My cats used to get along perfectly, but for the past few months, they've started fighting any time they're in a room together. I've had to keep my older cat in my room to prevent fights. Feliways haven't helped. Both cats are adult males, 4 and 6 years old; the younger is not neutered for health reasons, the older is. Any suggestions for how to make them get along again?
Separating them is your best immediate course of action, but definitely take the instigator to the vet. Many times there are underlying health concerns when sudden aggression comes into play. At the very least the vet may suggest certain diets to help curb this.
Obviously we can’t go with the typical route, which is “neuter the cat”. And unfortunately, a lot of this aggression may come from that, which is also why I suggested the vet. Considering he also has other health concerns, it’s imperative that it’s figured out if this is something that would cause extra aggression. Be it pain, discomfort, or even vitamin or mineral deficiency. Yes, even something that may seem so minimal can cause these behavior issues.
For now though, separating them completely, 24/7 is going to be your best option. Why? Because if you can narrow down the cause of the aggression, you’ll be in the right place to attempt re-introductions. The aggressor may benefit from time outside on a supervised walk, it will allow for him to get some of that extra energy out. Definitely make sure that play time is now individual playtime, too, even if they’re okay after reintroductions. For some cats, if they play together, they see it as sharing prey, which typically isn’t ideal, especially if one cat is still intact.
Make sure you have PLENTY of options for them. An intact cat is going to be more territorial, so not only will multiple litter boxes help with this, it can also cut down on the chance of spraying. Multiple food and water options are also must-haves. Essentially if one cat is doing something (eating, drinking, using the litter box), you want enough stations that the other cat still a has a choice between at least two others.
And keep in mind that you definitely are a special case, which is why, yet again, I implore you to bring this up with your veterinarian. As all of my behavioral advice goes, if there is a medical condition or issue that is causing the problem or behavior, behavioral intervention will do absolutely nothing to help. You can do literally everything in the book right, but if there’s still something off medically with the cat, it’s like putting a bandage on a broken bone.Edit: In case it wasn’t clear - all of my behavioral suggestions should come AFTER a vet visit, which I tried to summarize in my last paragraph but apparently failed to do because of the comments I’ve already seen.
don’t give up hope on your cats! as a foster mum I work extra hard to get foster babes used to other cats to make them more adoptable and while some just never come around it takes time and patience! If I were you see if Ebony has a Super Special Treat she likes (like a really tasty can of wet food) and see if that will distract her. Besides that I would look into why she’s doing this. Is she aggressive with other kinds of animals? All cats or just ditto? if just ditto than try and find the root
* cont * root of why she is anxious around ditto in particular and correct that behavior in ditto. also maybe try introducing them in a neutral space? This works better for dogs but since the laundry room in my house is off bounds for my cats that’s usually where I take them and the foster cats to socialize. I hope it works for you! don’t give up hope, some things take time
Ebony’s not the aggressive one - she’s defensive & nervous because Ditto is attacking her. The first time they met was by accident & Ditto immediately attacked her (before Ebony even realized there was another cat in the room). She’s understandably very wary of Ditto now, but her reaction is mainly to make noises & to try and get away. She doesn’t want to instigate anything. That’s all Ditto.
As far as Ditto, we’re guessing she’s aggressive/attacks so quickly because she likely didn’t have any good experiences with other cats as a stray outside. She’s high energy, outgoing, etc., so her reaction is “attack first, ask questions later”. She’s not easily distracted once she’s had her attention caught by Ebony & wants to attack. I just can’t really tell if she’s afraid of Ebony and that’s why she’s attacking or if she’s decided the apartment is her territory & she wants to get Ebony out of it. I was leaning towards the first one, but her behavior otherwise doesn’t really seem to match it, honestly.
Unfortunately, since the apartment is so small, we don’t have any neutral spaces - Ebony has access to the entire apartment except my room, which is where we started keeping Ditto when we brought her in, since Ebony was already used to not going in there.
I know this is a fish blog but right now i'm just having issues with my cat and my dog & I don't know where else to go. My cat has suddenly began acting extremely aggressive towards my dog, arching her back & fluffing herself up at him, and if he comes to close to her she leaps on top of him and attacks him, biting and clawing at his head while he's yelping and screaming. As far as I can tell, nothing else has changed about either of their behaviors besides the cat becoming friendlier & cuddlier than she used to be to us humans, as she's been kind of a standoffish cat before. The dog in this situation is a 60 lb male shepherd cattledog mix who we've had for nearly 7 years, and the cat is a 7 lb shelter cat we've had for nearly 5 years. Every time the cat attacks the dog, he chases her for a second afterwards but otherwise he's always been friendly towards her. My mom keeps chasing and hitting the cat after these episodes as well, which I know makes it worse but my mom refuses to listen to me about it. Up until a few days ago, the pets were pretty tolerant of each other & I just don't know what to do. I know we need to get her to the vet to see if something medical is causing it but that's not really anything we can afford for the next few weeks. I just don't know what to do, and I'm really afraid that we'll have to get rid of her, so I guess I decided to turn here for help. I just don't know what to do.
My boyo (generally pretty sweet and laid back, especially since his neuter a few months ago) recently started hissing at his sister and he’s been jumpy. I don’t think he’s in pain because it’s not like he responds to a specific spot being touched. Some days he’s fine, and others immensely grumpy. The only thing I can’t think of is that his sister likes to steal his food. I do my best to monitor the situation, but maybe he’s going hungry?
Cats are MASTERS of hiding their pain. A LOT of times, the only clues some people get that their cat is in pain is from a change in their behavior. Certain pains don’t get aggravated by touching them, so while testing it like that is a good idea to make sure it’s not an emergency, it definitely doesn’t give you all the answers you need. Not just that, but certain issues with diet (not that they aren’t getting what they need, but sometimes they may not be processing it the right way - again, I’m not a vet so I’m only stating that this CAN cause aggression issues). Either way, sudden behavioral change like this deserves a vet visit to be sure, only to make sure he’s processing everything the way he should be, or, in a more serious case, that he isn’t currently in pain.
After your vet visit, try some Feliway diffusers around the home to help encourage a behavioral change. I’ve said before, but these pheromones aren’t an automatic fix. They help allow the cat to be more receptive towards behavioral interventions. If a cat is too stressed, they’re not going to adhere to new rules or schedules as well. The Feliway (or brand of your choosing), will keep the background stress levels down so you can move forward with other training and behavior modifications. It’s basically making sure you’re not working with a brick wall.
Individual playtime is good. Making sure that you give each cat their own time with their favorite toy (feather wands usually help more aggressive or energetic cats get tired out). If you’re able, consider individual walks on a harness while they’re supervised. First taking one, and then the other.
Check outdoors to see if your cat is spotting any outdoor issues. Do you have animal neighbors frequenting your back yard? It’s possible he’s become aggressive from seeing them and not having an outlet for that aggression, so it gets turned against his sister.
As for food, monitoring is one thing, but it’s hard to be sure. The best thing I’ve ever gotten is the SureFeed microchip pet feeder. There are cheaper ones available, yes, but it requires your cat to wear a collar and a tag. The tags can get flipped around, making them unable to read, and causing problems with the flaps opening up to allow them to eat. Easy fix if you’re home all the time. Not so much if you leave for extended periods. I can’t speak for those, however, as I’ve never personally used them. Some people swear they’re great, others swear they’ve had nothing but problems. I personally have an earlier SureFeed bowl for Sif and it’s been easy and consistent.
The thing is, if only one cat has an issue, you really only need ONE of these. It does require a microchip (which I would recommend). If that’s not doable, try one of the cheaper options on the market available with the tag. There may be a learning curve of getting your cat used to a collar if they don’t already have one (but in general, stay away from collars with bells on them - while it makes us more aware of the cat’s presence, it can cause some anxiety within the cat, and if he’s already experiencing aggression issues, you don’t want to set him up for failure).
As per the usual, multiple litter, drinking, and eating options will also help.
But as I said - Be absolutely sure to make sure everything is okay with your veterinarian first. All of these suggestions work in a vaccuum - where no other problems are present. If there’s anything that medically would cause aggression, nothing I say is going to help him. If anything, prolonging diagnosis may be detrimental to ever fixing the issue. I know it seems bizarre, but sudden aggression is something we’re taught early on may be caused by an underlying health condition or injury, so it’s imperative to have a veterinarian look at the animal to make absolutely sure that this isn’t the case before going through with any behavioral modification.
Hi!! I just wanted to add to the cat aggression post. My kitty is wonderful and loving! But I adopted her at the age of 4 and she had play aggro issues. She will get “stuck” and fixated on prey (my leg or arm or foot) and going limp, saying “no”, and holding still did not work. I would have to peel her teeth and claws off. Now I keep a sweater so when she hunts me, I dangle the sweater between us to block her view and THEN I walk away. This keeps us both safe while she cools off!
As I’ve said before, saying “no” actually encourages the cat to continue biting and attacking, so half the issue may lie in that.
This level of aggression is a pretty serious one, and if you’re making it work for you, that’s good. But others may not be able to deal with something similar.
I have this cat who's violent, grumpy, and doesn't like affection,we've had her for 3+ yrs, and got her when she was a kitten. Is there any way I can get her to be more comfortable around me.
This is a FANTASTIC question, but it requires quite a bit of explaining, so strap in.
Typically when I go through these sorts of problems, there are a lot of questions that need to be asked. It’s the kind of thing that, were I with a client, I would prefer to have a conversation before giving any definitive answer for how you should move forward. I’ll ask these questions now, feel free to either message me privately, or send another question anonymously. But since I can’t get these details in this format, I can only give you a broad spectrum of what could possibly be happening, and how to amend it. I wish there was a simple answer of “Do this and your cat will behave positively”, but the idea here is to identify why she is becoming aggressive, because there are many reasons, and each reason has a different solution.
First I would ask you about her history. Is she spayed? Is she declawed? How old was she when you adopted her (in weeks or months if she was a kitten, believe it or not, this actually matters)? Has she been to the vet recently? Did you adopt her, get her from a breeder, or find her? Did she have littermates? Was she separated from her mother before the age of 5 weeks? If she was very young when you first got her, how many people handled her, and how often? Does your cat go outside, or are they kept inside only? Despite the list of options below, the answer to a single one of these questions could immediately show the solution, and they may not have anything to do with my listed suggestions.Secondly I would ask about the nature of the aggressiveness. Does she bite? Claw? Spit? Hiss? Growl? What is her body language? Are her ears back when she is violent? Are her pupils dilated? Does her fur stand on end or does her tail get puffy? Does she hunch her back and cower? Does she flick her tail back and forth? The body language of a cat often tells a lot about what the cat is feeling and what kind of aggressiveness they’re encountering. Does she attack while you are petting her? Does she go after you seemingly out of nowhere from across the room? Does she attack after looking out the window?
I can’t assume how your cat is acting aggressively, but I can give you the types of aggression commonly seen in cats, how to amend the behavior, and hopefully you can identify what is going on. I’m only offering basic solutions because without knowing the finer details, I can’t properly give you a plan.
Play aggression - Typically seen in younger cats, but if she’s about 3 years old, she still qualifies. This can happen if the kitten is raised without littermates, and often they have bad claw and bite control while they’re in a playful mood, and sometimes that play can turn aggressive. This can also occur if the cat isn’t being stimulated enough for their particular necessary levels of stimuli. Some cats don’t need to play much, others need to play fairly often. Usually this shows as biting, scratching, swatting, pouncing, wrestling, leaping in the air, and chasing imaginary objects. Basic solution: Introduce more positive play stimuli to your cat. Play with them often an reward them for positive play behavior. If they play for a few minutes without attacking you, give them a treat. Try going longer and longer as you progress, but do not stop the amount of times you play with them. As they get older, this issue should calm down.
Redirected aggression - This one is incredibly common. This happens when a cat is unable to attack the intended person, animal, toy, or other target of their aggression. Once cats become aroused in a heightened state of aggression towards a threat or prey, they can remain in this state for hours, so for something that seems out of nowhere, the cat may just be unleashing some pent-up aggression from something they saw earlier. Can your cat see out any windows in your home? If so, it’s possible they can spot another cat in their “territory”, or another person, or even a bird or rodent outside, it can cause this. Other causes are the smell of another cat on their guardian, another person entering the house, getting outside if the cat is exclusively an indoor cat, being in a shelter (or shelter-like environment), hearing high-pitched noises, being harassed by a dog, or having a person try to intervene in a fight with another cat.Basic solution: First, the hard part, you have to identify the trigger of this aggression. Find out if this is your problem, and what is causing your cat distress. Then you can work on the issue. If you notice the cat getting upset at something, try to redirect their energy through positive play, as mentioned before. The best bet, though, is to foresee this trigger and be able to begin play before the cat even becomes aroused.
Fear/defensive aggression - This is probably the most common form of aggression in felines. Usually this occurs because the cat is frightened of a situation and is trying to defend itself. Some causes are: punishment, cornering, bathing or grooming, being startled, and being exposed to frightening stimulus (nail clippers, certain people).Basic solution: Identify what your cat is afraid of. Are they afraid of human contact? Try a small amount of petting and reward them with a treat, and then stop. You don’t want to overstimulate a cat if they are already fearful, and be sure you only approach if they are in a calm state (ears up, pupils normal, tail calm, hair down, back relaxed). Cats become fearful if they do not have control over a situation, so give your cat plenty of escape routes, places to hide, safe spaces where she will not be disturbed. This can take a VERY long time, but you want the cat to bolster their confidence with a very cat-friendly home. Places up high for her to climb and be above people (shelves, cat trees), and places to hide in where she doesn’t feel like she’ll get cornered. Reward her for positive interactions, but don’t ever push it. Slowly introduce her to the stimuli that causes the fearful aggression, reward her for a calm demeanor towards it. If she becomes fearful, back away, and begin the exercise again from the beginning once she calms down.
Territorial aggression - This one is hardly ever directed towards humans, but the aggression exists between cats. Basic solution: Give each cat their own area to own. Plenty of spaces to go up high and stay down low and hide if they need to.
Overstimulation aggression - This occurs when a cat is pet too much. They may have originally liked the feeling, but you’ll notice their tail begin to twitch before swatting your hand away, or even biting. Each cat is different. For some cats, the smallest touch can overstimulate them.Basic solution: Do not pet an overstimulated cat. Allow the cat to approach you for affection. Some cats do fine with little to no human interaction at all, and that’s how they are. Always reward a cat for a positive human interaction, no matter who it is with. Even if the cat allows you to only stroke it once, reward it, and leave it at that. You can work up to more strokes as long as the cat remains calm and content. But the moment you see signs of overstimulation, stop. You can begin the exercise again once the cat has calmed down.
Sometimes, cats are not social with humans, depending on their upbringing. While many of us want to hold and cuddle our cats, it can be very overwhelming for them. Cats need to feel in control in order to feel safe. Allow your cat to approach you for affection, and always reward that behavior. They will come to identify interacting with you as a positive thing.
If you would like, I can give you a more detailed theory and possible plan. Just let me know your responses to the questions I asked. The best form may be the instant messenger where we could speak in real time. But if not, I hope this helps!
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