3 year old male cat keeps attacking 24 year old female cat

Question

I have a senior cat who is 24 years old. Very frail and small. She was a very happy cat until we got our new little guy which I should say is not so little. He is about 3 times her size.

I would say that he attacks my muffin about 3 to 4 times a day! She walks around in fear all the time. I want her to feel comfortable in her last few years, but instead I'm afraid she will soon die due to the trauma he causes her.

I live in a 3 bedroom apartment with no upstairs space. I don't know how to handle the situation. Of course we love our new cat I'm just to the point of re-homing him which I know is shitty for him, but what else can we do?

I just hate finding patches of her fur all over the house! She now is limping and walks around in fear. She has been with us her entire life. If she had her way she would just relax and sleep, but when this happens he jumps on her back bites her neck until she screams bloody murder and he refuses to get off her back!

Answer 1

I think he's just trying to dominate his new territory so he starts showing her that he's the boss. Usually male cats do not do that with females, but in your case the female is too old for him, so he feels like she's the old owner of this territory and he needs to fight her to win the territory crown.

Try to bring them two in the same room, then close the door and put the old cat in your lap. Treat her well in front of his eyes to show him that she's a member of your pack and not an enemy, then put her down and do the same thing with him so he doesn't feel that she has special pack hegemony over him.

Do the same thing too, many times, and be aware that he may try to attack her while she's on your lap, so you need to be ready to stop him immediately if he attempts to attack.

this treatment will not cure his attitude in one day or two. You have to do it many many times till you feel the change.