ...howling at night, etc. even displaying mildly autistic behaviors...attempting to "jump into" pictures on the wall, knocking things off tables on purpose to watch them break, etc.) I'm a psychologist and have addressed this sort of behavior since his being a kitten. For training a spray water bottle has always worked wonders with him. But now the "howling at night makes much more sense!!!) He has never sprayed urine or marked the house that I'm aware of.

Anyways ...I hope that our current vet here in North Carolina can help with the testosterone problems and relating health issues, BUT here is the real and very serious current problem. On two occasions recently, I have been alerted by Piper's high pitched and frightened cries. When quickly running to her rescue (on both these occasions) I discovered her on her back (belly up) with Memphis standing over her tightly/forcefully clutching her throat in his mouth. The first time I had to literally pull him off her and she actually began coughing when released. The second time he ran when he saw me. We used to let him out of the house (years back) for brief exercise periods. On two occasions he came out of the woods carrying a dead squirrel (fully grown) that he had apparently stalked and killed! For years now he has not been allowed outside for his own safety.

All other times Memphis is very kind and gracious toward young Piper. Cuddles and plays with her. Licks and grooms her. We have another female cat "Zoie" (three years old)whom he never bothers, but Zoie is very independent and makes that quite clear. She can stand her ground well when necessary.) He was around Zoie when she was a kitten prior to being spayed and we never witnessed any sign of mating behaviors even thought she did come in heat once before her surgery.

We are not allowing Memphis to be alone with Piper at all!!! I am very worried about this and seeking whatever help I can find. We love all our cats and want the best for them. Memphie has been my "baby boy" for a long time now, but has never seemed jealous of Zoie, etc. I am seriously puzzled!

Sorry for such a long inquiry but I felt that I needed to fully explain. Again, here's the issues:

1. The failed neutering (?) Where do we go from here? My old vet back home in Virginia has retired. He was absolutely wonderful. Cared for many of our animal family members for over two decades! I do not blame him at all!

2. The very serious aggressive episodes toward Piper? We know this cannot be overlooked! Any suggestions?
  
Thank you very much in advance for any information you may offer.

Best regards,
Norah Clare Lyonhill-Smith
alyenorah@earthlink.net


Answer
Norah,

Where in North Carolina do you live?  I am asking this because one of the best (in my opinion, the best!) vets in the country has a practice in Raleigh.  You would need to contact Gail Bowman of Bowman Animal clinic in Raleigh.  Her e-mail is Tuvets@bellsouth.net.  Look up the clinic and contact her.  I would phone them and set up an appointment for Memphis with Dr. Gail Bowman ((her husband Carl is also a vet).

Meanwhile, back to your questions.  It sounds to me as if your male was a monorchid (one descended testicle) or a cryptorchid (no descended testicles), and your vet in Virginia did not get both testicles.  I would consult with Dr. Gail Bowman, and take her advice.  Dr. Bowman not only does and understands normal occidental veterinary medicine but is also a practitioner of many oriental veterinary practices.  She combines both western and eastern medicine to give the cat the best treatment possible.  My guess is, if there is a testicle floating around in there, it would explain the hormonal and, maybe, the aggressive behavior.  Dr. Bowman could find the cause and tell you what must be done.

On the other question, if the hormones are the cause of the aggressive behavior, it might be treatable.  Unfortunately, on RARE occasions, cats become more and more aggressive towards everything and everybody and these end up having to be put to sleep. My guess is that his hormones may have a lot to do with his aggressive behavior towards Piper.  Even though I normally counsel leaving cats run together to work out their relationships, I would counsel otherwise for Memphis and Piper.

A note on disciplining.  I am not a big fan of spray bottles.  You can look into a different technique called clicker training (used on cats, dogs, dolphins, etc.).  This is described at Karen Pryor's web site:

http://wwww.clickertraining.com


Please keep me posted on how things go.

Best regards... Norm.