young cat bullies older cat

by patty
(canada)

How can I stop my 4 year old cat from chasing and terrorizing my 12-year-old cat? both are females. the young one corners her in the litter box area or waits till she comes out and pounces on her. every morning the younger chases the older one off our bed and down the stairs. this has been going on for so long the older cat's personality has changed. she is very fearful and slinks along close to the walls and scurries anywhere she has to go; she is often seems anxiously looking around. We know that if she turned around and gave the young one a good swat, she would probably leave her alone but for some reason she doesn't (she's twice the size of the young one!) she is still very affectionate to us, but we are very concerned about her chronic anxious state of mind. Of course we scold the young cat if we catch her chasing the old cat, but don't's always see it. Can anything be done? (besides giving up one of the cats, we love both alot)

Answer by Kate
Sadly i don't know of any way that this behavior can be altered. It is a natural beahvaior of making sure that the older cat realises that the younger cat is the boss. the older cat has obviosuly decided that to let the younger cat be boss or as you say she could fight back if she wanted to.

Unfortunately this the balance your cats have set for themselves. It is their decision. i say this because i too years ago had the exact same situation but in my case my older cat decided that she didn't like the situation and she took herself off down the road and found herself a new home. She lived for many years with our neighbours. In your case your older cat has decided to put up with it.

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