Misery Won't Let Company Use the Litter Box

So I'll be cat-sitting for the next couple weeks and Maude — who's quite territorial, as it turns out — is being everything but a gracious host.

Sure, I didn't expect them to hit it off; I know cats aren't the least bit like dogs in that regard, but I did hope that by Day 3 she'd at least let the poor guy "do his business" in his litter box without her glaring eyes and guttural growl just inches from his face.

Instead, she frequently chases him out of his own box, refuses to let him near hers, and then makes use of his facilities just to spite him.

In which case, I'm quite convinced that if my guest cat (a neutered 10-year-old male) had a temperament at all like Maude's, they'd have engaged in an actual fight by now (he could take her... she has youth on her side, but he's twice her size and has talons of steel that've never been trimmed). Luckily, guest kitty is mild-mannered and — though he'll growl and hiss right back at Maude — he's generally quite content to ignore her and (I'm sorry to say) he frequently submits to her hen-pecking.

This has been brutal for me, as that means I'm awoken frequently throughout the night with sounds of Guest Cat being chased away from his litter box, his food dish, and his water on 8 out of 10 attempts (Maude occasionally "lets" him get what he wants). The sound of cat claws against the floor is often preceded by, and then followed with, a variety of growls and hisses by both parties.

Maude often won't even let him leave my bedroom, where he's spent most of his visit hiding under the bed.

And, no, she doesn't let him stay under there in peace; rather, she joins him at the opposite end; eyes glaring and tail flipping. I feel terribly sorry for them both; Guest Cat because he's made visible attempts at "making nice" (unlike Maude — who's only sweet to people she knows — Guest Cat is sweet to everyone).

And Maude because being a hateful [expletive noun omitted] is clearly quite exhausting. She's less inclined to be picked up and/or petted, as her now sporadic purring is almost always interrupted by hissing and crying once Guest Cat comes into view. The only time any of us get any rest is when she drifts off to sleep, fighting Morpheus with every ounce of her growling, angst-ridden being.