Male cat fights with other cats

Question
Hi Tabbi,

I have 5 rescued cats: Orion (neutered male) 3.5yrs. Kratos (neutered male) 3. Hinata & Sakura (spayed females) 1.5yrs. Dexter (not been neutered yet) 0.5yrs.

Orion was with us since he was 3 months old, he was independent and an 'outdoors'-type from the start, and I'm not quite sure when he started displaying his unsociable behaviour - I think it was around the time that he was neutered (at 7 months). He now fights with the other cats (actually any other cat), he hisses and growls and snarls at them, and yesterday I received a call from a neighbour complaining about Orion terrorizing his cat. Apparently he constantly enters their home, eats their cat's food and fights with him.

I kept him in my room last night, and he was growling and hissing the entire time - he even scratched me when I picked him up. Kratos is a very loving animal, he raised the other 3 kittens and they follow him everywhere, but when he sees Orion he'll lash out as if to keep him away from the kittens.

I have no idea how to resolve this situation - I cannot lock Orion indoors 24/7 but dont know how to keep him out of the neighbour's house and away from fights.

Any suggestion will be very welcome!

Answer
Liezl,

It has been 3 years since he was neutered. Has he been acting like this all along or has there been a noticeable change recently?

Have you taken him to the vet for a checkup? It may be a medical issue and not a behavioral one. You can also talk to the vet about a prescription for 'kitty Prozac'. It is very popular for calming cats with behavioral or emotional problems, either on a short term basis (about 2 weeks), or some cats require it long term for behavior modification.

Can you work with your neighbor? How is Orion getting into their house to eat the food and fight with their cat? Can you let them know when your cat is out so they can keep their door closed? Can they shoo him out instead of letting him eat the food?

Sometimes, though it's hard to do, it's better to rehome a bully cat rather than make the other cats miserable and unhappy. It's not fair to the others and it may change the personalities of the nice cats if they have to constantly live with the aggression. And it's not safe for you if he is turning on you too. That means he is also miserable and unhappy.

Tabbi