compatibility problem

Question
We have 2 well loved cats.
Cat # 1-Gracie. Born in our house 4 yrs ago. Her mom taken in as a pregnant stray--mom & all siblings found other homes. Gracie has been queen of all she surveys since.
Cat # 2-Callie. A sweet calico,about 2 yrs old. taken in as a pregnant stray four months ago.. Callie's kittens aborted with her neutering.
 Callie made it clear from day one that she was willing to be number two cat in household, assuming submissive postures to Gracie and exuding the attitude of "Hi--I'm Callie, let's be friends and play".
 Gracie's aggressive attitude has grown to its present---"All right you little s---, listen up, your a-- is grass and I'm the lawnmower". Gracie is much larger than Callie.
 We must now keep them totally physically separated, alternating their time with the wife and I. If Gracie sees Callie, she will immediately charge, chasing her into her room hiding place. This is such a sad situation. Callie is such a perfect sweetie. Her every movement is punctuated with nervous looks over her shoulder for her tormenter.
 Veterinarian recommended phermones (sp?) had no effect. They now recommend a tranquilizer for Gracie, which I am not keen on.
 Any suggestions will be deeply appreciated.

 Gene Orton

Answer
Gene,

I am about to gibve you some very counter-intuitive advice which you may choose to ignore, or not.  Let me preface this advice by my two rules of cat interactions:  (1) Humans should never interfere and  (2) Humans do not understand cat inter-relationships.  Secondly, I am assuming both are spayed, if not, that would be a must to making things a bit more peaceful!  BTW, it would take about a month for all the hormones to work their way out of a female's system once they get spayed.

Believe it or not, it does not really sound as if they are not getting along.  Callie has decided (in human terminology) to play the victim.  Gracie is more than happy to oblige,  And so, they play chase with Gracie and Callie getting into a mock fight if Gracie catches Callie.  The cats will not really hurt each other doing this.  Cats have very tough skin, so unless someone draws blood, neither is really hurting the other. They are probably just making lots of noise.

So, I would put them back together for most of the time and only separate them if you want to provide Callie with some private affection.  However, if you do provide Callie with that affection, make sure Gracie gets her turn!  If Gracie feels Callie is getting preferential treatment, she (Gracie) will get jealous.

I would not punish or reprimand Gracie for her dominant behavior as that is what many cats do naturally.  Gracie and Callie will, probably, never be good buddies, but they may establish an uneasy truce if ignored.  By separating them, they have no chance of working things out, no matter how unfair to Callie you may think the final arrangement would be.

Good luck & best regards... Norm.