How can I stop my unneutered male cat from attacking my unspayed female cat when she is NOT in heat

Question

I keep finding wounds on my female cat and at first I thought that she got in a fight with a raccoon or my other male cat. I saw them playing and he was being a little rough but she was defending herself well and it didn’t seem like she was getting hurt. But then we were gone for a day and we left all 3 of our cats together (we have a 10 year old cat that would never hurt a flea so I know he’s not involved with this at all) And when I saw my female cat she had a bunch of new wounds on her. I will explain what the wounds look like in a minute. So that’s how I figured out that it was my male cat that was doing that to her for sure because they were on the same room together and there was nothing else that could’ve done that to her besides him. The wounds almost look like these weird bleeding rashes which is so puzzling because it seems like he’s biting her because if he was scratching her it would look like a scratch!! I really need help because I don’t know what to do to prevent this. I am thinking about neutering my male cat…

Answer 1

Neuter your male cat.

That was easy. :) If you're not seeing them fight or seeing him inflict any wounds, and it doesn't look like a typical wound, it would be wise to consider other possibilities, such as a skin or other medical condition causing skin eruptions or infections (oozing, sometimes bloody, is a red flag), or some kind of skin parasite. If you can't get her to a vet real soon, it might be a good idea to shampoo her with some kind of mild oatmeal shampoo formulated especially for cats to soothe her skin.

Please see also this good answer for more good suggestions.

Answer 2

It sounds like your unspayed female cat is going outside, as you say she may have been exposed to a raccoon. So first off, keep her inside. And keep her away from the unneutered male until she is spayed. She will get pregnant if you continue to let her outside, and near the male. She could be pregnant already.

It could be that the male has been mating with the female when you were not there. It doesn't matter that you think she was probably not in heat. Mating in cats can be quite painful for the female. He will usually bite her on the back of the neck. He has barbs on his penis which likely cause pain during mating. As she struggles he may injure her.

The other obvious thing for a cat going outside, would be fleas or other parasites/infections. She could be biting at her own skin if very itchy. Give her a flea/parasite treatment.

I'm assuming these wounds are minor - obviously if they are deep she ought to have gone to the vet by now.