Cats fighting - help!!

caevans

Help please. Our 2 cats, who have always got along well, got into a huge fight tonight. Not sure why. Now the youngest cat (non dominant) wont stop growling which is setting the dominant cat off and they are attacking each other. Freaking out as never seen them like this.
To compound matters my toddler is really unwell and have to take her to outpatients right now. Argh!!!! We are keeping them separate, but worried that they won't calm down enough to live together.
Please help and if I don't respond right away it's due to toddler.
Night from hell :-(

3v3

Sorry to hear your toddler is unwell; hope outpatients will provide the help needed.

As for your cats, could one of them be unwell, which has resulted in the tiff? Can you get a Feliway diffuser which should calm them both down? The only downside of a diffuser will be the fact that it has a limit on how far the "aroma" travels and it is a little pricey. An alternative might be a capsule for calming cats at stressful times (Zylkene, 75mg) which costs approx 56p per capsule and can be sprinkled on food to make swallowing the stuff much easier (you won't need a prescription for it, but my local PetsatHome would only supply it from the vets counter).

caevans

Thank you - ear infection (toddler not cats!)
Found an old feliway spray so have been liberally squirting it and now ordered those meds suggested. Am so hoping we can put them together again soon. Trying to keep them apart in a small house with toddler and baby will be hellish :-(
Thanks

3v3

I can well imagine how hellish it would be for you! How old are your cats? How long have they lived together (in peace?)? Are they the same gender? Have they been neutered?

Ouchie, toddler ear infections! One of mine suffered with those; hope you get some anti biotics and calpol.

caevans

Hi, we have had our oldest for about 5 years and the youngest for about 3 years. It's taken a long time for them to become 'friends' but they have never properly fought like they did tonight. The youngest is up on top of the kitchen units hissing at us. Up until tonight she has only hissed 3 x in her whole life!! She is obviously terrified and won't be comforted.
She is setting our older dominant cat off.
So distressing seeing youngest like this. A truce is not looking likely very soon and am panicking slightly as to how I am going to keep the apart with a toddler wanting through to the kitchen all the time. Argh!
They are also indoor cats (both rescued as indoor cats) but we are now in a house, so if this persists we may have to find a way of letting them out so they have space away from each other?
What a day!

Fire_Fox

Is it possible one of the cats is ill or injured? That could have triggered it.

3v3

Please do not let them out if they are house cats! That would cause them so much stress and they will be ill equipped to deal with that big bad world outside

Ok, it is important that *you* keep calm (difficult when you are seeing this scarey behaviour and have an unwell toddler to cope with on top of that). Thankfully, toddlers sleep; so, keep the kitchen door open so the cats can find their own "safe space" in the mean time. Hopefully, your order for those capsules will arrive fairly quickly.

Also, you may want to get the youngest one checked out at your vets (or probably, both of them!). To suddenly alter behaviour like this, without cause, is unusual but may be due to one of them being unwell.

What gender are they?

lister

3v3 wrote: »

Please do not let them out if they are house cats! That would cause them so much stress and they will be ill equipped to deal with that big bad world outside

I completely disagree. I have worked in cat rescue for years, and a substantial majority of stressed cats we are asked to rehome are because they have been kept indoors. I have lost track of all the cases where we are told 'they have always been indoor cats and it's been fine until now'. As soon as they get access to the outside world the stress problems almost always disappear or substantially reduce.

The OP is correct to be seriously considering letting them out. A few cats will choose to stay indoors even when offered the outside world, but the vast, vast majority will go out and instinctively understand the world around them.

Look at it this way. How well would any of us cope if we were jammed in a small house with people chosen by others and not allowed to go out at all and have our own space. I believe a popular TV programme may have demonstrated what happens with humans over a really quite short timescale, so imagine doing it for years...

caevans

Thanks for advice.
Dominant cat spent night on our bed = happy
Younger cat spent cat in kitchen and is now calm and not aggressive.
However, tried to reintroduce them this morning and dominant cat now hissing at younger cat which is setting younger cat off. Argh, if its not one it's the other.
Phoned a vet hotline last night through our pet insurance who has advised to keep them apart for a few days. Plan on phoning our own vet later to see if there is anything else we can do in the meantime.
No immediate plans to let cats out, but its really only because we are big woosies and scared that they get run over that we haven't let them out since moving. It's never been an issue until now as both cats have free reign of the house which although small has plenty of rooms for them to explore. May have to rethink though.........
Am hoping for a calm day!

3v3

lister wrote: »

I completely disagree. I have worked in cat rescue for years, and a substantial majority of stressed cats we are asked to rehome are because they have been kept indoors. I have lost track of all the cases where we are told 'they have always been indoor cats and it's been fine until now'. ...

Completely disagree? Bit sweeping, but you are entitled to your opinion However, just to put the thought out there, maybe it is dependent on one's definition of an"indoor cat"?

I have Ragdoll cats who are bred for their non-aggressive temprement and as an "indoor cat" breed.

However, if someone is a cat owner who has merely decided that they will not be letting their cats roam free, maybe they consider those "indoor cats", irrespective of their breed/mix?

In your experience with cat rescue, I'm curious to know what ratio of (allegedly) "indoor cats" were taken to you that were Ragdoll vs other breeds/mixes?

Fire_Fox

lister wrote: »

I completely disagree. I have worked in cat rescue for years, and a substantial majority of stressed cats we are asked to rehome are because they have been kept indoors. I have lost track of all the cases where we are told 'they have always been indoor cats and it's been fine until now'. As soon as they get access to the outside world the stress problems almost always disappear or substantially reduce.

The OP is correct to be seriously considering letting them out. A few cats will choose to stay indoors even when offered the outside world, but the vast, vast majority will go out and instinctively understand the world around them.

Look at it this way. How well would any of us cope if we were jammed in a small house with people chosen by others and not allowed to go out at all and have our own space. I believe a popular TV programme may have demonstrated what happens with humans over a really quite short timescale, so imagine doing it for years...

I do think it depends on the cat and I didn't think that way a few years ago. I'm on my second indoor cat, both adults and both with health issues - city centre flat so it was that or no cat. Neither have tried to escape, and both showed little interest when in foster homes. Lulu I am sure would adapt to the right outdoor home much better than Noah would have. I would like a 'boyfriend' for Lulu but it would have to be another adult suited to indoor (deaf, FIV etc) and a good match for her which is daunting.

Having said that I do agree some owners delude themselves about how happy their indoor cat is and refuse to acknowledge symptoms that could indicate stress. And too many fail to make any serious effort to mentally and physically stimulate their indoor cats. Maybe it's easier to see which cats are best suited to an indoor lifestyle when they are adults?